| Missouri Valley Conference football | |
| Founded: | 1907 |
| Dissolved: | 1985 |
| Conference: | NCAA |
| Division: | Division I-A Division I-AA |
| Teams: | 7 (final), 29 (total) |
| Sports: | 1 (football) |
| Mens: | 1 |
| Womens: | 0 |
| Region: | Midwest |
| Map: | MissouriValleyConferencefootballstatemap.png |
| Map Size: | 250 |
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-A programs (Tulsa and Wichita State) and NCAA division I-AA programs (Drake, Illinois State, Indiana State, Southern Illinois, and West Texas State).[1]
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.[2] [3] Both schools returned to the MVC for non-football sports several years later (Bradley in 1955 and Drake in 1956), but Bradley never rejoined for football (dropping the sport in 1970), and Drake didn't rejoin in football until 1971.[4] Washburn University competed in football from 1935 through 1940.[5] Saint Louis University dropped football after the 1949 season.[6] [7]
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 (now West Texas A&M),[8] respectively joining in 1970[9] and 1971;[10] the conference also established a tie-in with the now-defunct Pasadena Bowl.[8]
The new additions almost immediately led to conflict between several established members and the conference office. Cincinnati, Louisville, and Memphis State (now Memphis) 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.[8] 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 (now North Texas) went independent in 1975 due to a desire for more scheduling flexibility.[8] The MVC attempted to reload by adding Southern Illinois (1974 for non-football sports, 1977 for football), Indiana State (1976), and Illinois State (1980 for non-football sports, 1981 for football).[11] [8] The two schools whose arrival led to this instability would themselves leave in the 1980s—New Mexico State left after the 1982 season,[9] and West Texas State left after the conference's final football season of 1985.[10]
On December 5, 2006 the Missouri Valley Conference released its All-Centennial team.[12]
This membership timeline reflects only Missouri Valley Conference football, not the Missouri Valley Conference as a whole.
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1907 till:1995
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors = id:barcolor
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the twoPlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1907 till:1909 text:Iowa (1907–1908)
bar:2 color:Full from:1907 till:1928 text:Kansas (1907–1927)
bar:3 color:Full from:1907 till:1928 text:Missouri (1907–1927)
bar:4 color:Full from:1907 till:1919 text:Nebraska (1907–1918, 1921–1927)
bar:4 color:Full from:1921 till:1928
bar:5 color:Full from:1907 till:1943 text:Washington U (1907–1942)
bar:6 color:Full from:1908 till:1952 text:Drake (1908–1951, 1971–1985)
bar:6 color:Full from:1971 till:1986
bar:7 color:Full from:1908 till:1928 text:Iowa State (1908–1927)
bar:8 color:Full from:1913 till:1928 text:Kansas State (1913–1927)
bar:9 color:Full from:1919 till:1939 text:Grinnell (1919–1938)
bar:10 color:Full from:1920 till:1928 text:Oklahoma (1920–1927)
bar:11 color:Full from:1925 till:1957 text:Oklahoma A&M (1925–1956)
bar:12 color:Full from:1928 till:1943 text:Creighton (1928–1942)
bar:13 color:Full from:1932 till:1934 text:Butler (1932–1933)
bar:14 color:Full from:1935 till:1986 text:Tulsa (1935–1985)
bar:15 color:Full from:1935 till:1941 text:Washburn (1935–1940)
bar:16 color:Full from:1937 till:1950 text:Saint Louis (1937–1949)
bar:17 color:Full from:1945 till:1986 text:Wichita State (1945–1985)
bar:18 color:Full from:1948 till:1952 text:Bradley (1948–1951)
bar:19 color:Full from:1949 till:1957 text:Detroit (1949–1956)
bar:20 color:Full from:1951 till:1960 text:Houston (1951–1959)
bar:21 color:Full from:1957 till:1970 text:Cincinnati (1957–1969)
bar:22 color:Full from:1957 till:1975 text:North Texas State (1957–1974)
bar:23 color:Full from:1963 till:1975 text:Louisville (1963–1974)
bar:24 color:Full from:1968 till:1973 text:Memphis State (1968–1972)
bar:25 color:Full from:1970 till:1983 text:New Mexico State (1970–1982)
bar:26 color:Full from:1971 till:1986 text:West Texas State (1971–1985)
bar:27 color:Full from:1974 till:1986 text:Southern Illinois (1974–1985)
bar:28 color:Full from:1976 till:1986 text:Indiana State (1976–1985)
bar:29 color:Full from:1980 till:1986 text:Illinois State (1980–1985)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1907
TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Missouri Valley Conference Membership History"
| Season | Champion | |
|---|---|---|
| 1907 | Iowa & Nebraska | |
| 1908 | Kansas | |
| 1909 | Missouri | |
| 1910 | Nebraska | |
| 1911 | Iowa State & Nebraska | |
| 1912 | Iowa State & Nebraska | |
| 1913 | Missouri & Nebraska | |
| 1914 | Nebraska | |
| 1915 | Nebraska | |
| 1916 | Nebraska | |
| 1917 | Nebraska | |
| 1918 | No Champion[13] | |
| 1919 | Missouri | |
| 1920 | Oklahoma | |
| 1921 | Nebraska | |
| 1922 | Nebraska | |
| 1923 | Nebraska | |
| 1924 | Missouri | |
| 1925 | Missouri | |
| 1926 | Oklahoma A&M | |
| 1927 | Missouri | |
| 1928 | Drake | |
| 1929 | Drake | |
| 1930 | Drake & Oklahoma A&M | |
| 1931 | Drake | |
| 1932 | Oklahoma A&M | |
| 1933 | Oklahoma A&M | |
| 1934 | Washington (MO) | |
| 1935 | Tulsa & Washington (MO) | |
| 1936 | Creighton & Tulsa | |
| 1937 | Tulsa | |
| 1938 | Tulsa | |
| 1939 | Washington (MO) | |
| 1940 | Tulsa | |
| 1941 | Tulsa | |
| 1942 | Tulsa | |
| 1943 | Tulsa | |
| 1944 | Oklahoma A&M | |
| 1945 | Oklahoma A&M | |
| 1946 | Tulsa | |
| 1947 | Tulsa | |
| 1948 | Oklahoma A&M | |
| 1949 | Detroit | |
| 1950 | Tulsa | |
| 1951 | Tulsa | |
| 1952 | Houston | |
| 1953 | Detroit & Oklahoma A&M | |
| 1954 | Wichita State | |
| 1955 | Detroit & Wichita State | |
| 1956 | Houston | |
| 1957 | Houston | |
| 1958 | North Texas State | |
| 1959 | Houston & North Texas State | |
| 1960 | Wichita State | |
| 1961 | Wichita State | |
| 1962 | Tulsa | |
| 1963 | Cincinnati & Wichita State | |
| 1964 | Cincinnati | |
| 1965 | Tulsa | |
| 1966 | North Texas State & Tulsa | |
| 1967 | North Texas State | |
| 1968 | Memphis State | |
| 1969 | Memphis State | |
| 1970 | Louisville | |
| 1971 | Memphis State & North Texas State | |
| 1972 | Drake, Louisville, & West Texas State | |
| 1973 | North Texas State & Tulsa | |
| 1974 | Tulsa | |
| 1975 | Tulsa | |
| 1976 | New Mexico State & Tulsa | |
| 1977 | West Texas State | |
| 1978 | New Mexico State | |
| 1979 | West Texas State | |
| 1980 | Tulsa | |
| 1981 | Drake & Tulsa | |
| 1982 | Tulsa | |
| 1983 | Tulsa | |
| 1984 | Tulsa | |
| 1985 | Tulsa |
| School | Years of Participation | MVC Championships | Last MVC Championship | Last Outright MVC Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa | 1907 - 1908 | 1 | 1907 | – |
| Kansas | 1907 - 1927 | 1 | 1908 | 1908 |
| Missouri | 1907 - 1927 | 6 | 1927 | 1927 |
| Nebraska | 1907 - 1918 1921 - 1927 | 12 | 1923 | 1923 |
| Washington U. | 1907 - 1942 | 3 | 1939 | 1939 |
| Drake | 1908 - 1951 1971 - 1985 | 6 | 1981 | 1931 |
| Iowa State | 1908 - 1927 | 2 | 1912 | – |
| Kansas State | 1913 - 1927 | 0 | – | – |
| Grinnell | 1919 - 1938 | 0 | – | – |
| Oklahoma | 1920 - 1927 | 1 | 1920 | 1920 |
| Oklahoma A&M | 1925 - 1956 | 8 | 1953 | 1948 |
| Creighton | 1928 - 1942 | 1 | 1936 | – |
| Butler | 1932 - 1933 | 0 | – | – |
| Tulsa | 1935 - 1985 | 25 | 1985 | 1985 |
| Washburn | 1935 - 1940 | 0 | – | – |
| Saint Louis | 1937 - 1949 | 0 | – | – |
| Wichita State | 1945 - 1985 | 5 | 1963 | 1961 |
| Bradley | 1948 - 1951 | 0 | – | – |
| Detroit | 1949 - 1956 | 3 | 1955 | 1949 |
| Houston | 1951 - 1959[14] | 4 | 1959 | 1957 |
| Cincinnati | 1957 - 1969 | 2 | 1964 | 1964 |
| North Texas State | 1957 - 1974 | 6 | 1973 | 1971 |
| Louisville | 1963 - 1974[15] | 2 | 1972 | 1970 |
| Memphis State | 1968[16] - 1972 | 3 | 1971 | 1969 |
| New Mexico State | 1970 - 1982[17] | 2 | 1978 | 1978 |
| West Texas State | 1971 - 1985 | 3 | 1979 | 1979 |
| Southern Illinois | 1974 - 1985 | 0 | – | – |
| Indiana State | 1976[18] - 1985 | 0 | – | – |
| Illinois State | 1980 - 1985 | 0 | – | – |