The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Its fourteen member institutions, of which all but one are public schools, are located in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. The MIAA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in Missouri.
Jon Llewellyn Kyl is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senator for Arizona from 1995 to 2013. Following the death of John McCain in 2018, Kyl briefly returned to the Senate; his resignation led to the appointment of Martha McSally in 2019. A Republican, he held both of Arizona's Senate seats at different times, serving alongside McCain during his first stint. Kyl was Senate Minority Whip from 2007 until 2013. He first joined the lobbying firm Covington & Burling after retiring in 2013, then rejoined in 2019.
John Henry Kyl was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Iowa's 4th congressional district from 1959 to 1965 and again from 1967 to 1973. He was a member of the Republican Party.
The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska, and Washington University in St. Louis. Additionally, the University of Iowa was an original member of the MVIAA, while maintaining joint membership in the Western Conference.
Iowa Wesleyan University was a private university in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, United States. It was Iowa's first co-educational institution of higher learning and the oldest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The institution was affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It closed at the end of the 2022–23 academic year due to financial challenges.
University of Wisconsin–Platteville is a public university in Platteville, Wisconsin, United States. Part of the University of Wisconsin System, it offers bachelor's and master's degrees across three colleges and enrolls approximately 6,500 students as of 2022.
Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU) is a private Methodist-affiliated university in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2017, it had approximately 2,100 students, including 1,500 full-time students and 300 faculty and staff. The university has 119 undergraduate majors, minors, and pre-professional programs in addition to three graduate programs.
Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) is a private evangelical Christian university headquartered in Marion, Indiana, and affiliated with the Wesleyan Church. It is the largest private university in Indiana.
The University of St. Francis (USF) is a private Franciscan university with its main campus in Joliet, Illinois. It enrolls nearly 3,200 students at locations throughout the country with about 1,300 students at its main campus.
The Wayne State College Arboretum is located on and around the main campus of Wayne State College, 1111 Main Street, Wayne, Nebraska. It is an affiliate of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum.
The Kansas State Wildcats are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Kansas State University. The official color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are generally used as complementary colors.
Peru State College (Peru) is a public college in Peru, Nebraska. It was founded by members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1865, making it the first and oldest institution of higher education in Nebraska.
Byron Daniel Chamberlain is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wayne State Wildcats. He was selected in the seventh round of the 1995 NFL draft and played professionally for the Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, and the Washington Redskins. Chamberlain won back-to-back Super Bowl championships as a member of the Broncos. He was voted to the 2002 Pro Bowl while with the Vikings.
Brad Allen Ottis is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round of the 1994 NFL draft. He played for the Los Angeles/St.Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. Ottis played college football for the Wayne State Wildcats with Byron Chamberlain, Brett Salisbury and Damon Thomas, who all played professionally. After playing in the NFL, Ottis signed with the Sioux City Bandits.
The Kansas State Wildcats football program is the intercollegiate football program of the Kansas State University Wildcats. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and the team competes in the Big 12 Conference.
The Abilene Christian Wildcats football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Abilene Christian University located in the U.S. state of Texas. The team was a member of the Southland Conference through the 2020–21 season, but joined the Western Athletic Conference in July 2021, coinciding with that league's reinstatement of football as an official conference sport. After the 2022 season, the WAC fully merged its football league with that of the ASUN Conference, creating what eventually became the United Athletic Conference, and ACU accordingly moved its football team to the new league. The school's first football team was fielded in 1919. The team plays its home games at the on-campus Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.
The Wayne State Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Wayne State College, located in Wayne, Nebraska, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) in all sports since the 1999–2000 academic year. The Wildcats previously competed in the Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1976–77 to 1988–89; as well as in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) as a provisional member during the 1989–90 school year.
Damon Thomas is a former professional American football player born in Clovis, California.
Connie Renea Kunzmann was a professional basketball player who was a member of the Iowa Cornets and the Nebraska Wranglers in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) from 1978 to 1981. Kunzmann made the transition from halfcourt six-on-six basketball in high school to the traditional five-on-five full court game in college and the pros. She attended Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska, where she played on the school's basketball and softball teams. In 1978, she signed with the Iowa Cornets of the newly-formed WBL, which was the first women's professional basketball league in the United States.
Clare Duwelius is an American basketball executive who is the general manager of the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Duwelius started with the Lynx in 2014 as the Basketball Operations Coordinator prior to being elevated to Basketball Operations Manager in 2016 and later assistant general manager in 2018.
