Great Midwest Conference

The Great Midwest Conference was an NCAA Division I athletics conference that existed from 1991 to 1995.

History

The conference was formed in 1990 with six members: Cincinnati and Memphis State (now Memphis) from the Metro Conference, UAB from the Sun Belt Conference, Marquette and Saint Louis from the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now the Horizon League), and independent DePaul. Dayton joined in 1993. Cleveland State and Detroit-Mercy had some interest from coaches, while Louisville and Tulane were heavily favored by athletic directors.

In 1995, six of the schools in the Great Midwest (except for Dayton, who joined the Atlantic 10 Conference) joined with UNC Charlotte, Louisville, Southern Mississippi, Tulane, and South Florida of the Metro and Houston of the dissolving Southwest Conference and formed Conference USA.

Chronological timeline

• 1990 – The Great Midwest Conference was founded. Charter members included the University of Cincinnati and Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) from the Metro Conference, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) from the Sun Belt Conference, Marquette University and Saint Louis University from the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now the Horizon League), and D-I Independent DePaul University, beginning the 1991–92 academic year.
• 1993 – University of Dayton joined the Great Midwest in the 1993–94 academic year.
• 1995 – The Great Midwest ceased operations as an athletic conference after the 1994–95 academic year; as many schools left to join their respective new home primary conferences, beginning the 1995–96 academic year: Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette, Memphis, Saint Louis and UAB joined with the Metro Conference schools to form Conference USA (CUSA), while Dayton joined the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10).

Member schools

Final members

Notes:

Membership timeline

Championships

The following were the locations of the GMC men's basketball tournament.

• 1992: Chicago Stadium; Chicago, Illinois
• 1993: The Pyramid; Memphis, Tennessee
• 1994: Shoemaker Center; Cincinnati, Ohio
• 1995: Bradley Center; Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Men's basketball

Cincinnati won all four years from 1992 to 1995.

Women's basketball

• 1992: DePaul
• 1993: DePaul
• 1994: UAB
• 1995: Marquette

Baseball

The Great Midwest also held a baseball tournament for each of its four years to varying coverage.

• 1992: UAB
• 1993: Memphis State
• 1994: UAB
• 1995: Memphis State

See also

• Great Midwest Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

References