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About the MIAA
The Beginning and Early Years
The MIAA was established in 1912 as 14 schools joined together and created the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association. In 1924, the Association reorganized to include only the five regional state universities. That same year, the MIAA announced it would sponsor football, basketball, and outdoor track and field. Over the next 30 years, the conference added the sports of tennis and indoor track and field.
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The Start of the NCAA Era
The 1957 season started the movement of what we would now know as the MIAA as it joined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) College Division. The first-ever national championship as an NCAA member was won by Southwest Missouri State in men’s golf. After the switch to the NCAA membership, the addition of sports for cross country, wrestling, swimming, and baseball soon followed.
Changes of the Eighties
Another monumental moment in league history came in 1981 and 1982. Ken B. Jones was appointed the MIAA’s first full-time commissioner in 1981. The following year the Association started sponsoring championships in women’s athletics for basketball, cross country, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. Central Missouri made history when it became the first school in NCAA history to win national titles in the same year for both men’s and women’s basketball.
A decade that started with change, ended with change. In 1989, the MIAA expanded into the state of Kansas by adding Pittsburg State and Washburn. The two members became the first schools outside of Missouri to be added to the MIAA.
The Move Towards The Modern MIAA
The MIAA turned a new page on July 1, 1992, when the NCAA Division II conference changed its name from the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The decision to make the change originated in 1989, when Pittsburg State and Washburn gained membership but didn’t occur until after Emporia State, the third Kansas school, earned membership.
In 1997, Ken B. Jones retired after 16 years as the Commissioner. Following his retirement, the MIAA CEOs named Ralph McFillen as the next Commissioner. Northwest Missouri football made history in back-to-back years. They were the first team in Division II history to be national champions with a 15-0 record during the 1998 season and in 1999 won the longest NCAA Championship game at any level with a four-overtime victory over CarsonNewman.
As a new Millenium took over, the MIAA continued to make history. On October 17, 2002, over 26,000 fans filed into Arrowhead Stadium to watch a rivalry game between Northwest Missouri and Pittsburg State. The game is the largest crowd to watch an MIAA event and one of the largest crowds in NCAA Division II football history.
In 2007, Commissioner Ralph McFillen announced his retirement and the MIAA CEO Council selected Jim Johnson to become the next Commissioner. A year into his leadership, the MIAA unveiled a new logo, moved the Baseball Championship to Community America Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas and added women’s golf as a championship. The following year, the Association conducted TitleFest, crowning eight conference champions over a 10-week span all in the Kansas City area.
As the first decade of the 2000s came to an end, Jim Johnson stepped down as Commissioner and the CEO Council announced Dr. Bob Boerigter as the MIAA’s fourth fulltime Commissioner.
Expansion Era and National Championship Dominance
On July 29, 2010, the MIAA CEO Council voted to extend invitations to the University of Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State University to become members of the league. The expansion process was not quite over and on September 24, 2010, it voted to extend invitations to the University of Nebraska Kearney and Lindenwood University to become conference institutions starting in the 2012-13 season.
The 2012-2013 season saw the Association bring back the sport of men’s soccer and wrestling. Then in 2016, the conference added women’s bowling as a sport. February 2017 is when Mike Racy became the fifth Commissioner after Dr. Bob Boerigter announced his retirement.
With two members departing after the 2018-19 season, the MIAA again looked to expand for the 2019-2020 season. The MIAA CEO Council wasted little time and announced that Newman University and Rogers State University would be admitted as associate members starting that fall season. The two schools, already in the conference’s footprint, brought the league to 12 full-time members and two associate members in the states of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.
Considered to be one of the best conferences in all of NCAA Division II, the MIAA backed that up in the 2010s. The Association won at least one national championship every season from 2008-2009 to 2018-2019. In the span of national dominance, 27 national titles were won including five teams going undefeated.
TM
Mike Racy
mracy@themiaa.com
Amber Feldman
afeldman@themiaa.com
marshall fey
mfey@themiaa.com
Brenna winn
bwinn@themiaa.com
School
Baseball Basketball MBasketball WCross Country MCross Country WFootball Golf M Golf W Soccer W Softball Tennis M Tennis W Track and Field MTrack and Field WVolleyball W MIAA Office Address Hy-Vee Arena 1800 Genessee Street Suite 320 Kansas City, MO 64102 Phone: 816-421-MIAA (6422)
Driving Distance Enrollment Location Population from Topeka
University of Central Missouri University of Central Oklahoma Emporia State University Fort Hays State University x x x x x x x x x x x x x 11,000 Warrensburg, Mo. 23,218 x x x x x x x x x x x x 17,101 Edmond, Okla. 81,405
x x x x x x x x x x x x x 6,258 Emporia, Kan. x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 9,000 Hays, Kan. 24,916 20,510
Lincoln University
x x x x x x x x x 3,224 Jefferson City, Mo. 43,079 Missouri Southern State University x x x x x x x x x x x x 5,740 Joplin, Mo. 50,150 Missouri Western State University x x x x x x x x x x 6,134 St. Joseph, Mo. 76,780 University of Nebraska at Kearney x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 6,500 Kearney, Neb. 30,787
6,964 Tahlequah, Okla. 15, 753 Northwest Missouri State University x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 7,200 Maryville, Mo. 11,972
Pittsburg State University Rogers State University Washburn University x x x x x x x x x x 7,127 Pittsburg, Kan. 20,233 x x x x x x x x x x x 4,300 Claremore, Okla. 18,581 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 7,300 Topeka, Kan. 127,473 124 miles 279 miles 59 miles 207 miles 222 miles 217 miles 101 miles 296 miles 139 miles 272 miles 141 miles 172 miles 210 miles --
