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The Midwestern Conference, alternatively Conference of Midwestern Universities, 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.

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.

Member schools

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

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

References

1. Anthony O. Edmonds; C. Warren Vander Hill (2003). Ball State Men's Basketball 1918-2003. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 46–. ISBN 978-0-7385-3163-2.
2. "The Spokesman-Review - Google News Archive Search".
3. "US News Education – Best Colleges – Best Graduate Schools – Online Schools – US News". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
4. "National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, part of the U.S. Department of Education". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
5. "Ball State Men's Basketball" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-01. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
6. ^ "Official Site of the Mid-American Conference". Archived from the original on 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
7. "Illinois State - 2011-12 Mens Basketball Virtual Guide".
8. ^ "2023-2024 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball" (PDF). p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-07-07.
9. "2011-12 Indiana State Basketball" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
10. "Northern Illinois 2011-12 Men's Basketball Information Guide" (PDF). Northern Illinois University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-05.
11. "Southern Illinois 2011-12 Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04.

• Midwestern Conference
• Sports in the Midwestern United States
• Sports organizations established in 1970
• Organizations disestablished in 1972