Big Central Soccer Conference

Big Central Soccer Conference
SportAssociation football
Founded1987
Ceased1991; 33 years ago (1991)
Organising bodyNCAA
DivisionsDivision I
CountryUnited States
RegionBig Central

The Big Central Soccer Conference was a Division I soccer conference in the NCAA. It was originally known as the Big Central Six Soccer Conference. The founding members were Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIU Edwardsville or SIUE), Quincy College (now Quincy University), Marquette University, Northern Illinois University, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (now athletically branded as "Milwaukee"), with the University of Cincinnati joining in 1988.[1]

Three of the founding members—Quincy, SIU Edwardsville, and Wisconsin–Milwaukee—were Division II schools that played Division I men's soccer (Milwaukee moved to Division I for all sports in 1990, and SIUE did the same in 2008). The conference existed from 1987 through 1990 with nine member schools in its short history. In 1991, the primary conferences of all but the two remaining Division II schools, SIU Edwardsville and Quincy, sponsored competition in men's soccer.[2][3][4][5][6] Since only the two Division II schools had a need for the Big Central, the conference ceased to exist, and those two, Quincy and SIUE, joined the division II Great Lakes Valley Conference[7] in all sports following a brief period as independents and two seasons in the Mid-Continent Conference.[8]

  1. ^ "SIUE kickers hope new league means playoffs". Alton, Illinois: Alton Telegraph. August 18, 1987. pp. 25 (on 19). Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference CU was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference DU was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference LU was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference UMW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference WSU was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Home". glvcsports.com.
  8. ^ "Record Book" (PDF). thesummitleague.org.