ST. LOUIS, MO. -- For the first time since 2009-10, Illinois State is the Missouri Valley Conference All-Sports Champion.
Illinois State earned six team titles -- of the 16 MVC sports it sponsors -- and an aggregate score of 7.776. ISU claimed league championships (or co-championships) in baseball, men’s indoor track & field, women’s tennis, women’s indoor track & field, women’s outdoor track & field, and in volleyball. The Redbirds also had runner-up finishes in men’s cross country, men’s golf and men’s outdoor track & field.
All-Sports Trophy Release (PDF)
Eight different institutions (plus two affiliates) claimed at least one league title this past season (either a regular-season title or post-season tournament title). Notably, Drake was second to Illinois State with its three titles (co-men’s basketball, women’s basketball and softball). Counting Illinois State this year, only seven times since 1992-93 (merger of MVC men’s and women’s sports) has an institution had more than five team titles. Illinois State had claimed six or more league titles in its history four other times, but all before the MVC/Gateway conferences merged for that 1992-93 season.
Fueled by its two titles, two second-place finishes and three third-place showings, UNI finished second in the all-sports trophy race with an aggregate score of 6.990. The runner-up finish marks UNI’s highest finish since also finishing second in 2016-17 and in 2000-01. The Panthers have finished third on two other occasions (2002-03 and 2006-07).
Southern Illinois (6.441) finished third in the all-sports trophy race and has finished in the top three in each of the past five seasons. Missouri State (6.264), Bradley (6.204) and Drake (5.848) finished next best in the standings as those three institutions combined for six regular-season league titles (three by Drake, two by Bradley and one by Missouri State). Missouri State was the 2017-18 MVC All-Sports Champion, while Bradley enjoyed its best finish in the All-Sports trophy race since taking fourth in the standings in 1987-88.
Either Illinois State, Missouri State or Wichita State, meanwhile, has earned the league’s all-sports championship trophy every year since 1995. Illinois State won five of six all-sports championships from 1996-01, Missouri State has five titles since 1999-00, and Wichita State had a stretch where it won 11 of 14 all-sports trophies from 2003-04 through 2016-17. Notably, Illinois State has 13 all-sports crowns and has finished first, second, or third in 26 of the past 29 years.
In 2016-17, the MVC introduced a new point system to determine the league’s all-sports champion. The All-Sports Trophy is based on a school’s average finish in each of the sponsored championships by the Missouri Valley Conference. Teams are awarded 10 points for first, nine for second, eight for third, etc., and the total accumulated points are divided by the number of sports in which a particular school competes. For sports not sponsored by every MVC school, the points decrease by number of competing schools (i.e., in a sport where eight teams compete, 10/8 = 1.25, so point totals decrease by 1.25; 1st = 10, 2nd = 8.75, 3rd = 7.5, etc.)
Finishes in baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball are based on regular-season competition. All other sports are determined by finish at the championship tournament or championship meet.