ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Drake University athletics has continued its historic stretch of success in the Missouri Valley Conference with a third-place finish in the 2024-25 MVC All-Sports Championship. Illinois State earned the 2024-25 All-Sports Championship, its fourth title in the last six years.
 
Drake's third place result marks the first time a private school has finished in the MVC All-Sports Championship top three in three straight years since the league began offering the department-wide award following the 1949-50 athletics season. The Bulldogs were third two years ago and last year became the first private institution to take top All-Sport honors in over five decades.
 
Drake's sweep of the regular-season and tournament titles in men's basketball keyed the Bulldogs to their top three placement with an aggregate score of 8.404. The Bulldogs also began the year with a trio of runner-up finishes in both men's and women's soccer as well as volleyball. Bulldog women's golf added a third-place finish at the MVC Championships while the Drake cross country teams added two fourth place finishes to the ledger. The Drake men's outdoor track and field and men's golf teams also took fourth at their respective championships.
 
While not associated with the Missouri Valley Conference or its All-Sports Championship, Drake also celebrated success on the gridiron with its second consecutive Pioneer Football League crown.
 
Illinois State earned regular-season team titles this year in men's golf and women's golf.  The men's and women's golf titles mark the first time since 2019 that both men's and women's teams from the same school have won the title, and the first time that ISU has done it since 2005. In addition to those two team titles, Illinois State had top five finishes in 11 other MVC-sponsored sports. Illinois State had an aggregate score of 8.956 this year to take the all-sports crown. In addition to its two team titles in golf, ISU had runner-up finishes in men's cross country, men's indoor track & field, and men's outdoor track & field.
 
In total, eleven different institutions claimed at least one regular-season or post-season league title this past season. UIC's women's team tennis tournament crown was its first as an MVC member. Missouri State and Murray State tied for the league best with five total championships. The Racers had regular-season titles in women's tennis, baseball (shared with Missouri State), and women's basketball (shared with Missouri State), and Murray State also earned tournament championships in baseball and women's basketball. Missouri State also had five titles, sweeping the regular-season and championship crowns in women's soccer, while also earning regular-season championships in baseball (shared with Murray State), men's soccer, and women's basketball (shared with Murray State). Indiana State's four titles were next best in The Valley as the Sycamores claimed titles in men's and women's outdoor track & field, women's swimming & diving, and women's indoor track & field.  
 
UNI had three titles this past year to finish second with an aggregate score of 8.721. The Panthers had top three finishes in eight sports, earning championships in men's indoor track & field, while sweeping the volleyball regular-season and tournament championships. UNI's second-place finish was its best since 2018-19. The Panthers have finished as high as second in the league's all-trophy standings four times in school history.  
 
Prior to Drake's MVC All-Sports crown in 2024, Illinois State, Missouri State or Wichita State had earned the league's all-sports championship trophy every year since 1995. Illinois State won five of six all-sports championships from 1996-01, Missouri State has five titles since 1999-00, and Wichita State had a stretch where it won 11 of 14 all-sports trophies from 2003-04 through 2016-17. Notably, Illinois State has 17 all-sports crowns and has finished first, second, or third in 31 of the past 34 years.
 
The All-Sports Trophy is based on a school's average finish in each of the sponsored championships by the Missouri Valley Conference. Teams are awarded 12 points for first, 11 for second, 10 for third, etc., and the total accumulated points are divided by the number of sports in which a particular school competes. For sports not sponsored by every MVC school, the points decrease by number of competing schools (i.e., in a sport where 10 teams compete, 12/10 = 1.20, so point totals decrease by 1.20; 1st = 12, 2nd = 10.8, 3rd = 9.6, etc.)
 
Finishes in baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball are based on regular-season competition. However, institutions receive three bonus points for each league post-season championship earned in those aforementioned sports.  All other sports are determined by finish at the championship tournament or championship meet.
 
MVC All-Sports Trophy History
1949-50 Oklahoma State
1950-51 Oklahoma State
1951-52 Tulsa
1952-53 Houston
1953-54 Oklahoma State
1954-55 Oklahoma State
1955-56 Houston
1956-57 Oklahoma State
1957-58 Houston
1958-59 Houston
1959-60 Houston
1960-61 Tulsa
1961-62 Cincinnati
1962-63 Cincinnati
1963-64 Wichita State
1964-65 Wichita State
1965-66 Wichita State
1966-67 Cincinnati
1967-68 Cincinnati
1968-69 Not Available
1969-70 Not Available
1970-71 Memphis State
1971-72 Memphis State
1972-73 Memphis State
1973-74 North Texas State
1974-75 North Texas State
1975-76 Wichita State
1976-77 Southern Illinois
1977-78 Wichita State
1978-79 Wichita State
1979-80 Wichita State
1980-81 Wichita State
1981-82 Wichita State
1982-83 Wichita State
1983-84 Southern Illinois
1984-85 Illinois State
1985-86 Illinois State
1986-87 Wichita State
1987-88 Wichita State
1988-89 Illinois State
1989-90 Southern Illinois
1990-91 Southern Illinois
1991-92 Illinois State
1992-93 None Awarded
1993-94 Illinois State
1994-95 Southern Illinois
1995-96 Illinois State
1996-97 Illinois State
1997-98 Illinois State
1998-99 Illinois State
1999-00 Missouri State
2000-01 Illinois State
2001-02 Missouri State
2002-03 Missouri State
2003-04 Wichita State
2004-05 Wichita State
2005-06 Wichita State
2006-07 Wichita State
2007-08 Illinois State
2008-09 Wichita State
2009-10 Illinois State
2010-11 Wichita State
2011-12 Missouri State
2012-13 Wichita State
2013-14 Wichita State
2014-15 Wichita State
2015-16 Wichita State
2016-17 Wichita State
2017-18 Missouri State
2018-19 Illinois State
2019-20 None Selected (COVID-19)
2020-21 Illinois State
2021-22 Illinois State
2022-23 Illinois State
2023-24 Drake
2024-25 Illinois State