The Mountain West – Missouri Valley Challenge was an in-season NCAA Division I men's college basketball series, matching up teams from the Mountain West Conference (MW) and the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). The series began in November 2009 and featured all of the MW teams against most of the MVC teams.[1] [2] The series was discontinued after the 2018 iteration.[3]
The first challenge was held in 2009. The conferences agreed to a four-year deal, extending the challenge through 2012.[4] The challenge was not extended beyond its original term and ended after 2012.[5] However, it was announced on April 2, 2015 that the conferences would renew the series in 2015.[6] Since the Mountain West now has 11 members to the MVC's 10, all Missouri Valley members were competing in the renewed series, with one MW team sitting out.
The MW–MVC Challenge occurred from late November through December. The games are hosted by each of the schools. The first two series had nine games played each year, leaving one team from the 10-team MVC without an opponent. In 2011, only eight games were played, leaving two MVC teams without an opponent. With changes to the conference schools, each Challenge since the renewal of the series in 2015 featured 10 games.
The MW leads the series with three wins, one loss, and two ties. New Mexico and Wichita State had the best records at 5–1 each. However, Wichita State will not participate in any future Challenges since the school joined the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2017.[7]
| Institution | Wins | Losses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force Falcons | 2 | 4 | |
| Boise State Broncos | 4 | 1 | |
| BYU Cougars* | 2 | 0 | |
| Colorado State Rams | 3 | 3 | |
| Fresno State Bulldogs | 1 | 2 | |
| Nevada Wolf Pack | 2 | 1 | |
| New Mexico Lobos | 5 | 1 | |
| San Diego State Aztecs | 6 | 2 | |
| San Jose State Spartans | 0 | 0 | |
| TCU Horned Frogs* | 1 | 2 | |
| UNLV Runnin' Rebels | 4 | 2 | |
| Utah Utes* | 1 | 1 | |
| Utah State Aggies | 1 | 1 | |
| Wyoming Cowboys | 4 | 2 | |
| Overall | 36 | 23 |
| Date | MVC team | MW team | Score | Location | Challenge leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 13 | Bradley | BYU | 70–60 | Provo, UT | MW (1–0) |
| Nov 20 | Indiana State | Colorado State | 65–60 | Terre Haute, IN | Tie (1–1) |
| Nov 21 | Southern Illinois | UNLV | 78–69 | Las Vegas, NV | MW (2–1) |
| Dec 5 | Missouri State | Air Force | 58–48 | Springfield, MO | Tie (2–2) |
| Dec 12 | Wichita State | TCU | 80–68 | Wichita, KS | MVC (3–2) |
| Dec 19 | Creighton | New Mexico | 66–61 | Albuquerque, NM | Tie (3–3) |
| Dec 19 | Illinois State | Utah | 73–63 | Salt Lake City, UT | MVC (4–3) |
| Dec 22 | Drake | San Diego State | 76–73 OT | Des Moines, IA | Tie (4–4) |
| Dec 23 | Northern Iowa | Wyoming | 72–54 | Cedar Falls, IA | MVC (5–4) |
| Bold Team denotes winner |
| Date | MVC team | MW team | Score | Location | Challenge leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 1 | Creighton | BYU | 77–65 | Omaha, NE | MW (1–0) |
| Dec 1 | Drake | Colorado State | 78–67 | Fort Collins, CO | MW (2–0) |
| Dec 1 | Southern Illinois | New Mexico | 74–59 | Carbondale, IL | MW (3–0) |
| Dec 1 | Illinois State | UNLV | 51–82 | Normal, IL | MW (4–0) |
| Dec 4 | Indiana State | Wyoming | 81–51 | Laramie, WY | MW (5–0) |
| Dec 4 | Northern Iowa | TCU | 64–60 | Fort Worth, TX | MW (5–1) |
| Dec 4 | Bradley | Utah | 68–60 | Peoria, IL | MW (6–1) |
| Dec 4 | Wichita State | San Diego State | 83–69 | San Diego, CA | MW (7–1) |
| Dec 5 | Evansville | Air Force | 57–56 | Colorado Springs, CO | MW (8–1) |
| Bold Team denotes winner |
| Date | MVC team | MW team | Score | Location | Challenge leader | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 30 | No. 22 Creighton | San Diego State | 85–83 | San Diego, CA | MVC (1–0) | ||||
| Dec 3 | Drake | Air Force | 62–60 | Des Moines, IA | MVC (2–0) | ||||
| Dec 3 | Indiana State | Boise State | 74–65 | Boise, ID | MVC (2–1) | ||||
| Dec 3 | Northern Iowa | Colorado State | 83–77 | Cedar Falls, IA | MVC (3–1) | ||||
| Dec 3 | Missouri State | New Mexico | 76–60 | Albuquerque, NM | MVC (3–2) | ||||
| Dec 3 | Evansville | TCU | 70–68 | Evansville, IN | Tied (3–3) | ||||
| Dec 3 | Bradley | Wyoming | 66–49 | Laramie, WY | MW (4–3) | ||||
| Dec 4 | Wichita State | No. 20 UNLV | 89–70 | Wichita, KS | Tied (4–4) | ||||
| Bold Team denotes winner | |||||||||
| Date | MVC team | MW team | Score | Location | Challenge Leader | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 17 | No. 23 San Diego State | 60–44 | Springfield, MO | MW (1–0) | |||||
| Nov 28 | No. 11 Creighton | Boise State | 83–70 | Omaha, NE | MW (2–0) | ||||
| Nov 28 | Southern Illinois | Fresno State | 57–54 | Carbondale, IL | MW (2–1) | ||||
| Nov 30 | Drake | Nevada | 76–66 | Reno, NV | Tied (2–2) | ||||
| Dec 1 | Evansville | Colorado State | 79–72 | Fort Collins, CO | MW (3–2) | ||||
| Dec 1 | Indiana State | No. 25 New Mexico | 77–68 OT | Terre Haute, IN | MW (4–2) | ||||
| Dec 2 | Wichita State | Air Force | 72–69 | Colorado Springs, CO | MW (4–3) | ||||
| Dec 4 | Illinois State | Wyoming | 81–67 | Normal, IL | MW (5–3) | ||||
| Dec 19 | Northern Iowa | No. 21 UNLV | 73–59 | Las Vegas, NV | MW (6–3) | ||||
| Bold Team denotes winner | |||||||||
| Date | Time | MVC team | MW team | Score | Location | Television | Attendance | Challenge leader | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 13 | 6:00 pm | Southern Illinois | 77–75 | 4,759 | MVC (1–0) | ||||
| 8:00 pm | San Diego State | 71–61 | ESPN3 | 12,414 | Tie (1–1) | ||||
| Nov 14 | 10:00 AM | Colorado State | 84–78 | ESPN3 | 4,455 | MW (2–1) | |||
| Nov 16 | 5:00 pm | Indiana State | 70–55 | ESPN3 | 3,601 | Tie (2–2) | |||
| Nov 18 | 7:00 pm | New Mexico | 75–51 | 11,951 | MW(3–2) | ||||
| Dec 1 | 6:00 pm | Utah State | 69–68 | ESPN3 | 3,694 | MW (4–2) | |||
| Dec 9 | 6:00 pm | Wichita State | UNLV | 56–50 | 10,506 | MW (4–3) | |||
| Dec 12 | 5:00 pm | Nevada | 79–71 | 5,541 | MW (5–3) | ||||
| Dec 20 | 12:00 pm | Boise State | 90–70 | Taco Bell Arena • Boise, ID | Root Sports | 4,405 | MW (6–3) | ||
| 2:00 pm | Evansville | 85–77 | 5,251 | MW (6–4) | |||||
| WINNERS ARE IN BOLD. Game Times in MST. The Challenge was not held between the 2012 and 2015 seasons. During this time period, Creighton left the MVC for the Big East in 2013 and was replaced by Loyola–Chicago, keeping the MVC at 10 members. The MW also added San Jose State and Utah State in 2013, expanding to 11 members. Accordingly, 10 games were played in the 2015 Challenge. San Jose State did not participate in the 2015 Challenge. | |||||||||
| Date | Time | MVC team | MW team | Score | Location | Television | Attendance | Challenge leader | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 3 | 12:00 pm | Evansville | 72–67 | ESPN3 | 3,773 | MVC 1–0 | |||
| 1:00 pm | Wyoming | 81–73 | 5,539 | TIE 1–1 | |||||
| 1:00 pm | Fresno State | 78–76 OT | 2,633 | MW 2–1 | |||||
| 2:00 pm | Loyola–Chicago | 65–59 | 2,189 | TIE 2–2 | |||||
| 3:00 pm | Wichita State | 82–67 | 6,918 | MVC 3–2 | |||||
| 7:00 pm | Indiana State | 62–61 | 7,064 | MVC 4–2 | |||||
| 6:00 pm | Nevada | 91–69 | 5,384 | MVC 4–3 | |||||
| 6:00 pm | Illinois State | 79–74 | 6,056 | MVC 5–3 | |||||
| 7:00 pm | Air Force | 83–70 | 1,986 | MVC 5–4 | |||||
| Dec. 19 | 8:00 pm | UNLV | 68–61 | 11,758 | TIE 5–5 | ||||
| WINNERS ARE IN BOLD. Game Times in MST. San Jose State did not participate in the 2016 Challenge. | |||||||||
| Date | Time | MVC team | MW team | Score | Location | Television | Attendance | Challenge leader | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 28 | 6:00 pm | Valparaiso | 72–65 | ESPN3 | 2,949 | MVC 1–0 | |||
| 6:00 pm | Missouri State | 77–67 | 4,895 | MVC 2–0 | |||||
| 7:00 pm | Boise State | 87–53 | 3,738 | MVC 2–1 | |||||
| Nov 29 | 5:00 pm | Indiana State | 74–64 | ESPN3 | 3,797 | MVC 3–1 | |||
| 6:00 pm | Northern Iowa | 77–68OT | ESPN3 | 4,546 | MVC 4–1 | ||||
| 7:00 pm | New Mexico | 78–59 | 8,943 | MVC 4–2 | |||||
| 8:00 pm | Nevada | 98–68 | 8,293 | MVC 4–3 | |||||
| Dec 2 | 2:00 pm | Southern Illinois | San Jose State | 76–58 | ESPN3 | 4,026 | MVC 5–3 | ||
| 4:00 pm | Wyoming | 96–89OT | 4,853 | MVC 5–4 | |||||
| Dec 3 | 4:00 pm | San Diego State | 75–52 | Stadium | 11,102 | TIE 5–5 | |||
| WINNERS ARE IN BOLD. Game Times in MST. Fresno State did not participate in the 2017 Challenge.[8] [9] San Jose State participated in the Challenge for the first time. After the 2016–17 season, Wichita State left the Missouri Valley Conference to join the American Athletic Conference. Valparaiso replaced Wichita State, keeping the MVC at 10 teams.[10] | |||||||||
| Date | Time | MVC team | MW team | Score | Location | Television | Attendance | Challenge leader | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 27 | 8:00 PM | No. 5 Nevada | 79–65 | 4,963 | MW 1–0 | ||||
| 6:00 PM | Drake | 83–74 | ESPN+ | 2,543 | Tied 1–1 | ||||
| 7:00 PM | Southern Illinois | 82–67 | 2,566 | MVC 2–1 | |||||
| Nov 28 | 5:00 PM | Evansville | 86–78 | 4,709 | MVC 3–1 | ||||
| 7:00 PM | Utah State | 52–71 | 5,134 | MVC 3–2 | |||||
| 7:15 PM | Air Force | 69–88 | 1,629 | Tied 3–3 | |||||
| 8:00 PM | Indiana State | 86–57 | 1,523 | MVC 4–3 | |||||
| 8:30 PM | Valparaiso | 72–64 | 7,587 | MVC 5–3 | |||||
| Dec 1 | 1:00 PM | San Diego State | 65–75 | 6,245 | MVC 5–4 | ||||
| 6:00 PM | New Mexico | 75–85 | ESPN+/ESPN3 | 5,494 | Tie 5–5 | ||||
| WINNERS ARE IN BOLD. Game Times in MST. Fresno State did not participate in the 2018 Challenge. | |||||||||