I know the Gateway Conference runs both the Gateway and Pioneer League for Football. How about combining both of them and ran by the MVC. IF the MVC adds Butler and Western Kentucky and form into this MVC.

West
Creighton
Drake
Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
SMS
Wichita State

East
Bradley
Butler
Evansville
Illinois State
Indiana State
Western Kentucky

With this setup 6 schools, Illinois State, Indiana State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, SMS, and Western Kentucky have scholarship football, Drake and Butler have non-scholarship football. That is 8 of 12 schools have football of some sort. Now, my propsal is that Creighton, Bradley, Evansville, and Wichita State add non scholarship football. I know that Bradley, Evansville, and Wichita State all have had football and dropped it. Thats why I say they pick it up at the non-scholarship level. Now if they pick up non-scholarship football that puts all schools with football. Now they split up in these 2 divisions. Western Illinois, Youngstown State stay on as football only member schools, with Dayton and Valpo as football only member schools.

MVC
Scholarship Division
Illinois State
Indiana State
Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
SMS
Western Kentucky
Western Illinois*
Youngstown State*

Non-Scholarship Division
Butler
Bradley
Creighton
Drake
Evansville
Wichita State
Dayton*
Valpo*

I've said it before...

You have conferences like the cAA who are ready to add ALL-SPORT members just to be able to get 6+ 1AA members so that they cna start a 1AA football league, I don't know why the MVC doesn't do the same.

All they need to do is tkae the existing 5 schools and add 1 more for football-only. OR, you add Western Kentucky and you have your 6 schools.

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You missed my point...

There are 5 1AA schools from the Gateway ALREADY IN the MVC. Meaning, that the MVC alreayd holds th power. All they need to do is say, "hey, we're going to startup MVC football and the 5 of us are leaving. Who want's in as an associate member?".

MVC Members in Gateway:

Illinois State
Indiana State
Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
SMS

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The Gateway Football Conference is run out of the MVC offices in St. Louis. It is just a matter of changing the name of the league.

By the way, 1-AA schools that have non-scholarship programs are there for a reason. The NCAA mandated that you cannot "play down" in any sport, thusly schools with programs in D-II and D-III had to move up. That is why you have the Pioneer, Northeast, and Metro Atlantic football conferences. Also, the Northeast and Metro Atlantic champions play in the ECAC Bowl for the best non-scholarship program in the northeast.

Does anyone remember when Dayton was the terror of D-III?

Exactly, civilrat. The MVC should take advantage of the marketing advantages of having their name out there year round by sponsoring football.

In fact, if I were the Missouri Valley Schools, I'd push for a change of the conference name to Gateway. It's more marketable, and geographicly accurate without limiting itself should they expand outside of the current footprint (Like the Atlantic 10 with Xavier, St. Louis and Dayton).

Which sounds better to everyone else?

Gateway Conference or Missouri Valley Conference.

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The Missouri Valley Conference name has been around since 1906. The conference is very proud of that, that is why they will never change the name.

The MVC actually sponsored football up until 1986. There is a long and varied history of football under the MVC banner. In fact they were the forerunner of the Big 8, when Iowa St, Kansas, K State, Mizzou, Nebraska and Oklahoma left the conference in 1928 to form the Big 6 conference.

Football members of the MVC have included: Drake, Oklahoma St, Tulsa, Wichita St, Houston, North Texas, Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, New Mexico St and others.

MVC football was hurt by the re-organization of Div. I-A and Div. I-AA in 1982 because half of the MVC members fell under I-A and half under I-AA. They finally dropped football after the `85 season because of this fact.

Prior to the formation of the Gateway Football Conference and the demise of MVC football, the conference had a "football-first" outlook in expansion, which, in turn, expanded the geographic basis of the conference, not unlike recent expansions witnessed in the ACC, Big West, Sun Belt, or WAC. At various points, geographic "outliers" such as New Mexico State, West Texas, and Detroit (relatively speaking) were members of the conference solely because of the fact that they retained a football program. Prior to the 1982 I-A/I-AA reorganization (and New Mexico State's subsequent departure), the MVC roughly stretched from El Paso (Las Cruces, NM) and Chicago (Normal/Peoria, IL). That's some serious travel. Interestingly enough, the three most recent additions to the MVC were participants in the MVC-sponsored football leagues (Southwest Missouri State, Northern Iowa, and former PFL member Evansville). I believe that the PFL was originally under the aegis of the MCC/Horizon League, but the MCC commissioner, faced with the near-destruction of the league, transferred authority to the MVC in order to ensure the future of his conference, a future that was ensured by a devastating raid on the Mid-Continent Conference, which, in turn, merged with the East Coast Conference (1993-94). At the time of its formation, the PFL featured three MCC members (Butler, Dayton, Evansville) and three "others" (Drake, San Diego, Valpo).

There are more A-10 members whose football programs participate outside of the [Yankee Conference] rather than within it, those schools being Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, and Temple. Does anyone seriously believe that the A-10 receives that much more positive name recognition by virtue of the Yankee Conference using its moniker? Note the "official" names of the football entities sponsored by the A-10 and the MAAC. A-10 uses "A-10 Football Conference" and MAAC uses "MAAC Football League." If we were seriously to believe that football membership in the A-10 and MAAC were any real indicators of overall conference membership, why would LaSalle (MAAC) and Villanova (A-10) both be allowed to compete in conferences which they departed for "greener pastures." Western Kentucky tried to have it both ways in the OVC for a time, but then the OVC regained its senses, and "football-only" WKU, a former OVC member, became affiliated with the "football-only" Gateway Football Conference. Would Western Illinois be justified in assuming an ascension to MVC membership if the MVC name were to be used in I-AA football? I personally commend the GFC for not using the MVC name in either the MVC or the PFL, and I wish more conferences such as the...ahem..."A-10"...would discontinue the process, for reasons previously mentioned.