List of Missouri Valley Football Conference champions

Last updated

This is a list of yearly Missouri Valley Football Conference champions. Co-champions are listed in alphabetical order. Italics indicate a school that no longer competes in the MVFC

Contents

Champions by year

RecordRanking^
YearChampionsConferenceOverallSTATS^^CoachesPlayoff finishHead coach
1985 Northern Iowa 5–011–24NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal 33–41 vs. Georgia Southern Darrell Mudra
1986 Eastern Illinois 5–111–23NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 21–28 vs. Eastern Kentucky Al Molde
1987 Northern Iowa 6–010–44NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal 41–44OT vs. Louisiana-Monroe Darrell Mudra
1988 Western Illinois 6–010–23NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 32–35 vs. Western Kentucky Bruce Craddock
1989 Missouri State 5–110–39NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 22–55 vs Stephen F. Austin Jesse Branch
1990 Missouri State 5–19–36NCAA Division I-AA First Round 35–41 vs. Idaho Jesse Branch
Northern Iowa 5–18–411NCAA Division I-AA First Round 3–20 vs. Boise State Terry Allen
1991 Northern Iowa 5–111–24NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 13–41 vs. Marshall Terry Allen
1992 Northern Iowa 5–112–23NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal 7–19 vs. Youngstown State Terry Allen
1993 Northern Iowa 5–18–413NCAA Division I-AA First Round 21–272OT at Boston University Terry Allen
1994 Northern Iowa 6–08–411NCAA Division I-AA First Round 21–23 at Montana Terry Allen
1995 Eastern Illinois 5–110-214NCAA Division I-AA First Round 29–34 at Stephen F. Austin Bob Spoo
Northern Iowa 5–18–513NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 24–41 at Marshall Terry Allen
1996 Northern Iowa 5–012–23NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal 14–31 at Marshall Terry Allen
1997 Western Illinois 6–011–26NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 12–14 vs. McNeese State Randy Ball
1998 Western Illinois 5–111–34NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal 14–42 at Georgia Southern Randy Ball
1999 Illinois State 6–011–33NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal 17–31 at Georgia Southern Todd Berry
2000 Western Illinois 5–19–312NCAA Division I-AA First Round 7–37 vs. Lehigh Don Patterson
2001 Northern Iowa 6–111–34NCAA Division I-AA 0–38 at Montana Mark Farley
2002 Western Illinois 6–111–25NCAA Division I-AA 28–31 vs. Western Kentucky Don Patterson
Western Kentucky 6–112–31National Champion 34–14 vs. McNeese State Jack Harbaugh
2003 Northern Iowa 6–110–35NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 7–37 at Delaware Mark Farley
Southern Illinois 6–110–29NCAA Division I-AA First Round 7–48 at Delaware Jerry Kill
2004 Southern Illinois 7–010–29NCAA Division I-AA First Round 31–35 vs. Eastern Washington Jerry Kill
2005 Northern Iowa 5–211–42NCAA Division I-AA Runner-up 16–21 vs. Appalachian State Mark Farley
Southern Illinois 5–29–47NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 24–38 at Appalachian State Jerry Kill
Youngstown State 5–28–314None Jon Heacock
2006 Youngstown State 6–111–34 NCAA FCS Semifinal 24–49 at Appalachian State Jon Heacock
2007 Northern Iowa 6–012–145 NCAA FCS Quarterfinal 27–39 vs. Delaware Mark Farley
2008 Northern Iowa 7–112–344 NCAA FCS Semifinal 20–21 vs. Richmond Mark Farley
Southern Illinois 7–19–31110 NCAA FCS First Round 20–29 vs. New Hampshire Dale Lennon
2009 Southern Illinois 8–011–266 NCAA FCS Quarterfinal 3–24 at William & Mary Dale Lennon
2010 Northern Iowa 6–27–51918 NCAA FCS First Round 7–14 vs. Lehigh Mark Farley
2011 North Dakota State 7–114–111 National Champion 17–6 vs. Sam Houston Craig Bohl
2012 North Dakota State 7–114–111 National Champion 39–13 vs. Sam Houston Craig Bohl
2013 North Dakota State 8–015–011 National Champion 35–7 vs. Towson Craig Bohl
2014 Illinois State 7–113–222 NCAA FCS Runner-up 27–29 vs. North Dakota State Brock Spack
North Dakota State 7–115–111 National Champion 29–27 vs. Illinois State Chris Klieman
2015 Illinois State 7–110–355 NCAA FCS Quarterfinal 27–39 vs. Richmond Brock Spack
North Dakota State 7–113–211 National Champion 37–10 vs. Jacksonville State Chris Klieman
2016 North Dakota State 7–112–233 NCAA FCS Semifinal 17–27 vs. James Madison Chris Klieman
South Dakota State 7–19–467 NCAA FCS Quarterfinal 10–36 at North Dakota State John Stiegelmeier
2017 North Dakota State 7–114–111 National Champion 17–13 vs. James Madison Chris Klieman
2018 North Dakota State 8–015–011 National Champion 38–24 vs. Eastern Washington Chris Klieman
2019 North Dakota State 8–016–011 National Champion 28–20 vs. James Madison Matt Entz
2020^^^ Missouri State 5–15–51313 NCAA FCS First Round 10–44 vs. North Dakota Bobby Petrino
South Dakota State 5–18–222 NCAA FCS Runner-up 21–23 vs. Sam Houston John Stiegelmeier
North Dakota 4–15–266 NCAA FCS Quarterfinal 21–34 at James Madison Bubba Schweigert
2021 North Dakota State 7–114–111 National Champion 38–10 vs. Montana State Matt Entz
2022 South Dakota State 8–014–111 National Champion 45–21 vs. North Dakota State John Stiegelmeier
2023 South Dakota State 8–015–011 National Champion 23–3 vs. Montana Jimmy Rogers
2024 North Dakota State 7–114–211 National Champion 35–32 vs. Montana State Tim Polasek
South Dakota 7–111–344 NCAA FCS Semifinal 17–31 at Montana State Bob Nielson
South Dakota State 7–112–333 NCAA FCS Semifinal 21–28 at North Dakota State Jimmy Rogers
2025

Source: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Note: The conference was known as the Gateway Football Conference prior from 1992-2008. Then, from 1982-92 the conference was known as the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference.

^ Final ranking after the championship game that season
^^ The STATS poll was supplied by The Sports Network prior to 2015
^^^ 2020 season was played in Spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Championships by team

TeamMVFC
titles
Outright
MVFC
titles
Winning years
Northern Iowa
16
10
1985, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011
North Dakota State
11
6
2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2024
Western Illinois
5
4
1988, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002
Southern Illinois
5
2
2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009
South Dakota State
5
2
2016, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024
Missouri State
3
1
1989, 1990, 2020
Illinois State
3
1
1999, 2014, 2015
Eastern Illinois
2
1
1986, 1995
Youngstown State
2
1
2005, 2006
Western Kentucky
1
0
2002
North Dakota
1
0
2020
South Dakota
1
0
2024
Indiana State
0
0
Murray State
0
0
Total
28
Keys

Championships by head coach

Head CoachSchoolMVFC
Championships
Terry Allen Northern Iowa 7
Mark Farley Northern Iowa 6
Chris Klieman North Dakota State 5
John Stiegelmeier South Dakota State 3
Craig Bohl North Dakota State 3
Darrell Mudra Northern Iowa 2
Jesse Branch Missouri State 2
Randy Ball Western Illinois 2
Don Patterson Western Illinois 2
Jerry Kill Southern Illinois 2
Jon Heacock Youngstown State 2
Dale Lennon Southern Illinois 2
Matt Entz North Dakota State 2
Brock Spack Illinois State 2
Jimmy Rogers South Dakota State 2
Al Molde Eastern Illinois 1
Bruce Craddock Western Illinois 1
Bob Spoo Eastern Illinois 1
Todd Berry Illinois State 1
Jack Harbaugh Western Kentucky 1
Bobby Petrino Missouri State 1
Bubba Schweigert North Dakota 1
Bob Nielson South Dakota 1
Tim Polasek North Dakota State 1

References

  1. "Season Records" (PDF). valley-football.org. Missouri Valley Football Conference. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  2. "North Dakota State University Football All-Time Results". stats.gobison.com. North Dakota State Bison Athletics. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  3. "Football Record Book" (PDF). goleathernecks.com. Western Illinois Leathernecks Athletics. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  4. "2022 Football Record Book" (PDF). siusalukis.com. Southern Illinois Salukis Athletics. Retrieved December 7, 2022.