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).
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 (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. 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 (now West Texas A&M), 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 (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. 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. 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). 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.
Champions by year
Season Champion1907 Iowa & Nebraska1908 Kansas1909 Missouri1910 Nebraska1911 Iowa State & Nebraska1912 Iowa State & Nebraska1913 Missouri & Nebraska1914 Nebraska1915 Nebraska1916 Nebraska1917 Nebraska1918 No Champion1919 Missouri1920 Oklahoma1921 Nebraska1922 Nebraska1923 Nebraska1924 Missouri1925 Missouri1926 Oklahoma A&M1927 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
Championships by school
School Years ofParticipation MVCChampionships LastMVCChampionship LastOutrightMVCChampionship Iowa 1907–1908 1 1907 – Nebraska 1907–19181921–1927 12 1923 1923 Kansas 1907–1927 1 1908 1908 Missouri 1907–1927 6 1927 1927 Washington U. 1907–1942 3 1939 1939 Iowa State 1908–1927 2 1912 – Drake 1908–19511971–1985 6 1981 1931 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 – – Washburn 1935–1940 0 – – Tulsa 1935–1985 25 1985 1985 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 4 1959 1957 Cincinnati 1957–1969 2 1964 1964 North Texas State 1957–1974 6 1973 1971 Louisville 1963–1974 2 1972 1970 Memphis State 1968–1972 3 1971 1969 New Mexico State 1970–1982 2 1978 1978 West Texas State 1971–1985 3 1979 1979 Southern Illinois 1974–1985 0 – – Indiana State 1976–1985 0 – – Illinois State 1980–1985 0 – –
References