From its early beginning to its current standing on the map of college athletics, the Missouri Valley Conference continues to be proactive in its approach as it enters its 104th year in 2010-11.  The nation’s second-oldest NCAA Division I conference is a leader in college athletics and is one of the nation’s most progressive conferences.

The Missouri Valley Conference enters a new decade facing a rapidly changing environment in NCAA Division I athletics as conference expansion and realignment swept the nation in the summer of 2010.  Although The Valley was untouched, the league will remain vigilant in monitoring changes or potential changes in other conferences that might impact membership, or present opportunities for expansion.

Men’s basketball continues to be the engine that drives Valley athletic programs.  With UNI’s NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2010, the league has had four different Sweet 16 teams since 2006, and The Valley is the only non-BCS league with more than two different Sweet 16 teams in that span.  Notably, the run of nine straight seasons with two or more teams in the NCAAs ended in 2007, as the past three seasons have seen only the tournament champion included in the NCAA field.  

Last year, UNI team swept both the regular season and State Farm MVC Tournament titles, earning the Valley’s lone NCAA Tournament berth in the process. The Panthers escaped with a 69-66 victory over UNLV in the NCAA’s opening round. UNI then became the first MVC team to beat a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since Cincinnati beat #1-ranked Ohio State in the NCAA championship game in 1962, toppled #1-seeded Kansas 69-67. Ali Farokmanesh’s key field goals in the final moments of both tournament games sealed those victories and the Panthers finished with school-record 30 wins (30-5) with a loss to Michigan State in the Sweet 16 in St. Louis.

Notably, The Valley made history in March 2007 with record attendance for four days at St. Louis’ Scottrade Center as 85,074 fans turned out to watch the five sessions of the tournament.   The two sellout crowds of 22,612 for the semifinals and final of the 2007 State Farm Tournament set an all-time attendance record for basketball at the arena and also gave The Valley the distinction of having the largest championship crowd for any of the 30 NCAA conference tournaments in 2007.  The State Farm MVC Tournament continues to be a spectacular showcase for the league, and the MVC has extended the tournament agreement with the Scottrade Center that will keep Arch Madness in St. Louis through 2013.  At the 2011 State Farm MVC Championship, the league will surpass 1,000,000 in total attendance for the event, now in its 21st year.

While the success of men’s basketball has received the greatest attention, the overall performance of league teams in virtually every sport continues to raise the national profile of the conference.

In women’s basketball, the MVC matched a league-high tying six teams earning post-season berths, while 2010 marked the 11th-straight season that the Valley earned at least three post-season bids.  Illinois State advanced to the semifinals of the WNIT, marking the fourth time in league history a Valley school has played in the WNIT semifinals, while Bradley and Wichita State earned their first-ever postseason wins in program history. UNI won its first-ever State Farm MVC Championship title, earning its first berth to the NCAA Tournament field of 64.  The conference remains committed to keeping the tournament at a neutral site at the Family Arena in St. Charles as establishing a neutral site remains a huge part of the overall efforts to improve women’s basketball in The Valley.

In volleyball, for the sixth time in league history, two MVC teams were invited to dance in the 2009 NCAA Volleyball Championship – UNI and Wichita State. With first-round wins over Washington State and Saint Louis, respectively, it marked just the second time in MVC history that two teams advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in the same season (2006 – Missouri State and UNI). 

In baseball, Illinois State clinched a share of the regular-season MVC title for the first time in league history, and the Redbirds went on to take home the State Farm MVC Baseball Tournament trophy as well, topping host and top-seeded Wichita State. Illinois State earned just its second-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

In softball, the MVC returned to its multi-bid status after a one-year hiatus, sending two teams – Creighton and Illinois State – to the NCAA Tournament. The 2010 campaign marked the seventh time in eight seasons that the Valley has placed multiple teams into the NCAA field. 

In men’s soccer, for the 13th time in league history, at least two MVC teams were invited to dance in the 2009 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship –Drake and Missouri State. The Bulldogs won their first-ever league tournament championship and saw their magical run end at the NCAA Elite Eight, falling to No. 4 North Carolina, 2-1. The 2009 campaign marked the third-straight season, and the ninth time in the past 10 years, that a Valley men’s soccer team advanced to at least the Quarterfinal Round of the NCAA Championship.

In men’s golf, Wichita State’s Dustin Garza built a resume worthy of earning him the No. 1 Golfstat Cup ranking for most of the season as he won individual medalist honors seven times last year to lead the country in tournament wins.

Meanwhile, the success of The Valley television package is one of the great stories in the league.  The MVC Television Network has blossomed into a revenue-generating vehicle and The Valley’s most visible marketing tool.  Meanwhile, The Valley is making video-streaming a major focus as it enters the second year of a three-year plan to upgrade the production and marketing of both institutionally-produced and conference-produced webcasts. 

The 2003-04 campaign was a landmark for the conference as State Farm Insurance and the league came to terms on an agreement that provides State Farm with title sponsorship of all of the league’s 18 championships.  Last fall, The Valley took a major step toward ensuring current revenues in television media and tournament sponsorship sales would be guaranteed in future years when it announced a 10-year partnership with Learfield Sports. The Jefferson City, Missouri-based company now has the exclusive sales and marketing rights to MVC assets that include championships and television advertising.

During the tenure of Doug Elgin, The Valley’s ninth and longest-tenured commissioner, The Valley has been aggressive in hosting NCAA events in St. Louis.  Since 1998, the MVC served as host for a staggering nine NCAA tournament events in the 13-year period, which has made St. Louis one of the most frequent stops on the NCAA Tournament trail. The Valley hosted Women’s Final Fours in 2001 and 2009, and the Men’s Final Four in 2005.

The seeds for the creation of the conference were planted by eight administrators representing five institutions, who met at the Midland Hotel in Kansas City, Mo., on Jan. 12, 1907.  The five schools which formed the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association were Washington University of St. Louis, and the state universities of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.  Two months after the initial meeting, two more schools -- Drake University and Iowa State College -- were admitted.

In the fall of 1907, basketball became the first competitive sport.  Today, the Missouri Valley Conference sponsors the following sports:  baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country and track & field (indoor and outdoor), men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, softball, women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, and women's volleyball.

While The Valley no longer sponsors football (it did from 1907-85), six league members compete in football at the FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) level as Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, UNI and Southern Illinois play in the nine-member Missouri Valley Football Conference (with North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Western Illinois and Youngstown State).  That league competed as the Gateway Conference from 1985-2007.  Drake plays non-scholarship football in the Pioneer Football League.

This season, the league will conduct its 100th outdoor track and field championship, its 93rd tennis championship, its 57th baseball tournament, and its 73rd golf championship for the men.  Those programs, plus other current sponsored sports of cross country (52 years), indoor track (44), soccer (20) and swimming and diving (17), have helped solidify The Valley as one of the nation’s most respected conferences.

Athletic accomplishments on the men’s athletics side include 14 national basketball championships, 16 trips to the NCAA Final Four, a 1989 national baseball championship and 19 College World Series qualifiers.  In 2010, Missouri State’s men’s basketball program won the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, the league’s first national title in men’s basketball since 1982 (Bradley, NIT).  In 2001, Missouri State added to The Valley women’s accomplishments, as the Lady Bears advanced to the Women’s Basketball Final Four in St. Louis.  Creighton (2004) and Missouri State (2005) have claimed national championships (WNIT) in women’s basketball, while MSU also has a 1992 NCAA Women’s Final Four appearance, and Creighton (2003), Drake (1999) and Illinois State (2009) have made semifinal trips to the WNIT postseason tournament.  

Indeed, the inclusion of women’s programs under The Valley banner has provided a boost.  The Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference -- which began in 1982 -- merged with the Missouri Valley Conference and was unveiled as part of the new conference on July 1, 1992.

And while the inclusion of women’s sports under a comprehensive athletic umbrella is a recent development in the league’s storied history, over the years, Valley student-athletes and coaches have become household names during the league's illustrious history, both during their collegiate careers and, for some, professional careers.

In fact, The Valley began honoring that tradition in the summer of 1997, when the conference began its athletics Hall of Fame.  Hersey Hawkins of Bradley, Larry Bird of Indiana State, Wes Unseld of Louisville, Coach Henry Iba of Oklahoma State, Dave Stallworth of Wichita State, Ed Macauley of Saint Louis, and Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati were members of the initial induction class.  Currently, more than 60 former players, coaches and alums dot the league’s Hall of Fame.

Men’s basketball, perhaps, has the league’s most storied tradition with the likes of Hall of Famers Bird and Robertson, but The Valley has also produced national-caliber student-athletes in its other sponsored sports.  In 2001, Missouri State’s Jackie Stiles became the first Valley woman to earn the Honda-Broderick Cup, given to the nation’s top female collegiate student-athlete.  In the sport of track and field, Indiana State’s Holli Hyche captured seven national sprint titles in the early 1990s, Southern Illinois’ Darrin Plab won back-to-back NCAA outdoor high jump titles in 1991 and 1992, SIU’s Brittany Riley became the World record holder in the weight throw in 2007.  And Kylie Hutson of Indiana State swept both the indoor and outdoor pole vault titles in 2009.  Hutson repeated as a national champion in the pole vault in 2010.

In the fall of 1997, Creighton’s Johnny Torres was named the collegiate male soccer player of the year for a second-straight year, while SMU’s Luchi Gonzalez (2001) and Tulsa’s Ryan Pore (2004) have also earned a National Player of the Year honor in men’s soccer.  Meanwhile league member Wichita State has produced three national collegiate players of the year in baseball, including Joe Carter (1981), Phil Stephenson (1982) and Darren Dreifort (1993).

League members include Bradley, Creighton, Drake, Evansville, Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, and Wichita State.  Central Arkansas and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville are men’s soccer affiliates, beginning in 2010.