The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes at the NCAA's Division II level. Member institutions are located in the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Wisconsin.
The GLVC is considered one of the top small college basketball conferences in the nation and placed a team in the men's NCAA Division II final over 11 straight years from 1994 to 2004. The league also sponsors championships in soccer (men's and women's), cross country (men's and women's), golf (men's and women's), tennis (men's and women's), indoor and outdoor track and field (men's and women's) and women's volleyball.
In October 2008 Maryville University (MO) and The University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) accepted invitations to join the GLVC and began competing in the conference in the fall of 2009. For men's and women's basketball, the league will split into three divisions based on geography (East, North, and West) for the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons, and will revert to two divisions when William Jewell College joins 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 will move from the Great Lakes Football Conference, McKendree University and Quincy will move from the Mid-States Football Association of the NAIA and Indianapolis will end its affiliate membership in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to join William Jewell and form the seven-team league.
On October 6, 2010 it was announced that McKendree University accepted an invitation to the GLVC as the 17th member of the GLVC and begin participating in the conference in 2012. The following day, the conference announced that it had approved Central State University and Urbana College for associate membership in football, increasing the number of teams which will compete in the initial season of football to nine.
On October 18, 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), is forming for 2013. Charter members include Kentucky Wesleyan from the GLVC along with Central State and Urbana (GLVC members in football). Joining them are Ursuline, Notre Dame, and Cedarville. The G-MAC hopes to expand to 10 members. The involved sports haven't been announced. Kentucky Wesleyan, with its eight national basketball titles, is 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 University officially accepted an invitation from the Division I Atlantic Sun Conference, effective July 1, 2012. 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" will begin competition in the GLVC effective Fall, 2013. Truman State was a founding member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and becomes the seventh Missouri school to join the GLVC since 1995.
On August 27, 2012, it was announced that Central State University will be leaving the GLVC to join the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) as a football-only member, effective July 1, 2013.
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