Missouri Valley Conference

The Missouri Valley Conference, also called the MVC or simply the Valley, is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States and the fourth oldest in the country, after the Big Ten Conference and two Division III conferences. It was established in 1907 by the University of Kansas, the University of Missouri, the University of Nebraska and Washington University in St. Louis as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association. When that association split in 1928, its larger schools went on to form what became the Big Eight Conference, while Drake, Grinnell, Washington University, Oklahoma A&M and Creighton formed the conference that kept the Missouri Valley name. Its members lie mainly in the Midwest, with extensions into Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas and one affiliate in Massachusetts. The conference sponsors championship play in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sports, is best known for its basketball tournament nicknamed Arch Madness in St. Louis, and has not sponsored football since 1985. Missouri State, whose baseball team joined in 1991, announced in 2024 that it would leave for Conference USA.