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MURRAY (WSIL) -- The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) Presidents Council voted to extend membership to Murray State University Friday. 

This will make the Racers the 12th member of the FCS conference. 

"With Murray State becoming the 12th Missouri Valley Football Conference member, we have stabilized and strengthened FCS football in the Midwest and cemented the MVFC's position as the premier FCS football conference in the nation," said MVFC Commissioner Patty Viverito. "This course of action makes good sense for our conference, our member institutions, our fans and most importantly our student-athletes.  With this move, we will turn long-standing traditional games with neighboring schools into conference rivalries and open the way for equally satisfying new rivalries throughout the league."

"The goal of the Missouri Valley Football Conference has been to position our membership profile as the best in the FCS," stated Indiana State President Deborah J. Curtis, chair of the MVFC Presidents Council.  "We are thrilled to have Murray State University joining our great historic conference. Murray State's mission and goals fit very much in line with what we are all aiming to achieve."

The MVFC began in 1985 as the Gateway Football Conference, before becoming the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2008. 

The conference has added North Dakota State and South Dakota State in 2008, South Dakota in 2012 and most recently, North Dakota in 2020. 

Murray State will play its first season in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in the fall of 2023. The Racers will play the 2022 season in the Ohio Valley Conference, their 75^th and final season in the league.