List of Missouri Valley Football Conference champions

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

Champions by year

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Record Ranking^
Year Champions Conference Overall STATS^^ Coaches Playoff finish Head coach
1985 Northern Iowa 5–0 11–2 4 NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal 33–41 vs. Georgia Southern Darrell Mudra
1986 Eastern Illinois 5–1 11–2 3 NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 21–28 vs. Eastern Kentucky Al Molde
1987 Northern Iowa 6–0 10–4 4 NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal 41–44OT vs. Louisiana-Monroe Darrell Mudra
1988 Western Illinois 6–0 10–2 3 NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 32–35 vs. Western Kentucky Bruce Craddock
1989 Missouri State 5–1 10–3 9 NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 22–55 vs Stephen F. Austin Jesse Branch
1990 Missouri State 5–1 9–3 6 NCAA Division I-AA First Round 35–41 vs. Idaho Jesse Branch
Northern Iowa 5–1 8–4 11 NCAA Division I-AA First Round 3–20 vs. Boise State Terry Allen
1991 Northern Iowa 5–1 11–2 4 NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 13–41 vs. Marshall Terry Allen
1992 Northern Iowa 5–1 12–2 3 NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal 7–19 vs. Youngstown State Terry Allen
1993 Northern Iowa 5–1 8–4 13 NCAA Division I-AA First Round 21–272OT at Boston University Terry Allen
1994 Northern Iowa 6–0 8–4 11 NCAA Division I-AA First Round 21–23 at Montana Terry Allen
1995 Eastern Illinois 5–1 10-2 14 NCAA Division I-AA First Round 29–34 at Stephen F. Austin Bob Spoo
Northern Iowa 5–1 8–5 13 NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 24–41 at Marshall Terry Allen
1996 Northern Iowa 5–0 12–2 3 NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal 14–31 at Marshall Terry Allen
1997 Western Illinois 6–0 11–2 6 NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 12–14 vs. McNeese State Randy Ball
1998 Western Illinois 5–1 11–3 4 NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal 14–42 at Georgia Southern Randy Ball
1999 Illinois State 6–0 11–3 3 NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal 17–31 at Georgia Southern Todd Berry
2000 Western Illinois 5–1 9–3 12 NCAA Division I-AA First Round 7–37 vs. Lehigh Don Patterson
2001 Northern Iowa 6–1 11–3 4 NCAA Division I-AA 0–38 at Montana Mark Farley
2002 Western Illinois 6–1 11–2 5 NCAA Division I-AA 28–31 vs. Western Kentucky Don Patterson
Western Kentucky 6–1 12–3 1 National Champion 34–14 vs. McNeese State Jack Harbaugh
2003 Northern Iowa 6–1 10–3 5 NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 7–37 at Delaware Mark Farley
Southern Illinois 6–1 10–2 9 NCAA Division I-AA First Round 7–48 at Delaware Jerry Kill
2004 Southern Illinois 7–0 10–2 9 NCAA Division I-AA First Round 31–35 vs. Eastern Washington Jerry Kill
2005 Northern Iowa 5–2 11–4 2 NCAA Division I-AA Runner-up 16–21 vs. Appalachian State Mark Farley
Southern Illinois 5–2 9–4 7 NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal 24–38 at Appalachian State Jerry Kill
Youngstown State 5–2 8–3 14 None Jon Heacock
2006 Youngstown State 6–1 11–3 4 NCAA FCS Semifinal 24–49 at Appalachian State Jon Heacock
2007 Northern Iowa 6–0 12–1 4 5 NCAA FCS Quarterfinal 27–39 vs. Delaware Mark Farley
2008 Northern Iowa 7–1 12–3 4 4 NCAA FCS Semifinal 20–21 vs. Richmond Mark Farley
Southern Illinois 7–1 9–3 11 10 NCAA FCS First Round 20–29 vs. New Hampshire Dale Lennon
2009 Southern Illinois 8–0 11–2 6 6 NCAA FCS Quarterfinal 3–24 at William & Mary Dale Lennon
2010 Northern Iowa 6–2 7–5 19 18 NCAA FCS First Round 7–14 vs. Lehigh Mark Farley
2011 North Dakota State 7–1 14–1 1 1 National Champion 17–6 vs. Sam Houston Craig Bohl
2012 North Dakota State 7–1 14–1 1 1 National Champion 39–13 vs. Sam Houston Craig Bohl
2013 North Dakota State 8–0 15–0 1 1 National Champion 35–7 vs. Towson Craig Bohl
2014 Illinois State 7–1 13–2 2 2 NCAA FCS Runner-up 27–29 vs. North Dakota State Brock Spack
North Dakota State 7–1 15–1 1 1 National Champion 29–27 vs. Illinois State Chris Klieman
2015 Illinois State 7–1 10–3 5 5 NCAA FCS Quarterfinal 27–39 vs. Richmond Brock Spack
North Dakota State 7–1 13–2 1 1 National Champion 37–10 vs. Jacksonville State Chris Klieman
2016 North Dakota State 7–1 12–2 3 3 NCAA FCS Semifinal 17–27 vs. James Madison Chris Klieman
South Dakota State 7–1 9–4 6 7 NCAA FCS Quarterfinal 10–36 at North Dakota State John Stiegelmeier
2017 North Dakota State 7–1 14–1 1 1 National Champion 17–13 vs. James Madison Chris Klieman
2018 North Dakota State 8–0 15–0 1 1 National Champion 38–24 vs. Eastern Washington Chris Klieman
2019 North Dakota State 8–0 16–0 1 1 National Champion 28–20 vs. James Madison Matt Entz
2020^^^ Missouri State 5–1 5–5 13 13 NCAA FCS First Round 10–44 vs. North Dakota Bobby Petrino
South Dakota State 5–1 8–2 2 2 NCAA FCS Runner-up 21–23 vs. Sam Houston John Stiegelmeier
North Dakota 4–1 5–2 6 6 NCAA FCS Quarterfinal 21–34 at James Madison Bubba Schweigert
2021 North Dakota State 7–1 14–1 1 1 National Champion 38–10 vs. Montana State Matt Entz
2022 South Dakota State 8–0 14–1 1 1 National Champion 45–21 vs. North Dakota State John Stiegelmeier
2023 South Dakota State 8–0 15–0 1 1 National Champion 23–3 vs. Montana Jimmy Rogers
2024 North Dakota State Tim Polasek

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

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Team MVFC
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
10
6
2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
Southern Illinois
5
2
2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009
Western Illinois
5
4
1988, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002
South Dakota State
4
2
2016, 2020, 2022, 2023
Illinois State
3
1
1999, 2014, 2015
Missouri State
3
1
1989, 1990, 2020
Eastern Illinois
2
1
1986, 1995
Youngstown State
2
1
2005, 2006
North Dakota
1
0
2020
Western Kentucky
1
0
2002
Indiana State
0
0
South Dakota
0
0
Murray State
0
0
Total
28
Keys
  • Italics indicate a school no longer competing in the MVFC
  • Bold indicates an outright conference championship

Championships by head coach

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Head Coach School MVFC
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
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
Jimmy Rogers South Dakota State 1

References

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  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.