MVFC votes to include Murray State
Apr. 5—That Murray State was likely destined for the Missouri Valley Football Conference was not a surprise.
Back in January when the school was accepted as a full-time member of the Missouri Valley Conference, a separate entity, the Racers' brass was open about the fact that they were also likely headed to the football version of the conference as well.
However, it was never a no-brainer purely from a competitive standpoint. Murray State hasn't made the FCS playoffs since 1996 and has only had seven winning seasons in the modest Ohio Valley Conference since 2000.
Moving from the OVC to the MVFC is a significant step up in terms of how difficult the conference is, and also, the monetary commitment required to compete at the MVFC level.
On Monday, those concerns were apparently allayed as the Racers' addition to the football league became official when the league announced the Murray, Ky. school as its 12th member. The Racers will begin as a football member in the 2023 season after one final season as a football-only member of the OVC in 2022.
MVFC commissioner Patty Viverito said that the five schools in the MVFC that have permanent membership in the MVC — Indiana State, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois and Missouri State — requested that the Racers join them to align their sports under the same umbrella.
"The opportunity presented itself because Murray State accepted an invitation to the Missouri Valley Conference. They were looking for a home for football and we were happy to accommodate," Viverito said in a Monday press conference.
"We had five Missouri Valley Conference that asked us, respectfully, to consider adding Murray State. Quite frankly? It helps them align their membership in the same way adding [the Dakota schools] helped them align their football league that made sense with their all-sports league," Viverito continued.
Viverito insisted that there was no deal when Murray State joined the MVC that it would also join the MVFC, but Viverito also said the league wasn't looking to expand either.
Viverito said that a commitment to investing in football is what likely swayed league presidents and herself as well. Two-thirds of the MVFC's 11 schools, eight in all, were required to approve Murray State for membership.
"[An invitation] wouldn't have come without the following thing I'm going to say. We met with the leadership of Murray State and tried to get a real understanding if they knew what they were getting into in terms of league strength, that they knew what it would take to be successful.," Viverito said. "They made it clear there was alignment in their leadership to commit to investing at a level that allowed them to be successful.
"They want this to be a football school as much as they're considered a basketball school," Viverito said.
It wasn't a unanimous vote. The Fargo (N.D.) Forum reported Monday that North Dakota State voted against Murray State's addition to the league.
As for Murray State's assimilation into the league, there will not be a divisional structure put in place. Viverito said that the MVFC scheduling model that will be used will ensure that every team in the league will play one another four times in a six-year cycle.
Having a 12th member also alleviates scheduling. With 11 members, at least one school had a bye through the regular season, a problematic scheduling problem.
Viverito said that certain rivalries and obvious geographical matchups will be protected. She mentioned that Youngstown State would keep its only bus trip — Indiana State.
For Indiana State? Murray State is also likely a bus trip. The teams were frequent foes from 1990-2006, playing each other nine times in that period, but there have been no games since. ISU leads the series 5-4, though the Racers won the last two meetings.
