Great Lakes Valley Conference

History

In October 2008, Maryville University and The University of Illinois at Springfield 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 split into three divisions based on geography (East, North, and West) for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons, and reverted to two divisions when William Jewell College joined 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 moved from the Great Lakes Football Conference, McKendree University and Quincy University from the Mid-States Football Association of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and Indianapolis ended its affiliate membership in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) 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 University for associate membership in football, increasing the number of teams which will compete in the initial season of football to nine.

On October 18, 2011 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), was 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 College, and Cedarville, with the G-MAC hoping to expand to 10 members. The new conferences' sponsored sports were not immediately 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 began competition in the GLVC effective Fall, 2013. Truman was a founding member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, and became the seventh Missouri school to join the GLVC since 1995.

On August 27, 2012 it was announced that Central State University would leave the GLVC football conference to join the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) as a football-only member, effective July 1, 2013. (Two years later, Central State would become an all-sports SIAC member.)

On November 4, 2015 Drury University announced it would begin sponsorship of wrestling in the 2016–17 season becoming the sixth conference member with a wrestling program. They joined current wrestling-only independents Indianapolis, Maryville, McKendree, Truman State, and Wisconsin–Parkside in GLVC competition, giving the conference an eleventh men's championship sport. Bellarmine announced on June 14, 2016 that they would absorb the wrestling program at St. Catharine College and also begin competition in the 2016–17 season.

Former members

Membership timeline

 Full member (all sports)   Full member (non-football)   Associate member (football-only)   Associate member (sport) 

Men's sponsored sports by school

Women's sponsored sports by school

Other sponsored sports by school

National Champions

GLVC schools have won 13 NCAA Division II national championships: