Midwestern Conference

The Midwestern Conference, alternatively Conference of Midwestern Universities,^[1] was a college athletic conference which operated in Illinois and Indiana from 1970 to 1972. It was composed of schools which had recently moved from Division II (then known as the College Division) to Division I (known as the University Division) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The conference sponsored only men's sports; awarding championships in baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, swimming, tennis, indoor & outdoor track and field, and wrestling.

Midwestern Conference

Association	NCAA
Founded	1970
Ceased	1972
Commissioner	Jack McClelland
Sports fielded	9 men's: 9
Division	Division I
Subdivision	non-football
No. of teams	5
Headquarters	Indianapolis, Indiana
Region	Midwestern United States

The first conference championship was in cross country in the fall of 1970. Southern Illinois won that championship and almost made a clean sweep by winning championships in basketball, wrestling, swimming, baseball, tennis, and both indoor and outdoor track. Only Ball State prevented a sweep by winning the golf championship that spring.

At that time (as is generally still the case now), in order to be recognized by the NCAA, a conference was required to have six or more member institutions. The Midwestern Conference had only five members and was unable to find a sixth, so it ceased operations after only two years. The five member schools eventually affiliated with other conferences.

The conference commissioner was Jack McClelland, the former Drake Bulldogs basketball coach and athletic director, who had resigned as commissioner of the North Central Conference in order to accept the position with the Midwestern Conference.^[2]

Member schools

The onetime members of the Midwestern Conference and the conferences they later joined are:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment[3][4]	Nickname	Joined	Left	Colors	Subsequent conference(s)	Current conference
Ball State University[5]	Muncie, Indiana	1918	Public	21,597	Cardinals	1970	1972		NCAA D-I Independent (1972–73)	Mid-American (MAC) (1973–present)[6]
Illinois State University[7]	Normal, Illinois	1857	Public	20,683	Redbirds	1970	1972		NCAA D-I Independent (1972–81)	Missouri Valley (MVC) (1981–present)[8]
Indiana State University[9]	Terre Haute, Indiana	1865	Public	13,584	Sycamores	1970	1972		NCAA D-I Independent (1972–76)	Missouri Valley (MVC) (1976–present)[8]
Northern Illinois University[10]	DeKalb, Illinois	1895	Public	16,769	Huskies	1970	1972		various[a]	Mid-American (MAC) (1975–86; 1997–present)[6]
Southern Illinois University[11]	Carbondale, Illinois	1869	Public	11,695	Salukis	1970	1972		NCAA D-I Independent (1972–75)	Missouri Valley (MVC) (1975–present)[8]

Notes

1. Northern Illinois (NIU) had joined the following subsequent conferences: as an NCAA D-I Independent from 1972–73 to 1974–75, and again later from 1986–87 to 1989–90; the Mid-Continent Conference (now the Summit League) from 1990–91 to 1993–94; and the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now the Horizon League) from 1994–95 to 1996–97.

Conference champions

Baseball

• 1971 Southern Illinois
• 1972 Northern Illinois

Basketball

• 1970–71 Southern Illinois
• 1971–72 Northern Illinois

Cross country

• 1970 Southern Illinois
• 1971 ?

Golf

• 1971 Ball State
• 1972 Ball State

Swimming

• 1970–71 Southern Illinois
• 1971–72 Southern Illinois?

Tennis

• 1971 Southern Illinois
• 1972 Southern Illinois

Indoor track & field

• 1970–71 Southern Illinois
• 1971–72 Northern Illinois

Outdoor track & field

• 1971 Southern Illinois
• 1972 Illinois State?

Wrestling

• 1970–71 Southern Illinois
• 1971–72 Northern Illinois