Association of Mid-Continent Universities football

Association of Mid-Continent Universities football
(AMCU)
Established 1978
Dissolved 1984
Association NCAA
Division Division II (1978–1980)
Division I-AA (1981–1984)
Members 4 (final), 7 (total)
Sports fielded 1 (football) (men's: 1; women's: 0)
Region Midwest
Former names Mid-Continent Athletic Association

The Association of Mid-Continent Universities football was a part of the college athletic conference which operated in the midwestern United States. It participated in NCAA Division II until moving to NCAA Division I-AA (now known as Division I FCS) in 1981.[1]

History

The conference was founded as the Mid-Continent Athletic Association in 1977 and commenced official operations on July 1, 1978.[2] It was originally an NCAA Division II conference.[3] The founding members of the Mid-Continent Athletic Association football were Akron, Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Northern Michigan, Western Illinois, and Youngstown State. Wayne State also expressed interest in joining the conference.[4] After the 1979 season Akron and Youngstown State left. After the 1980 season Northern Michigan left, then starting with the 1981 season Southwest Missouri State (now known as Missouri State) joined the conference. In 1982 the Association of Mid-Continent Universities started sponsoring football. What is currently called The Summit League studied sponsoring football once more in 2010.[5]

National Championship

NCAA Division II National Football Championship

Membership

Membership timeline

Missouri State Bears football Youngstown State Penguins football Western Illinois Leathernecks football Northern Michigan Wildcats football Northern Iowa Panthers football Eastern Illinois Panthers football Akron Zips football

Year-by-year standings

1978 Mid-Continent football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Youngstown State $^ 5 – 0 – 0     10 – 2 – 0
Akron 4 – 1 – 0     6 – 5 – 0
Eastern Illinois ^ 3 – 2 – 0     12 – 2 – 0
Northern Michigan 1 – 3 – 1     5 – 4 – 1
Western Illinois 1 – 3 – 1     3 – 6 – 1
Northern Iowa 0 – 5 – 0     2 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – Division II playoff participant
1979 Mid-Continent football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Youngstown State $^ 5 – 0 – 0     11 – 2 – 0
Northern Iowa 4 – 1 – 0     6 – 5 – 0
Akron 3 – 2 – 0     6 – 5 – 0
Eastern Illinois 1 – 4 – 0     7 – 4 – 0
Northern Michigan 1 – 4 – 0     4 – 6 – 0
Western Illinois 1 – 4 – 0     3 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – Division II playoff participant
1980 Mid-Continent football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Eastern Illinois $^ 4 – 0 – 0     7 – 4 – 0
Northern Michigan 3 – 1 – 0     9 – 2 – 0
Northern Iowa 2 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0
Youngstown State 1 – 3 – 0     2 – 8 – 1
Western Illinois 0 – 4 – 0     4 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – Division II playoff participant
1981 Mid-Continent football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Eastern Illinois + 2 – 1 – 0     7 – 4 – 0
Western Illinois + 2 – 1 – 0     5 – 6 – 0
Northern Iowa + 2 – 1 – 0     7 – 4 – 0
Southwest Missouri State 0 – 3 – 0     3 – 5 – 2
  • + – Conference co-champions
1982 Mid-Continent football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Eastern Illinois + 2 – 0 – 1     11 – 1 – 1
Northern Iowa + 2 – 0 – 1     4 – 6 – 1
Southwest Missouri State 1 – 2 – 0     5 – 6 – 0
Western Illinois 0 – 3 – 0     2 – 8 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1983 Mid-Continent football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Eastern Illinois $ 3 – 0 – 0     9 – 3 – 0
Southwest Missouri State 2 – 1 – 0     6 – 5 – 0
Northern Iowa 1 – 2 – 0     6 – 5 – 0
Western Illinois 0 – 3 – 0     3 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1984 Mid-Continent football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Eastern Illinois + 2 – 1 – 0     6 – 5 – 0
Northern Iowa + 2 – 1 – 0     9 – 2 – 0
Southwest Missouri State 1 – 1 – 1     6 – 3 – 1
Western Illinois 0 – 2 – 1     6 – 4 – 1
  • + – Conference co-champions

Champions

Football was sponsored by the conference from 1978–84. The final four members of the conference went on to join the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference, a women's sports conference that took on football as its only men's sport. After the women's side of the Gateway merged into the Missouri Valley Conference in 1992, the football side remained in operation as the Gateway Football Conference, which became the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2008.

Of the last four members, three (Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Western Illinois) are still in the MVFC; Eastern Illinois is now in the Ohio Valley Conference. Youngstown State, which left the Mid-Continent after the 1980 season, joined Gateway football in 1997, and remains in the MVFC.

Year Champion Record
1978 Youngstown State 5–0–0
1979 Youngstown State 5–0–0
1980 Eastern Illinois 4–0–0
1981 Eastern Illinois
Northern Iowa
Western Illinois		 2–1–0
1982 Eastern Illinois
Northern Iowa		 2–0–1
1983 Eastern Illinois 3–0–0
1984 Eastern Illinois
Northern Iowa		 2–1–0

Conference titles by school

School Championships Championship Years
Eastern Illinois
5
 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984
Northern Iowa
3
 1981, 1982, 1984
Youngstown State
2
 1978, 1979
Western Illinois
1
 1981

Conference facilities

School Football Stadium Capacity
Akron Rubber Bowl 31,000
Eastern Illinois O'Brien Stadium 10,000
Missouri State SMS Stadium 16,600
Northern Iowa UNI-Dome 17,000
Northern Michigan Superior Dome 8,000
Western Illinois Hanson Field 16,368
Youngstown State Stambaugh Stadium 20,630

References

  1. ↑ "2009 EIU Football Media Guide".
  2. ↑ "Northern Iowa gets okay to shift to new athletic conference for 1978". Iowa City, Iowa: The Telegraph-Herald. 19 June 1977. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  3. ↑ Mid-Continent Conference 1983 Football Media Guide. Green Bay, Wisconsin: The Mid-Continent Conference. 1983. pp. 32 pages.
  4. ↑ "New league is proposed". Macomb, Illinois: The Daily Sentinel. 29 April 1977. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  5. ↑ Hosick, Michelle Brutlag (10 July 2010). "Summit League considers football". NCAA. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
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