Missouri Valley Football Conference


The Missouri Valley Football Conference, formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision as a football-only conference.

History

The Missouri Valley Football Conference has a convoluted history that involves three other conferences:
In 1985, the MVC stopped sponsoring football. At that time, the two remaining I-AA members from the MVC joined Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Southwest Missouri State, and Western Illinois from the AMCU and together became a football conference under the Gateway's auspices. Indiana State, which had left MVC football after the 1981 season to become a Division I-AA independent while remaining a full MVC member, would join the next year.
In 1992, when the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference merged with the MVC, the football conference kept the Gateway charter, with a minor name change to Gateway Football Conference. After Eastern Illinois joined the Ohio Valley Conference for football in 1995, Youngstown State joined in 1997 and was followed by Western Kentucky University in 2001. Southwest Missouri State changed its name to Missouri State in 2005.
Western Kentucky moved to the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision after the 2006 season. Left with seven members for the 2007 season, Great West Football Conference members North Dakota State and South Dakota State were invited to join the conference beginning with the 2008 season. Subsequently, the Gateway Football Conference changed its name to the Missouri Valley Football Conference in June 2008. This change aligned the conference with the Missouri Valley Conference, a conference in which five of the nine Missouri Valley Football schools were all-sports members. The conferences continue to share the "Missouri Valley" name, and space in the same building in St. Louis, but remain separate administratively.
The University of South Dakota joined as the 10th member in 2012. The University of North Dakota will join as the 11th member in 2020. This will bring back the yearly rivalries between North Dakota and both North Dakota State and South Dakota, as well as establishing a potential rivalry with South Dakota State.

Member schools

Current members

Former members

Membership timeline


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bar:7 color:AssocOS from:1986 till:1992 text:Indiana State
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bar:8 color:AssocF from:1997 till:end text:Youngstown State
bar:9 color:AssocF from:2001 till:2007 text:WKU
bar:10 color:AssocF from:2008 till:end text:North Dakota State
bar:11 color:AssocF from:2008 till:end text:South Dakota State
bar:12 color:AssocF from:2012 till:end text:South Dakota
bar:13 shift: color:AssocF from:2020 till:end text:North Dakota
bar:N color:powderblue from:1985 till:1992 text:Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference
bar:N color:yellow from:1992 till:2008 text:Gateway Football Conference
bar:N color:pink from:2008 till:end text:Missouri Valley Football Conference
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    Conference champions

  • 1985: Northern Iowa
  • 1986: Eastern Illinois
  • 1987: Northern Iowa
  • 1988: Western Illinois
  • 1989: Missouri State
  • 1990: Missouri State & Northern Iowa
  • 1991: Northern Iowa
  • 1992: Northern Iowa
  • 1993: Northern Iowa
  • 1994: Northern Iowa
  • 1995: Eastern Illinois & Northern Iowa
  • 1996: Northern Iowa
  • 1997: Western Illinois
  • 1998: Western Illinois
  • 1999: Illinois State
  • 2000: Western Illinois
  • 2001: Northern Iowa
  • 2002: Western Illinois & Western Kentucky
  • 2003: Northern Iowa & Southern Illinois
  • 2004: Southern Illinois
  • 2005: Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, & Youngstown State
  • 2006: Youngstown State
  • 2007: Northern Iowa
  • 2008: Northern Iowa & Southern Illinois
  • 2009: Southern Illinois
  • 2010: Northern Iowa
  • 2011: North Dakota State & Northern Iowa
  • 2012: North Dakota State
  • 2013: North Dakota State
  • 2014: Illinois State & North Dakota State
  • 2015: Illinois State & North Dakota State
  • 2016: North Dakota State & South Dakota State
  • 2017: North Dakota State
  • 2018: North Dakota State
  • 2019: North Dakota State

    Conference titles by school

† 2-way tie for conference championship
‡ 3-way tie for conference championship
* Team no longer in conference

NCAA Football Championship Subdivision national championships

♯ Now a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Records

Overall winning streaks

† FCS Record

Consecutive conference wins

  1. North Dakota State, 18
  2. North Dakota State, 18

    Facilities