VERMILLION, S.D - The Missouri Valley Football Conference added another member Thursday, when South Dakota accepted an invitation from the league to become its 10th team beginning in the 2012-13 academic year.
South Dakota is the first school to join the Missouri Valley Football Conference since North Dakota State and South Dakota State in 2008. The move to the MVFC reignites Coyote rivalries with South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Northern Iowa, who are currently members of the nine-school conference and were previously members of Division II's North Central Conference.
"With South Dakota becoming the 10th Missouri Valley Football Conference member, we have stabilized and strengthened FCS football in the Midwest and we have most certainly strengthened our conference," MVFC Commissioner Patty Viverito said. "This is a course of action that makes total sense for our conference, our member institutions, our fans and most importantly our student-athletes. And not just for today, but for decades to come. With this move we will reestablish long-standing rivalries in the Dakotas and open the way for equally satisfying new rivalries throughout the league."
The Missouri Valley Football Conference formed in 1985 as the Gateway Football Conference until rebranding in June 2008. One of the most stable NCAA Football Championship Subdivision conferences, the MVFC has five charter institutions and only 11 members in its history. The league claimed FCS titles in 1997 and 2002 and has had a member ranked No. 1 in the nation in seven of the past eight seasons. Six schools were ranked in the top-25 in the same week in 2008 and as many as five this season.
Unlike many teams in the league, Illinois State will not have to scramble to fit games with the Coyotes into their upcoming schedules over the next few seasons. ISU previously announced a three-game series with USD beginning in 2011, marking the first games between the two schools in program history.
South Dakota will visit Hancock Stadium Oct. 15, 2011, for Homecoming to kick off the series, and Illinois State will travel to Vermillion, S.D., to play the Coyotes Sept. 29, 2012, for the first game against USD as an official member of the conference. The two teams are also scheduled to play Oct. 19, 2013, at Hancock Stadium in another Homecoming contest.
"South Dakota is a great program from a strong league and adding them to the MVFC will only solidify our conference as one of the best in the Football Championship Subdivision," Illinois State head football coach Brock Spack said. "Just like North Dakota State and South Dakota State, who have fared well in our league since joining, South Dakota knows how to play tough, hard-nosed football. It's exciting for us to have a chance to play them next year before they join the league and it will be a great challenge for our players to see how they stack up against the new competition in the MVFC."
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