Missouri Valley Football Conference
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| ILLINOIS STATE | INDIANA STATE | MISSOURI STATE |
| "Redbirds" | "Sycamores" | "Bears" |
| Normal, IL | Terre Haute, IN | Springfield, MO |
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|---|---|---|
| NORTH DAKOTA STATE | NORTHERN IOWA | SOUTH DAKOTA STATE |
| "Bison" | "Panthers" | "Jackrabbits" |
| Fargo, ND | Cedar Falls, IA | Brookings, SD |
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| SOUTHERN ILLINOIS | WESTERN ILLINOIS | YOUNGSTOWN STATE |
| "Salukis" | "Leathernecks" | "Penguins" |
| Carbondale, IL | Macomb, IL | Youngstown, OH |
Comments
This was previously the Gateway Football Conference. The conference grows to nine teams in 2008 with the additions of North Dakota State and South Dakota State, both previously members of the Great West Football Conference.
Several people have sent me the photograph below, which shows a new helmet design for Indiana State. I do not need additional photographs in order to add this one to the web site, but I will need a copy of the new helmet logo, which careful examination will reveal to be slightly different from the one used by ISU in recent years.
Historical Helmets
ILLINOIS STATE
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| 1979 | 1980? - ? | c.late 1980s - 1993 |
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| 1994 - 1995 | 1996 - present |
During the late 1960s, ISU was using red helmet shells with a large white "I" on the sides; this is the only other ISU helmet for which I have any information. I suspect that the team has probably used a number of other interesting helmet designs through the years.
INDIANA STATE
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| ? - 1969 | 1970 - 1977 | 1978 - 1989 |
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| 1990 - 1998 | 1999 - 2000 | 2001 - 2004 |
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| 2005 - 2007 | 2008 - |
I believe that Indiana State probably has a fairly large number of other historical helmet designs; information about any of these used from 1960 to present would be appreciated greatly.
MISSOURI STATE
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| 1954 - 1964 | 1965 - 1967 (Offense) |
1965 - 1967 (Defense) |
| *see note 1 below |
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| 1968 | 1969 | 1970 - 1972 |
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| 1973 - 1974 | 1975 | 1976 |
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| 1976 - 1977? | 1978? - 1980 | 1981 |
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| 1982 - 1983 | 1984 - 1986 | 1987 |
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| 1988 - 1993 | 1994 - 1995 | 1996 |
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| 1997 - 1999 | 2000 - 2004 | 2005 - |
Thanks to Jeff K. for information on most of these helmets. This is believed to be a complete (or nearly complete) set of historical helmets for this team for the period covered by this web site (1960 to present). The school's name was changed from Southwest Missouri State University to Missouri State University in August, 2005.
*1 The defensive unit was known as the "Head Hunters" during this period, and that phrase appeared at the bottom of the logo, although it is obviously not legible at this size.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE
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| ? - 1999? | 2000? - |
| *see note 1 below |
An earlier helmet featured a different bison logo; below is a photo of this one. Whether any stripes were present is unclear, as is the helmet shell color (it has been referred to as "sunflower gold"). One would assume that the bison was green, but I've not seen any color photos of it.
I have received conflicting information as to when this helmet was used; one person reported late 1960s through 1977, while another said 1967 through 1972.
*1 Conflicting information has also been received as to the dates of use for this helmet: one person reported that it was first used in 1973, while another said 1978; both agreed, however, that the helmet color was eventually changed from its original color. The change has been described as from "sunflower to packer gold", and as from "gold to yellow". Obviously I would appreciate some color photographs from the earlier years.
NORTHERN IOWA
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| 1976 - 1979?; 1981? | 1980 | c.1980s |
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| 1990 - 1996 | 1997 - 2000 | 2001 |
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| 2002 - |
An earlier Northern Iowa helmet design (shown below) featured the letters "NI" inside an oval-shape of some unknown light color; this picture is from about 1975.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
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| ? - 2004 | 2005 - |
The next earlier helmet has been described as having the team nickname "JACKS" in gold, "within a gold horizontal stripe scheme". Other than this item, I have never received any information about earlier helmet designs used by South Dakota State; any information would be appreciated.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
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| c.1980s | c.1993 | c.mid 1990s |
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| ? - 2000 | 2001 - 2003 | 2004 - |
WESTERN ILLINOIS
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| 1984 - 1996 | 1997 - present |
I have not received any information about earlier helmet designs for WIU - any information would be appreciated.
YOUNGSTOWN STATE
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| 1984 - 1985 | 1986 - 1988 | 1989 - present |
The helmets used during the 1960s have been described as having red shells with white numerals and a white stripe.
