FILE – Then-head coach Rick Byrd works off the bench during the first half of an NCAA College Basketball Tournament First-Four game against Temple in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday March 19, 2019, file photo. Belmont joined the Missouri Valley Conference on July 1 and left the Ohio Valley Conference after nine years. (AP Photo / John Minchillo, file)
FILE – Belmont players celebrate after defeating UT-Martin in an NCAA Women’s College Basketball game during the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship at the Ford Center in Evansville, ON Indiana, this Saturday, March 6, 2021, file photo. Belmont joined the Missouri Valley Conference on July 1 and left the Ohio Valley Conference after nine years. (Sam Owens / Evansville Courier & Press via AP)
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) – Belmont joins the Missouri Valley Conference on July 1 as the 11th member of that league, leaving the Ohio Valley Conference after nine years.
Dr Greg Jones, President of Belmont, announced the decision to change the conference. He called the time for Belmont to take it to the next level and help the university raise its level of play in all sports.
“We know it will be a challenge for us on the athletic field and on the courts as we move forward, and we couldn’t be more proud or excited to take this next step,†Jones said.
Belmont decided in 1996 to move from the NAIA to Division I, first as an independent before joining the Atlantic Sun in 2001. Belmont then moved to the OVC in 2012. Sporting director Scott Corley has said he was really excited about the opportunity to join the Missouri Valley Conference. .
The Bruins have won 62 conference championships with 47 combined NCAA tournament appearances for their teams and athletes.
“To think in 25 years of what Belmont has done in moving from an NAIA school to today by joining one of the oldest and most prestigious competitive conferences in all of Division I is truly humbling,†Sporting director Scott Corley said. “It doesn’t happen very often. … It’s really phenomenal.
Belmont is banking on greater national visibility by joining the Missouri Valley Conference, a league that has multiple NCAA tournament berths 16 times since 1994 and 20 NCAA tournament wins in the last eight championships.
