Mid-America_Intercollegiate_Athletic_Association

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association

Athletic conference in the American Midwest


The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Its fourteen member institutions, of which all but one are public schools, are located in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, with an Arkansas school joining in July 2024. The MIAA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization[1] incorporated in Missouri.[2]

Quick Facts Formerly, Association ...

Originally named the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the conference was established in 1912 with 14 members, two of which are still current members. Six members (Central Methodist, Central Wesleyan, Culver–Stockton, Missouri Valley, Missouri Wesleyan, Tarkio College, Westminster, and William Jewell) were later removed from the conference in 1924 when it decided to only include the public schools. A majority of the charter members that left in 1924 have shut down their operations, or merged with another school. Over the next century, nearly twenty schools have joined and left the conference, with a few affiliate members. Some of those schools have reclassified to NCAA Division I.

The conference's current 14-campus makeup resulted when Newman University and Rogers State University joined the conference in 2019 after departing the Heartland Conference.

The current MIAA commissioner is Mike Racy.

History and overview

Original logo for the MIAA

The MIAA currently sponsors 20 sports – ten men's and ten women's. MIAA schools with additional sports compete independently or as part of a nearby conference. On July 1, 1992, the MIAA entered a new era when the conference changed its name from the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The name change originated in 1989, when Pittsburg State University and Washburn University became the first schools outside the state of Missouri to gain membership in the MIAA.[3]

Founding and former members

The MIAA was established in 1912 with 14 member institutions. It included the five state teachers colleges in Missouri – Warrensburg Teachers College (now the University of Central Missouri), Northeast Missouri State Teachers College (now Truman State University), Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College (now Northwest Missouri State University), Southeast Missouri State Teacher's College (now Southeast Missouri State University), and Southwest Missouri State Teacher's College (now Missouri State University). It also included nine private schools – Central Methodist University, Central Wesleyan College, Culver–Stockton College, Drury University, Missouri Valley College, Missouri Wesleyan College, Tarkio College, Westminster College, and William Jewell College. Only Central Missouri and Northwest Missouri State remain members in the MIAA.

In 1924 the conference reorganized to include only public schools, and conference records tend to begin with that date. The schools left behind in the reorganization went on to later form the Missouri College Athletic Union, which would in time become the current Heart of America Athletic Conference in the NAIA.[4]

First expansions of the conference

The Missouri School of Mines, later the University of Missouri–Rolla and now the Missouri University of Science & Technology, joined in 1935 to bring membership to six schools. The membership remained at six until Lincoln University joined in 1970, followed by the University of Missouri–St. Louis in 1980.

1980s

Southwest Missouri State left the MIAA after the 1980–81 season to move on to NCAA Division I. In 1986, Southwest Baptist University brought the conference membership back to eight schools. In 1989, Pittsburg State, Washburn, Missouri Southern State College and Missouri Western State College – formerly members of the Central States Intercollegiate Conference – began competition in the 1989–90 season.[5]

1990s and 2000s

MIAA logo from 1990 to 2012.

Southeast Missouri State left the MIAA following the 1990–91 season to move on to NCAA Division I, and was replaced by Emporia State University in the 1991–92 season. Missouri–St. Louis left the MIAA in 1996, as did Missouri–Rolla in 2005. Lincoln forfeited membership in 1999.

Fort Hays State University joined the MIAA in 2006 and the University of Nebraska Omaha entered the league in 2008.[6][7]

On July 3, 2007, Southwest Baptist was granted independent status for their football team, while all remaining teams will stay in the MIAA.[8]

On July 8, 2009, the MIAA CEO Council voted to remain a 12-team league for the foreseeable future, denying an application by Rockhurst University (which does not have a football team but wanted to compete in other sports). The vote ended short term speculation about the League expanding to 16 teams divided into two divisions.[9]

2010–present

Locations of MIAA member institutions

Lincoln rejoined the conference in 2010[10] and in that same year, the MIAA CEO Council voted to extend invitations to the University of Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State University to become members of the league beginning in 2012–13, as well as Lindenwood University and the University of Nebraska at Kearney.[11] In 2012, the schools started to only play each other in football and play no non-conference games. At first, the teams that were closest geographically played each other every year and would rotate through the other conference members in other years. The move to expand the league was spurred at least in part after Northwest Missouri during its national championship game run had problems finding non-conference teams that would play it resulting in 2010 with it having 10-game rather than 11-game schedule.[12] In 2011, Nebraska–Omaha joined the Summit League and moved to Division I after the 2010–11 season.[13]

As Nebraska–Omaha departed in 2011, the membership of the MIAA downsized to 11. Central Oklahoma, Northeastern State, Nebraska–Kearney, and Lindenwood all joined in 2012–13, pushing the membership to 15. The league returned to 14 institutions when Truman left in 2013 to join the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).[14]

Southwest Baptist rejoined the MIAA in football for the 2013 football season, which meant that the schools would then play an 11-game conference football schedule with no non-conference games. In 2014, Southwest Baptist and Lincoln joined the GLVC for football only. This puts it so that all of the football schools in the MIAA can play each other now, instead of rotating.[15]

On February 8, 2018, Newman University announced that it had accepted an invitation to join the league as an associate member in all 14 sports it sponsors beginning with the 2019–20 athletic season.[16] On May 31, 2018, the MIAA announced that Southwest Baptist would be withdrawing its membership from the MIAA to join the Great Lakes Valley Conference full-time, effective August 1, 2019.[17] Lindenwood followed Southwest Baptist on October 4, 2018 announcing they would be joining the GLVC as well, effective July 1, 2019.[18] On October 18, 2018 Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma announced that it would be joining the league as an associate member, aborting a move to the Lone Star Conference.[19] They became full members on July 1, 2022.[20]

After more than 25 years at its current office at 17th and Main Streets, The MIAA announced that it was moving its offices to the newly renovated Hy-Vee Arena, which is formerly known as Kemper Arena.[21]

MIAA and GAC announced a partnership in June 2018 to combine their men’s tennis and men’s soccer leagues in both sports from 2019–20 academic year. Under the agreement, the MIAA will organize the tennis league and the GAC will organize the soccer.[22]

More information Tenure, Commissioner ...

Commissioners

In July 1981, Ken B. Jones was appointed as the first full-time MIAA commissioner. He held the position for 16 years, retiring in 1997.[23] Ralph McFillen succeeded Jones, serving 10 years until retiring in 2007.[24] Jim Johnson then succeeded McFillen in July 2007 and served as commissioner until September 2010.[25] Bob Boerigter succeeded Johnson on September 20, 2010 as commissioner and retired on January 27, 2017.[25][26] On September 7, 2016, it was announced that Mike Racy would become the fifth commissioner of the MIAA, effective January 30, 2017.[27]

Chronological timeline

Mid-America Intercollegtiate Athletics Association Members
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150km
100miles
Central
Missouri
Arkansas–Fort Smith
Lincoln
Nebraska–Kearney
Washburn
Rogers State
Pittsburg State
Northwest
Missouri State
Northeastern
State
Newman
Missouri Western
Missouri
Southern
Fort Hays State
Emporia State
.
Central
Oklahoma
Location of MIAA Members:
full member
departing member
future member

Member schools

Current members

The MIAA currently has 14 full members, all but one are public schools:

More information Institution, Location ...
Notes
  1. Lincoln (Mo.) will leave the MIAA for the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) beginning the 2024–25 school year.
  2. Lincoln (Mo.) left the MIAA after the 1998–99 school year, before re-joining back in the 2010–11 school year.
  3. Newman and Rogers State joined MIAA in 2019 as associate members in all sports. They were granted to upgrade to full membership in the 2022–23 academic year.

Future members

More information Institution, Location ...

Affiliate members

The MIAA currently has five affiliate members, three are private schools and two are public schools.

More information Institution, Location ...

Former members

The MIAA had 17 former full members, all but six were private schools. School names and nicknames listed here reflect those used in the final school year each institution was an MIAA member.

More information Institution, Location ...
Notes
  1. Currently an NAIA athletic conference.
  2. Currently an NCAA Division I athletic conference.
  3. Missouri Wesleyan was merged into Baker University from 1926 until it closed in 1930.
  4. Joined as Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy. Later became the University of Missouri at Rolla in 1964, with the "at" replaced by an en dash in 1968. The current name known as Missouri University of Science & Technology was adopted since 2008.
  5. UMSL joined the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) in 1995 but did not begin competition until after the 1995–96 school year because of its commitments to the final season of competition in the MIAA, hence it joined effective in the 1996–97 school year.
  6. While the institutional name has not changed, UNO's athletic branding changed from "Nebraska–Omaha" (or "UNO") to the current "Omaha" once the school moved to Division I.
  7. Joined as Missouri State Normal School–Third District. Later became Southeast Missouri State Teachers College in 1919, with "Teachers" dropped in 1946 and the current name adopted since 1973.
  8. During SEMO's MIAA tenure, it used "Indians" for men's teams and "Otahkians" for women's teams. The current nickname of Redhawks was adopted for all teams since 2004.
  9. Joined as Missouri State Normal School–Fourth District. Later became Southwest Missouri State Teachers College in 1919, with "Teachers" dropped in 1945 and "College" replaced by "University" in 1973. The current name of Missouri State University was adopted since 2005.
  10. Joined as Missouri State Normal School–First District. Later became Northeast Missouri State Teachers College in 1919, with "Teachers" dropped in 1968 and "College" replaced by "University" in 1972. The current name of Truman State University was adopted since 1996.
  11. Truman left for the GLVC after the 2012–13 school year, while it remained in the MIAA as an affiliate member for wrestling until the 2013–14 school year.
  12. Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference.

Former affiliate members

The MIAA had nine former affiliate members, all were private schools:

More information Institution, Location ...
Notes
  1. Drury was a full member of the MIAA from 1912–13 to 1923–24.
  2. Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference.

Membership timeline

University of Arkansas–Fort SmithAugustana UniversitySouthern Arkansas UniversitySoutheastern Oklahoma State UniversityOuachita Baptist UniversityOklahoma Baptist UniversityRogers State UniversityNewman University (Kansas)Nebraska Wesleyan UniversityMcKendree UniversityMaryville UniversityElmhurst CollegeUpper Iowa UniversitySouthern Nazarene UniversityNortheastern State UniversityUniversity of Nebraska at KearneyLindenwood UniversityHarding UniversityUniversity of Central OklahomaUniversity of Nebraska OmahaFort Hays State UniversityEmporia State UniversityWashburn UniversityPittsburg State UniversityMissouri Western State UniversityMissouri Southern State UniversitySouthwest Baptist UniversityUniversity of Missouri–St. LouisLincoln University (Missouri)Missouri University of Science and TechnologyWilliam Jewell CollegeWestminster College (Missouri)Tarkio CollegeMissouri Wesleyan CollegeMissouri Valley CollegeDrury UniversityCulver–Stockton CollegeCentral Wesleyan CollegeCentral Methodist UniversitySouthwest Missouri State UniversitySoutheast Missouri State UniversityNorthwest Missouri State UniversityTruman State UniversityUniversity of Central Missouri

 Full member (all sports)   Full member (non-football)   Associate member (other sports) 

Sports

The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association sponsors championship competition in ten men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

More information Sport, Men's ...

Men's sponsored sports by school

More information School, Baseball ...

Women's sponsored sports by school

More information School, Basketball ...
Notes
  1. Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor.
  2. Although Lincoln will be playing nearly a full MIAA schedule in 2023, all games played against Lincoln will be counted as non-conference, and Lincoln will not be included in MIAA football standings.[29]
  3. Northeastern State's football program will be leaving the MIAA in 2024 to compete as a D-II independent.[30]

Other sponsored sports by school

More information School, Men ...

Facilities

More information School, Football Stadium ...

NCAA Division II team championships

More information Year, Sport ...

Championships

Football

More information School, Titles ...
MIAA Champions
More information Year, School ...

Volleyball

The MIAA champion was determined via postseason tournament from 1982 to 1992, and 2006 to 2007. From 2003 to 2005, separate regular season and tournament champions were crowned.

MIAA Championships per school
More information School, Titles ...
MIAA Champions
More information Year, School ...

Men's basketball

More information School, Conference ...
MIAA Regular Season champions
  • – first place in MIAA standings, no championship awarded
    N – North Division Champion (89–90 only)
    S – South Division Champion (89–90 only)
More information Year, School ...
MIAA Tournament champions
More information Year, School ...

Women's basketball

More information School, Conference ...
MIAA Regular Season champions

N – North Division Champion (89–90 only)
S – South Division Champion (89–90 only)

More information Year, School ...

Baseball

MIAA Championships won or shared per school
More information School, Conference ...
MIAA Champions
More information Year, School ...
MIAA Tournament Champions
More information Year, School ...

Softball

MIAA Championships won or shared per school
More information School, Conference ...
MIAA Champions By Year
More information Year, School ...
More information Year, School ...

Wrestling

MIAA Championships won or shared by school

(prior to 2012, all championships were decided by the tournament champions)

More information School, Conference ...

Men's golf

More information School, Conference ...

Women's golf

More information School, Conference ...

Men's tennis

More information School, Conference ...

Women's tennis

More information School, Conference ...

Men's indoor track and field

More information School, Conference ...

Women's indoor track and field

More information School, Conference ...

See also


References

  1. "Exempt Organizations Select Check". Apps.irs.gov. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  2. "GuideStar:Demo-Search Results". Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  3. "About the MIAA". Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  4. "MIAA History". Themiaa.com. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  5. "FHSU athletes will play in the MIAA starting in fall '06" (Press release). October 15, 2004. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  6. "Southwest Baptist opts out of MIAA for football". cjonline.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
  7. "MIAA doesn't take Rockhurst". cjonline.com. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  8. Corbitt, Ken (February 4, 2009). "Lincoln returning as MIAA member". CJOnline.com. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  9. "In an expanded future, MIAA saves some rivalries". KansasCity.com. January 6, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
  10. "UNO plans to move to Division I, will drop football and wrestling". omaha.com. March 13, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
  11. "Truman Leaves the MIAA". Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  12. "SBU & Lincoln join GLVC for football". Kansas City Star. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  13. "Newman to Compete In MIAA As Associate Member in 2019–20". Newmanjets.com. February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  14. "Southwest Baptist joining GLVC". Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  15. "Lindenwood Athletics to Become 16th Member of GLVC". Lindenwood University. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  16. "Hillcats to join MIAA Conference for 2019–2020 season". RSU Hillcats. October 18, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  17. "GAC, MIAA ANNOUNCE SPORT SPONSORSHIP PARTNERSHIP". themiaa.com. June 19, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  18. MIAA Scoreboard (May 20, 2016). "Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association – MIAA Announces Ken B. Jones Award Finalists". Themiaa.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  19. Corbitt, Ken (October 6, 2006). "MIAA commissioner announces retirement". CJOnline.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  20. Corbitt, Ken (September 8, 2010). "Boerigter MIAA commissioner". CJOnline.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  21. "MIAA commissioner Bob Boerigter to retire in 2017". CJOnline.com. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  22. Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (September 7, 2016). "Racy Selected as MIAA Commissioner" (Press release). Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  23. "2023 MIAA Football Update" (Press release). Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. February 2, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  24. "MIAA makes changes to Football lineup" (Press release). Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. November 20, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  25. Josh Slaughter. "UNK Wrestling" (Press release). Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  26. Josh Slaughter. "UCO Softball" (Press release). Retrieved January 31, 2017.

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