It’s Official – The Racers are Missouri Valley Conference Members
After the announcement of the Racers' partnership with the MVC and its member institutions on Jan. 6, the Racers are officially Valley members.
They join other MVC members: Belmont University (Nashville, Tenn.), Bradley University (Peoria, Ill.), Drake University (Des Moines, Iowa), the University of Evansville (Evansville, Ind.), Illinois State University (Normal, Ill.), Indiana State University (Terre Haute, Ind.), Missouri State University (Springfield, Mo.), the University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls, Iowa), Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, Ill.), UIC (Chicago, Ill.) and Valparaiso University (Valparaiso, Ind).
On this historic day, the Racers join the Belmont Bruins and the UIC Flames as the trio goes into the MVC as new members in 2022.
Honoring their 74 years of membership in the Ohio Valley Conference as one of the founding members in 1948, Murray State remains grateful for the experience of many decades in the OVC.
Murray State's history of 97 years of collegiate athletics included 139 conference championships, 130 NCAA postseason appearances.
As summer moves into fall, the Murray State football program is also poised to play their final season in the OVC before joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2023. The decorated Racer Rifle program will remain in the OVC.
How did we get here? It was a team of university leaders, student-athletes, donors and supporters that put Murray State's best foot forward and shared the story of who we are and what we are all about.
"It is hard to believe that this week is finally here," said Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson.
"This effort involved more than a year's worth of analysis, preparation and presenting. Joining the Missouri Valley Conference is a huge new chapter in Murray State's history.
For 74 years we were in one conference as one of the founders of the Ohio Valley Conference and that history will always be important to us.
In going to the Valley, we have 91 percent of our current student body and 80 percent of our alumni come from the Missouri Valley footprint.
As we started going down this road, we talked with our coaches and student-athletes and they were all on board with it.
We're prepared to go into the competitive environment of the Missouri Valley Conference."
"An incredible amount of work behind the scenes was done by a lot of people to get this done," said former MSU Board of Regents Chairman, Eric Crigler.
"This is a big day to become a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. It's historic on many levels.
The 350-plus student-athletes at Murray State are going to live a heightened level of competition and have a great experience in the Valley.
There is a great overlap within the Valley that opens up a new window for recruiting for our teams and we also get to partner with the other prestigious universities in the league."
The Missouri Valley Conference is the nation's second-oldest NCAA Division I conference and has been serving its member institutions and their student-athletes for 116 years. Commissioner Jeff Jackson and a top-level staff are guiding the Valley to greater accomplishments and making the league a stronger group.
The first two games for the Racers in the Valley will come (Sept. 22) when Racer Soccer hosts Belmont at Cutchin Field in a 3 p.m. match and the next day (Sept. 23) when Racer Volleyball plays host to Southern Illinois at Racer Arena in a 6 p.m. game.
Source: https://goracers.com/news/2022/7/1/general-its-official-the-racers-are-missouri-valley-conference-members.aspx
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