Sept. 6, 2006

Cedar Falls, Iowa - University of Northern Iowa fans now have the opportunity to help put Panthers onto the Missouri Valley Conference all-time teams. The MVC Conference has opened online voting for fans to help select the teams as part of the league's centennial celebration.

            The ballots include nominees who have earned a variety of All-America, all-Valley, and National Player of the Year recognitions, as well as spaces to submit write-in candidates. The ballots can be seen at www.mvc100.org/MvcMain.asp.

            Voting for volleyball and soccer has already started, and UNI is represented by 14 athletes and two coaches on those ballots.

            The rest of the league's sports will be voted on throughout the year: men's and women's basketball in November, track and field and cross country in December, swimming and diving in January, and baseball, softball, golf and tennis in February.

            In 2006-07, the Missouri Valley Conference celebrates a century of excellence as the nation's second-oldest NCAA Division I conference begins its second centennial as a leader in college athletics.

            In the league's first 100 seasons, 32 members combined for 25 national championships, while 55 Valley student-athletes captured NCAA individual titles.  In addition, Valley student-athletes and coaches earned 48 National Player or Coach of the Year honors in their respective sports.  And the league had a myriad of student-athletes who collected All-America honors and earned national academic distinction in The Valley's first century.

            The seeds for this vision were planted by eight administrators representing five institutions, who met at the Midland Hotel in Kansas City, Mo., on Jan. 12, 1907.  The five schools which formed the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association were Washington University of St. Louis, and the state universities of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.  Two months after the initial meeting, two more schools -- Drake University and Iowa State College -- were admitted.

            In the fall of 1907, basketball became the first competitive sport.  Today, the Missouri Valley Conference sponsors the following sports:  baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country and track & field (indoor and outdoor), men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, softball, women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, and women's volleyball.

            Athletic accomplishments on the men's athletics side include 10 national basketball championships, 16 trips to the NCAA Final Four, a 1989 national baseball championship and 19 College World Series qualifiers.  In 2001, Missouri State added to The Valley women's accomplishments, as the Lady Bears advanced to the Women's Basketball Final Four in St. Louis.  Creighton (2004) and Missouri State (2005) have claimed national championships (WNIT) in women's basketball, while MSU also has a 1992 NCAA Women's Final Four appearance, and Creighton (2003) and Drake (1999) have made semifinal trips to the WNIT postseason tournament.

    League members include Bradley University, Creighton University, Drake University, the University of Evansville, Illinois State University, Indiana State University, Missouri State University, the University of Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois University, and Wichita State University.  Affiliate men's soccer members include Eastern Illinois University and Western Kentucky University.