Association of Mid-Continent Universities football

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]

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

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

• 1978 - Eastern Illinois (national champ)
• 1979 - Youngstown State (runner-up)
• 1980 - Eastern Illinois (runner-up)

Membership

Membership timeline

Year-by-year standings

1978 Association of Mid-Continent Universities 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 ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant	1979 Association of Mid-Continent Universities 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 ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant	1980 Association of Mid-Continent Universities 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 ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
1981 Association of Mid-Continent Universities 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 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 5 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 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1983 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 6 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 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1984 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 18 Northern Iowa + 2 – 1 – 0     9 – 2 – 0 Eastern Illinois + 2 – 1 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Southwest Missouri State 1 – 1 – 1     6 – 3 – 1 Western Illinois 0 – 2 – 1     6 – 4 – 1 + – Conference co-champions Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Champions

Football was sponsored by the conference from 1978 to 1984. 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.