Missouri Valley Conference football


This is a page on the history of Missouri Valley Conference football. The Missouri Valley Conference sponsored football from 1907 through the 1985 school year. The conference voted to drop football as a sport on April 30, 1985. At the time the Conference was a mixture of NCAA division I programs and NCAA division I-AA programs.

History

The Missouri Valley Conference started sponsoring football in the fall of 1907. In 1951 Drake University and Bradley University left the Missouri Valley Conference as a result of the Johnny Bright incident, a racially motivated on-field attack against Drake's black star Johnny Bright by a white Oklahoma A&M player. Both schools returned to the MVC for non-football sports several years later, but Bradley never rejoined for football, and Drake didn't rejoin in football until 1971. Washburn University competed in football from 1935 through 1940. Saint Louis University dropped football after the 1949 season.
By the late 1960s, rising costs for football meant that basketball could no longer help subsidize football programs. According to a 2017 story in The Wichita Eagle, "The MVC looked west to find football and alienated its basketball powers." The first schools brought in during this period were New Mexico State and West Texas State, respectively joining in 1970 and 1971; the conference also established a tie-in with the now-defunct Pasadena Bowl.
The new additions almost immediately led to conflict between several established members and the conference office. Cincinnati, Louisville, and Memphis State complained about travel costs, and Memphis State was bitterly opposed to a full round-robin conference schedule, wishing to play more games within its region. All three schools left the MVC within a four-year period in the 1970s—Cincinnati in 1971, Memphis State in 1973, and Louisville in 1975. At the time of Memphis State's departure, Bradley's then-athletic director publicly said, "We sort of pushed Memphis out. They didn’t want to play everybody in football and we said that they must." These were not the only departures from the conference during this period; non-football member Saint Louis left in 1974, wishing to compete with urban basketball-focused schools like itself, and North Texas State went independent in 1975 due to a desire for more scheduling flexibility. The MVC attempted to reload by adding Southern Illinois, Indiana State, and Illinois State. The two schools whose arrival led to this instability would themselves leave in the 1980s—New Mexico State left after the 1982 season, and West Texas State left after the conference's final football season of 1985.
On December 5, 2006 the Missouri Valley Conference released its All-Centennial team.

Membership timeline

This membership timeline reflects only Missouri Valley Conference football, not the Missouri Valley Conference as a whole.

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ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1907 till:1995
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
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Colors = id:barcolor
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
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width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1907 till:1909 text:Iowa
bar:2 color:Full from:1907 till:1928 text:Kansas
bar:3 color:Full from:1907 till:1928 text:Missouri
bar:4 color:Full from:1907 till:1919 text:Nebraska
bar:4 color:Full from:1921 till:1928
bar:5 color:Full from:1907 till:1943 text:Washington U
bar:6 color:Full from:1908 till:1952 text:Drake
bar:6 color:Full from:1971 till:1986
bar:7 color:Full from:1908 till:1928 text:Iowa State
bar:8 color:Full from:1913 till:1928 text:Kansas State
bar:9 color:Full from:1919 till:1939 text:Grinnell
bar:10 color:Full from:1920 till:1928 text:Oklahoma
bar:11 color:Full from:1925 till:1957 text:Oklahoma A&M
bar:12 color:Full from:1928 till:1943 text:Creighton
bar:13 color:Full from:1932 till:1934 text:Butler
bar:14 color:Full from:1935 till:1986 text:Tulsa
bar:15 color:Full from:1935 till:1941 text:Washburn
bar:16 color:Full from:1937 till:1950 text:Saint Louis
bar:17 color:Full from:1945 till:1986 text:Wichita State
bar:18 color:Full from:1948 till:1952 text:Bradley
bar:19 color:Full from:1949 till:1957 text:Detroit
bar:20 color:Full from:1951 till:1960 text:Houston
bar:21 color:Full from:1957 till:1970 text:Cincinnati
bar:22 color:Full from:1957 till:1975 text:North Texas State
bar:23 color:Full from:1963 till:1975 text:Louisville
bar:24 color:Full from:1968 till:1973 text:Memphis State
bar:25 color:Full from:1970 till:1983 text:New Mexico State
bar:26 color:Full from:1971 till:1986 text:West Texas State
bar:27 color:Full from:1974 till:1986 text:Southern Illinois
bar:28 color:Full from:1976 till:1986 text:Indiana State
bar:29 color:Full from:1980 till:1986 text:Illinois State
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pos: tabs:
text:^"Missouri Valley Conference Membership History"
  1. > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

    Champions by year

SeasonChampion
1907Iowa & Nebraska
1908Kansas
1909Missouri
1910Nebraska
1911Iowa State & Nebraska
1912Iowa State & Nebraska
1913Missouri & Nebraska
1914Nebraska
1915Nebraska
1916Nebraska
1917Nebraska
1918No Champion
1919Missouri
1920Oklahoma
1921Nebraska
1922Nebraska
1923Nebraska
1924Missouri
1925Missouri
1926Oklahoma A&M
1927Missouri
1928Drake
1929Drake
1930Drake & Oklahoma A&M
1931Drake
1932Oklahoma A&M
1933Oklahoma A&M
1934Washington
1935Tulsa & Washington
1936Creighton & Tulsa
1937Tulsa
1938Tulsa
1939Washington
1940Tulsa
1941Tulsa
1942Tulsa
1943Tulsa
1944Oklahoma A&M
1945Oklahoma A&M
1946Tulsa
1947Tulsa
1948Oklahoma A&M
1949Detroit
1950Tulsa
1951Tulsa
1952Houston
1953Detroit & Oklahoma A&M
1954Wichita State
1955Detroit & Wichita State
1956Houston
1957Houston
1958North Texas State
1959Houston & North Texas State
1960Wichita State
1961Wichita State
1962Tulsa
1963Cincinnati & Wichita State
1964Cincinnati
1965Tulsa
1966North Texas State & Tulsa
1967North Texas State
1968Memphis State
1969Memphis State
1970Louisville
1971North Texas State & Memphis State
1972Drake, Louisville, & West Texas State
1973North Texas State & Tulsa
1974Tulsa
1975Tulsa
1976New Mexico State & Tulsa
1977West Texas State
1978New Mexico State
1979West Texas State
1980Tulsa
1981Drake & Tulsa
1982Tulsa
1983Tulsa
1984Tulsa
1985Tulsa

Championships by school

SchoolYears of
Participation		MVC
Championships		Last
MVC
Championship		Last
Outright
MVC
Championship
Iowa1907-190811907–
Kansas1907-1927119081908
Missouri1907-1927619271927
Nebraska1907-1918
1921-1927		1219231923
Washington U.1907-1942319391939
Drake1908-1951
1971-1985		619811931
Iowa State1908-192721912–
Kansas State1913-19270––
Grinnell1919-19380––
Oklahoma1920-1927119201920
Oklahoma A&M1925-1956819531948
Creighton1928-194211936–
Butler1932-19330––
Tulsa1935-19852519851985
Washburn1935-19400––
Saint Louis1937-19490––
Wichita State1945-1985519631961
Bradley1948-19510––
Detroit1949-1956319551949
Houston1951-1959419591957
Cincinnati1957-1969219641964
North Texas State1957-1974619731971
Louisville1963-1974219721970
Memphis State1968-1972319711969
New Mexico State1970-1982219781978
West Texas State1971-1985319791979
Southern Illinois1974-19850––
Indiana State1976-19850––
Illinois State1980-19850––