Great Lakes Valley Conference

The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division II level. Its fifteen member institutions are located in the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. There are also eight affiliate members who participate in sports not sponsored by their home conferences.

Great Lakes Valley Conference
Established	1978
Association	NCAA
Division	Division II
Members	15
Sports fielded	24 men's: 12 women's: 12
Region	Central United States
Headquarters	Indianapolis, Indiana
Commissioner	Jim Naumovich (since 2001)
Website	www.glvcsports.com
Locations

History

Old logo

Great Lakes Valley Conference

🌍

Location of GLVC members: full

The GLVC grew out of discussions that started in 1972 between the athletic directors of three schools in the greater Ohio Valley—Bellarmine College (now designated a university), Kentucky Wesleyan College, and Indiana State University at Evansville (known since 1985 as the University of Southern Indiana)—with the goal of forming a basketball conference. The discussions later grew to include the University of Indianapolis and Saint Joseph's College, and in 1978 these schools joined with Ashland University to form the GLVC. Two of the founding schools (Indianapolis and Southern Indiana) remain in the conference today.

The conference experienced steady growth through the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The GLVC first expanded in 1980 with the addition of Lewis University, followed by Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW; the athletic program is now Purdue Fort Wayne) in 1984, Northern Kentucky University the following year, and Kentucky State University in 1989. The conference lost its first members in 1994 with the departure of Ashland and Kentucky State, but nonetheless increased in size that same year, adding Quincy University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) and the University of Wisconsin–Parkside. The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) would join the next year.

The first part of the 21st century would see even more growth. While IPFW left in 2001 to move to Division I, the GLVC added three more members in 2005—Drury University, the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T), and Rockhurst University.

In October 2008, Maryville University and The University of Illinois at Springfield accepted invitations to join the GLVC and began competing in the conference in the fall of 2009. They effectively replaced SIUE, which left for Division I in the summer of 2008. For men's and women's basketball, the league split into three divisions based on geography (East, North, and West) for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons, and reverted to two divisions when William Jewell College joined in 2011. Baseball and tennis operate in a two-division format, while all other sports run a single table.

On January 19, 2010 the GLVC announced the addition of football as a league championship sport, beginning with the 2012 season. Kentucky Wesleyan, Missouri S&T and Saint Joseph's moved from the Great Lakes Football Conference, McKendree University and Quincy from the Mid-States Football Association of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and Indianapolis ended its affiliate membership in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) to join William Jewell and form the seven-team league.[1]

On October 6, 2010 it was announced that McKendree accepted an invitation to become the 17th full member of the GLVC and begin participating fully in the conference in 2012.[2] The following day, the conference announced that it had approved Central State University and Urbana University for associate membership in football, increasing the number of teams which would compete in the initial season of football to nine.[3]

On October 18, 2011 it was announced that a new league, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC; not to be confused with the former Division I Great Midwest Conference), was forming for 2013. Charter members included Kentucky Wesleyan from the GLVC along with Central State and Urbana (GLVC members in football). Joining them were Ursuline, Notre Dame College, and Cedarville, with the G-MAC hoping to expand to 10 members. The new conferences' sponsored sports were not immediately announced. Kentucky Wesleyan, with its eight national men's basketball titles, was the biggest loss for the GLVC, but, with only 680 students, the school had trouble competing in the other sports against much larger schools.

On December 8, 2011, Northern Kentucky officially accepted an invitation from the Division I Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) effective July 1, 2012.[4] It was announced on June 8, 2012 that the GLVC Council of Presidents had voted unanimously to accept Truman State University, located in Kirksville, Missouri into the conference. The Bulldogs began competition in the GLVC effective with the 2013–14 school year. Truman was a founding member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), and became the seventh Missouri school to join the GLVC since 1995.[5]

On August 27, 2012 it was announced that Central State University would leave the GLVC football conference to join the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) as a football-only member, effective July 1, 2013.[6] (Two years later, Central State would become an all-sports SIAC member.)

In 2014, two Missouri schools, Lincoln University and Southwest Baptist University, joined the GLVC in football while otherwise remaining MIAA members.[7]

On November 4, 2015, Drury announced it would begin sponsorship of wrestling in the 2016–17 season becoming the sixth conference member with a wrestling program. They joined then-current wrestling-only independents Indianapolis, Maryville, McKendree, Truman State, and Wisconsin–Parkside in GLVC competition, giving the conference an eleventh men's championship sport. Bellarmine announced on June 14, 2016 that it would absorb the wrestling program of St. Catharine College, which closed after the 2015–16 school year, and also begin competition in the 2016–17 season.[8]

St. Joseph's College closed after graduation in May 2017 due to financial troubles.[9]

The University of Wisconsin–Parkside left the GLVC after the 2017–18 academic year to join the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The conference announced on May 31, 2018 that Southwest Baptist would join as a full member from the MIAA from 2019–20.[10] The conference also announced on October 4, 2018 that Lindenwood University would join in 2019–20.[11]

Lincoln's football program had been scheduled to leave the GLVC to return to the MIAA in 2020. However, the school's membership agreement had an out clause stating that if the MIAA lost a football-playing member, Lincoln football would be allowed to immediately return to the MIAA with no penalty. Once Lindenwood was announced as a future GLVC member, the clause was activated, and Lincoln accordingly rejoined MIAA football in 2019.[7]

The most recent change to the conference's core membership was reported by Louisville media on June 17, 2019 and officially confirmed the next day. Bellarmine left the GLVC in 2020 to move to the ASUN Conference.[12][13] Less than a month later, the GLVC announced it would add two new varsity women's sports for 2019–20—bowling and lacrosse. The GLVC effectively absorbed the former MIAA bowling league; five of the inaugural GLVC bowling members had previously competed in the MIAA. Full members Drury, Lewis, Maryville, and McKendree were joined by associates Central Missouri, Lincoln, and Upper Iowa.[14] In lacrosse, the initial membership consists of seven full members—Indianapolis, Lewis, Lindenwood, Maryville, McKendree, Quincy, and Rockhurst.[15]

In November 2019, the conference announced Davenport University would join the GLVC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse and wrestling starting in 2020–21.[16] In late June 2020, Lincoln announced that it would drop its bowling team.[17]

Membership

Current members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Joined
Drury University	Springfield, Missouri	1873	Private (UCC & DOC)	1,728	Panthers		2005
University of Illinois at Springfield	Springfield, Illinois	1969	Public	4,575	Prairie Stars		2009
University of Indianapolis	Indianapolis, Indiana	1902	Private (United Methodist)	5,935	Greyhounds		1978
Lewis University	Romeoville, Illinois	1932	Private (Catholic)	6,440	Flyers		1980
Lindenwood University	St. Charles, Missouri	1827	Private (Presbyterian)	9,468	Lions		2019
Maryville University	Town and Country, Missouri	1872	Private (Catholic)	9,139	Saints		2009
McKendree University	Lebanon, Illinois	1828	Private (United Methodist)	2,499	Bearcats		2012
Missouri University of Science and Technology	Rolla, Missouri	1870	Public	8,607	Miners		2005
University of Missouri–St. Louis	St. Louis, Missouri	1963	Public	16,471	Tritons		1995
Quincy University	Quincy, Illinois	1860	Private (Catholic)	1,188	Hawks		1994
Rockhurst University	Kansas City, Missouri	1910	Private (Catholic)	3,145	Hawks		2005
University of Southern Indiana	Evansville, Indiana	1965	Public	8,962	Screaming Eagles		1978
Southwest Baptist University	Bolivar, Missouri	1878	Private (Baptist)	3,356	Bearcats		2019[lower-alpha 1]
Truman State University	Kirksville, Missouri	1867	Public	5,853	Bulldogs		2013
William Jewell College	Liberty, Missouri	1849	Private (Nonsectarian)	808	Cardinals		2011

1. Southwest Baptist was a football affiliate from 2014 to 2019 (2014–2018 seasons).

Affiliate members

Years listed in this table are calendar years. For schools that play only spring sports (such as men's lacrosse) in the GLVC, the calendar year of arrival precedes the first season of competition.

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Joined	Sport	Primary Conference
University of Alabama in Huntsville	Huntsville, Alabama	1969	Public	9,736	Chargers		2017	lacrosse (M)	Gulf South
University of Central Missouri	Warrensburg, Missouri	1871	Public	14,148	Jennies[lower-alpha 1]		2019	bowling (W)	MIAA
Davenport University	Grand Rapids, Michigan	1866	Private	7,232	Panthers		2020 (both sports)	lacrosse (M) wrestling	GLIAC
University of Montevallo	Montevallo, Alabama	1896	Public	2,616	Falcons		2017	lacrosse (M)	Gulf South
Ouachita Baptist University	Arkadelphia, Arkansas	1886	Private	1,569	Tigers		2018	wrestling	Great American
Shorter University	Rome, Georgia	1873	Private	1,452	Hawks		2017	lacrosse (M)	Gulf South
Upper Iowa University	Fayette, Iowa	1857	Private (Nonsectarian)	6,764	Peacocks		2019	bowling (W)	Northern Sun
Young Harris College	Young Harris, Georgia	1886	Private	1,425	Mountain Lions		2017	lacrosse (M)	Peach Belt

1. Central Missouri uses two nicknames—Mules for men's teams and Jennies for women's.

Former members

Institution	Location	Founded	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current Conference
Ashland University	Ashland, Ohio	1878	Eagles	1978	1994	GLIAC (G-MAC in 2021)
Bellarmine University	Louisville, Kentucky	1950	Knights	1978	2020	ASUN (NCAA D-I)
Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne[lower-alpha 1]	Fort Wayne, Indiana	1964	Mastodons	1984	2001	Horizon (NCAA D-I)
Kentucky State University	Frankfort, Kentucky	1886	Thorobreds & Thorobrettes	1989	1994	Southern Intercollegiate
Kentucky Wesleyan College	Owensboro, Kentucky	1858	Panthers	1978	2012[lower-alpha 2]	Great Midwest
Northern Kentucky University	Highland Heights, Kentucky	1968	Norse	1985	2012	Horizon (NCAA D-I)
Saint Joseph's College	Rensselaer, Indiana	1889	Pumas	1978	2017	Closed in 2017
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville	Edwardsville, Illinois	1957	Cougars	1994	2008	Ohio Valley (NCAA D-I)
University of Wisconsin–Parkside	Somers, Wisconsin	1968	Rangers	1994	2018	GLIAC

1. On July 1, 2018, Indiana University and Purdue University dissolved their merged Fort Wayne campus. IU took over IPFW's academic programs in health sciences under the name of Indiana University Fort Wayne, with remaining IPFW academic programs becoming part of Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW). The IPFW athletic program was inherited by PFW, with the athletic branding changed to Purdue Fort Wayne.
2. Kentucky Wesleyan remained a GLVC football affiliate through the 2013 season.

Former affiliate members

Years listed in this table reflect calendar years. For fall sports, the calendar year of departure is the year after the last season of competition. For spring sports, the calendar year of arrival precedes the first season of competition.

Institution	Location	Founded	Nickname	Joined	Left	Sport	Primary Conference
Central State University	Wilberforce, Ohio	1887	Marauders	2012	2013	football	Southern Intercollegiate
Lincoln University	Jefferson City, Missouri	1866	Blue Tigers	2014 (football) 2019 (bowling)	2019 (football) 2020 (bowling)	football bowling (W)	MIAA[lower-alpha 1]
Urbana University	Urbana, Ohio	1850	Blue Knights	2012	2013	football	Closed in 2020

1. Lincoln now plays football in the MIAA, and dropped bowling after the 2019–20 school year.

Membership timeline

 Full member (all sports)   Full member (non-football)   Associate member (football-only)   Associate member (sport) 

Sports

"Core sports" – sports that all full conference members are required to sponsor – are indicated with a green background.[18]

A 2-divisional format is used for baseball and tennis (M / W).	A 3-divisional format is used for basketball (M / W) and volleyball, the third division is named Central.
East Bellarmine Illinois–Springfield Indianapolis Lewis McKendree Southern Indiana West Drury Maryville Missouri S&T Missouri–St. Louis Quincy Rockhurst Truman William Jewell	East Bellarmine Indianapolis Lewis Southern Indiana Central Illinois–Springfield Maryville McKendree Missouri–St. Louis Quincy West Drury Missouri S&T Rockhurst Truman William Jewell

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Bowling		Y
Cross Country	Y	Y
Football	Y
Golf	Y	Y
Lacrosse	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Swimming & Diving	Y	Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track & Field Indoor	Y	Y
Track & Field Outdoor	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y
Wrestling	Y

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field Indoor	Track & Field Outdoor	Wrestling	Total GLVC Sports
Drury	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Illinois–Springfield	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y		Y	Y	Y		8
Indianapolis	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Lewis	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		9
Lindenwood	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Maryville	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	10
McKendree	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Missouri S&T	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y		9
Missouri–St. Louis	Y	Y			Y		Y	Y	Y				6
Quincy	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		10
Rockhurst	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y		Y				6
Southern Indiana	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y		Y	Y	Y		8
Southwest Baptist	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	Y	Y		9
Truman	Y	Y	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
William Jewell	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		10
Totals	15	15	13	8	14	5	15	10	13	13	13	6	140
Affiliate Members
Alabama–Huntsville						Y							1
Davenport						Y						Y	2
Montevallo						Y							1
Ouachita Baptist												Y	1
Shorter						Y							1
Young Harris						Y							1

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Bowling[lower-alpha 1]	Cross Country	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field Indoor	Track & Field Outdoor	Volleyball	Total GLVC Sports
Drury	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Illinois–Springfield	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Indianapolis	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Lewis	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Lindenwood	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Maryville	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
McKendree	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Missouri S&T	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	8
Missouri–St. Louis	Y			Y		Y	Y	Y	Y			Y	7
Quincy	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Rockhurst	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y			Y	8
Southern Indiana	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Southwest Baptist	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Truman	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
William Jewell	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Totals	15	5	14	15	7	15	15	9	14	13	13	15	149
Affiliate Members
Central Missouri		Y											1
Upper Iowa		Y											1

1. De facto Division I sport. The NCAA holds a single championship meet open to members of all divisions.

Other sponsored sports by school

School		Men			Women
		Volleyball [lower-alpha 1]	Water Polo [lower-alpha 1]		Field Hockey	Ice Hockey [lower-alpha 1]	Water Polo [lower-alpha 1]	Fencing [lower-alpha 1]
Lewis		MIVA
Lindenwood		MIVA			ECAC	CHA
McKendree		MIVA	CWPA				WWPA	MFC
Quincy		MIVA

1. De facto Division I sport. The NCAA conducts national championship events open to members of all divisions in fencing and men's and women's water polo. In men's volleyball and women's ice hockey, the NCAA's top-level championship events are open to members of both Divisions I and II.

In addition to the listings in this table, Southwest Baptist treats its all-female dance team as a varsity team, and added a varsity team in the all-female cheerleading discipline of STUNT for 2018–19. The school also sponsors a coeducational varsity eSports team, specifically in League of Legends.

Championships

Main article: Great Lakes Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament

National champions

GLVC schools have won 28 NCAA Division II national championships:

Year	Sport	School
1987	men's basketball	Kentucky Wesleyan
1990	men's basketball	Kentucky Wesleyan
1995	men's basketball	Southern Indiana
1999	men's basketball	Kentucky Wesleyan
2000	women's basketball	Northern Kentucky
2001	men's basketball	Kentucky Wesleyan
2005	men's swimming & diving	Drury
2006	men's swimming & diving	Drury
2007	men's swimming & diving	Drury
2007	women's swimming & diving	Drury
2007	softball	SIU Edwardsville
2008	women's basketball	Northern Kentucky
2008	men's swimming & diving	Drury
2009	men's swimming & diving	Drury
2009	women's swimming & diving	Drury
2010	men's swimming & diving	Drury
2010	women's swimming & diving	Drury
2010	baseball	Southern Indiana
2010	men's soccer	Northern Kentucky
2011	men's basketball	Bellarmine
2011	men's swimming & diving	Drury
2011	women's swimming & diving	Drury
2012	men's swimming & diving	Drury
2013	men's basketball	Drury
2013	men's swimming & diving	Drury
2014	men's swimming & diving	Drury
2014	baseball	Southern Indiana
2015	women's golf	Indianapolis
2018	women's golf	Indianapolis
2018	softball	Southern Indiana

References

1. GLVC Establishes Timeline for Football Sponsorship - Press release - January 19, 2010
2. Staff (October 7, 2010). "GLVC adds McKendree". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
3. GLVC Welcomes Two Associate Members for Football - Press release - October 8, 2010
4. "Northern Kentucky to Join Atlantic Sun" (Press release). Atlantic Sun Conference. December 8, 2011. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
5. "Truman moving to GLVC". The Kirksville Daily Express. June 8, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
6. "SIAC Approves Central State University For Conference Membership" (Press release). Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. August 27, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
7. Boyce, David (October 25, 2018). "Boyce's Beat: The MIAA Path of Lincoln's Football Return in 2019". Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
8. "Bellarmine to start men's wrestling team". Bellarmine University. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
9. "Alumni Short Of Goal To Stop St. Joseph's College Closure". Retrieved April 6, 2017.
10. "GLVC Admits Southwest Baptist University as Full-Time Member" (Press release). Great Lakes Valley Conference. May 31, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
11. "GLVC Admits Lindenwood University as 16th Member" (Press release). Great Lakes Valley Conference. October 4, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
12. Crawford, Eric (June 17, 2019). "Done D-1 Deal". Louisville, KY: WDRB. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
13. "ASUN Conference Announces Addition of Bellarmine University" (Press release). ASUN Conference. June 18, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
14. "GLVC Announces Sport Sponsorship of Women's Bowling" (Press release). Great Lakes Valley Conference. July 3, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
15. "GLVC Announces Sport Sponsorship of Women's Lacrosse" (Press release). Great Lakes Valley Conference. July 2, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
16. Smith, Jeff (November 12, 2019). "Davenport to Become GLVC Associate Member in Men's Lacrosse, Wrestling". GLVC. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
17. "Lincoln Discontinues Bowling Program" (Press release). Lincoln Blue Tigers. June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
18. "Benedictine Admitted to NCAA DII Membership Process" (Press release). Benedictine Eagles. July 13, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.

External links

• Official website