Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference

The Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference was a women's-only college athletic conference which operated in the midwestern United States from its inception in 1982 to its absorption by the Missouri Valley Conference in 1992.

Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference

Association	NCAA
Founded	1982; 43 years ago (1982)
Ceased	1992; 33 years ago (1992)
Commissioner	Patty Viverito
Division	Division I
No. of teams	10
Region	Midwest

History

The Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference was founded in August 1982 as a women's-only conference.^[1] The charter members consisted of Bradley University, Drake University, Eastern Illinois University, Illinois State University, Indiana State University, the University of Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois University, Southwest Missouri State University, Western Illinois University and Wichita State University.

In 1985, the Gateway added football (its only men's-sponsoring sport) with Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Southwest Missouri State and Western Illinois as the charter members. Indiana State joined the league for that sport in the following year. For football, Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois, Northern Iowa and Southwest Missouri State previously competed in the Mid-Continent Conference, while Illinois State and Southern Illinois previously competed in the then-NCAA Division I-A Missouri Valley Conference, and Indiana State previously competed as an NCAA Division I-AA independent.

In 1992, the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference was merged into the Missouri Valley Conference. The league's football side was spun off into the standalone Gateway Football Conference, known since 2008 as the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The MVFC and MVC, although separate leagues, now share five members and operate out of the same offices in St. Louis.

Members

Charter/final members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Primary conference during tenure in Gateway	New Primary conference after Gateway dissolution	Current primary conference
Bradley University	Peoria, Illinois	1897	Private	6,100	Braves	1982	1992	Missouri Valley
Drake University	Des Moines, Iowa	1881	Private	5,200	Bulldogs	1982	1992	Missouri Valley
Eastern Illinois University	Charleston, Illinois	1895	Public	11,651	Panthers	1982	1992	Mid-Continent[n 1]		OVC
Illinois State University	Normal, Illinois	1857	Public	20,800	Redbirds	1982	1992	Missouri Valley
Indiana State University	Terre Haute, Indiana	1865	Public	12,144	Sycamores	1982	1992	Missouri Valley
University of Northern Iowa	Cedar Falls, Iowa	1876	Public	13,080	Panthers	1982	1992	Mid-Continent[n 1]	Missouri Valley
Southern Illinois University	Carbondale, Illinois	1869	Public	18,847	Salukis	1982	1992	Missouri Valley
Southwest Missouri State University[n 2]	Springfield, Missouri	1905	Public	21,059	Bears (men's) Lady Bears (women's)[n 3]	1982	1992	Mid-Continent[n 1]	Missouri Valley[n 4]
Western Illinois University	Macomb, Illinois	1895	Public	13,602	Leathernecks (men's) Westerwinds (women's)[n 5]	1982	1992	Summit[n 6]		OVC
Wichita State University	Wichita, Kansas	1895	Public	14,806	Shockers	1982	1992	Missouri Valley		American

1. The Mid-Continent Conference adopted its current name of The Summit League in 2007.
2. Southwest Missouri State University adopted its current name of Missouri State University in 2005.
3. The Missouri State women's beach volleyball team, which did not exist in the Gateway era, is nicknamed "Beach Bears" instead of "Lady Bears".
4. Missouri State will join Conference USA in July 2025.
5. Western Illinois did not adopt the nickname of "Leathernecks" for women's sports teams until 2009.
6. When Western Illinois joined, the conference now known as The Summit League was known as the Mid-Continent Conference.

Membership timeline

See also

• Missouri Valley Conference
• Missouri Valley Football Conference
• Summit League