Current season, competition or edition: 2025 Missouri Valley Football Conference season | |
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| Formerly | Gateway Football Conference (1992–2008) Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (1982–1992) |
|---|---|
| Association | NCAA |
| Founded | 1982 (chartered)[1] 1985 (began football) |
| Commissioner | Jeff Jackson (since 2025) |
| Sports fielded |
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| Division | Division I |
| Subdivision | FCS |
| No. of teams | 10 (9 in 2026) |
| Headquarters | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Region | Midwest |
| Official website | www |
| Locations | |
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TheMissouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly theGateway Football Conference, is a collegiateathletic conference which operates in theMidwestern United States. It participates in theNCAA'sDivision I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as afootball-only conference.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference has a complex 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 (Illinois State and Southern Illinois) joined Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Southwest Missouri State, and Western Illinois from the AMCU and together became a football conference under Gateway's auspices.[3] Indiana State, which had left MVC football after the 1981 season to become aDivision I-AA independent while remaining a full MVC member, would join the next year.[4]
–Horizon League member
–Missouri Valley Conference member
–Summit League member
– Departing memberIn 1992, when the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference merged with the MVC,[1] the football conference kept the Gateway charter, with a minor name change to Gateway Football Conference. After Eastern Illinois joined theOhio Valley Conference for football in 1996, 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 (FBS; formerly Division I-A) after the 2006 season,[5] leaving the GFC with seven members for the 2007 season.Great West Football Conference members North Dakota State and South Dakota State[6] were invited to join the conference beginning with the 2008 season.[7] 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 (and still are) all-sports members. The conferences continue to share the "Missouri Valley" name, and space in the same building inSt. Louis, but remained separate administratively until 2025, and are still separate legal entities.[8]
The University of South Dakota joined as the 10th member in 2012. The University of North Dakota joined as the 11th member in 2020, bringing back the yearly rivalries among North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State which had existed under theDivision IINorth Central Conference that NDSU and SDSU left in 2004–05.[9][10][11]
On April 4, 2022,Murray State University, who had previously been announced as a new MVC member effective in July 2022, joined the MVFC in 2023, bringing the league up to a record high of 12 active members.[12] This was short-lived however, as on May 12, 2023, founding memberWestern Illinois announced that they would be leaving the MVFC and their full time conference, theSummit League, for theOhio Valley Conference beginning in fall 2023 and 2024. They would leave the Summit beginning in fall 2023, and would leave the Valley after the conclusion of the 2023 football season.[13] Almost exactly a year after that, on May 10, 2024, fellow founding memberMissouri State announced that they accepted an invitation to joinConference USA in all sports, beginning with the 2025-26 academic year.[14]
On May 5, 2025, the conference announced a new governance structure that took effect on July 1, 2025 following longtime commissioner Patty Viverito's retirement on June 30. The new structure placed currentMissouri Valley Conference commissionerJeff Jackson as the new MVFC commissioner and currentSummit League commissioner Josh Fenton as an executive advisor to the conference. This move marked the conference's only leadership change in its 40-year history.[15] With this move, the MVFC was then formally connected to both primary conferences for 9 of the 10 conference members (Youngstown State is a member of theHorizon League) at the time.
On February 9, 2026,North Dakota State University announced they were leaving the conference to join theMountain West Conference effective July 1, 2026 after 18 years in the MVFC.[16][17]
Members departing for theMountain West Conference in 2026.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Joined | Left | Type | Nickname | Colors | Primary conference during tenure in the MVFC | Current primary conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Illinois University | Charleston, Illinois | 1895 | 1985 | 1995 | Public | Panthers | Mid-Continent | Ohio Valley | |
| Missouri State University | Springfield, Missouri | 1905 | 1985 | 2025 | Bears | Missouri Valley | CUSA | ||
| Western Illinois University | Macomb, Illinois | 1899 | 1985 | 2024 | Leathernecks | Summit | Ohio Valley | ||
| Western Kentucky University | Bowling Green, Kentucky | 1906 | 2001 | 2007 | Hilltoppers | Sun Belt | CUSA |
Current membersFormer membersDual members (list additional conferences)
12 different teams have won MVFC championships. The most recent champion isNorth Dakota State, their 12th. The school with the most championships isNorthern Iowa, with 16 (10 of them outright).
| Team | Titles | Title Years | Finals | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota State | 10 | 2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2017,2018,2019,2021,2024 | 11 | 2022 |
| Youngstown State | 4 | 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997 | 7 | 1992, 1999,2016 |
| South Dakota State | 2 | 2022,2023 | 3 | 2020 |
| Southern Illinois | 1 | 1983 | 1 | |
| Western Kentucky♯ | 1 | 2002 | 1 | |
| Illinois State | 0 | 2 | 2014,2025 | |
| Northern Iowa | 0 | 1 | 2005 |
♯Now a member of theFootball Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
| # | Team | Streak | Spoiler | Season(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | North Dakota State | 39 † | Southern Illinois[18] | 2017–2020 |
| 2. | North Dakota State | 33 | Northern Iowa | 2012–2014 |
| 3. | South Dakota State | 29 | Oklahoma State[19] | 2022–2024 |
| 4. | North Dakota State | 16 | Illinois State | 2024–2025 |
| 5. | North Dakota State | 14 | South Dakota State | 2015–2016 |
| 6. | Western Kentucky | 13 | Auburn | 2002–2003 |
| Northern Iowa | 13 | Delaware | 2006–2007 |
Members departing for theMountain West Conference in 2026.
Media related toMissouri Valley Football Conference at Wikimedia Commons