Murray State Approved To Join Missouri Valley Conference, Football Coming in 2023

(KDLM) – The Murray State Racers will be the newest team in the Missouri Valley Conference, beginning next fall, after league presidents met Friday and approved membership for the Racers.

“We are very excited as we advance Murray State University and Racer Athletics into our second century,” said Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson. “The Missouri Valley Conference is one of the premier conferences in Division-I athletics and we look forward to continuing our long record of success in this conference.”

Murray State is also re-locating most of its athletics programs from the Ohio Valley Conference to the Missouri Valley Conference for this upcoming fall. The Racer football team will also be joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in the fall of 2023. The Missouri Valley Conference and the Missouri Valley Football Conference are two different organizations.

The Racer football team was 6-5 last season in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Men’s basketball team was 31-3 (18-0 in conference) and was a #7 in this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament. They beat #10 San Francisco in overtime before getting upset by #15 St. Peter’s in the Round of 32.

Proud of our tradition, excited for our future!@MSURacers x @MVCsports

📰: https://t.co/uwePz7JEto#TheRaceIsOn🏇 pic.twitter.com/MNb9PRJV4w

— Murray State Sports (@MSURacers) January 7, 2022

Murray State will now be the 11th member of the MVC and the 12th member of the MVFC, and the first to join since the University of North Dakota was added in the fall of 2020.

MVC League commissioner Patty Viverito will address the media at 3 p.m. Monday to discuss the addition of the Racers to the MVC and MVFC.