Mississippi Athletic Conference

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The Mississippi Athletic Conference (also called MAC) is a high school athletic conference whose members are located in the Iowa Quad-Cities, plus three other schools in eastern and southeastern Iowa.

Contents

[edit] Member Schools

There are 10 full members of the Mississippi Athletic Conference. Nine of those schools are in Class 4A, Iowa's largest enrollment class, while the smallest — Davenport Assumption — is in Class 2A (the second smallest among Iowa's four enrollment classes).

Institution Location Founded Affiliation 9-11 Enrollment[1] Mascot
Bettendorf Bettendorf 1951 Public 1,110 Bulldogs
Burlington Burlington ??? Public 1,021 Grayhounds
Clinton Clinton ???? Public 952 River Kings/River Queens
Davenport Assumption Davenport 1958 Private/Catholic 287 Knights
Davenport Central Davenport 1904 Public 1,202 Blue Devils
Davenport North Davenport 1985 Public 870 Wildcats
Davenport West Davenport 1960 Public 1,661 Falcons
Muscatine Muscatine ???? Public 1,800 Muskies
North Scott Eldridge 1958 Public 783 Lancers
Pleasant Valley Pleasant Valley 1962 Public 841 Spartans

[edit] Sports

The conference offers the following sports:

Although the member schools field freshman — and in some cases, junior varsity — teams in many of the above-mentioned sports, conference championships are determined at sophomore and varsity levels only. Also, not all schools field teams in every sport (e.g., North Scott does not have its own swimming teams).

[edit] History

The MAC — as it is known to locals — was formed in 1978. Charter members Bettendorf, Clinton and Muscatine had been members of the Mississippi Valley Conference, while Davenport schools Assumption, Central and West were part of the Quad-City Metro Conference. North Scott, which was participating in its first "big school" conference, had been in the Big Bend Conference (along with several smaller schools), and Burlington was not affiliated with any conference. At the time, the conference was known as the "Mississippi Eight."

Davenport North opened its doors in 1985 and was immediately admitted to the newly-renamed MAC. Pleasant Valley also became a part-time member in 1985, although it didn't compete in football, basketball, wrestling, baseball or softball until 1987 when the school became a full-fledged member.

[edit] Successes

The conference has had a reputation for being one of the toughest in Iowa. For instance:

  • Bettendorf — a perpetual powerhouse in football — won six state championships between 1981 through 2004 and made the semifinals on numerous other occasions. The Bulldogs have also been very successful in many other sports, particularly boys' soccer.
  • In softball, North Scott made 11 trips to the state softball tournament between 1987 and 2003, winning three state titles. Muscatine, another powerhouse in softball, has made 10 trips since 1981, winning two state championships.
  • Davenport North is well-known for its success in volleyball, and has had some state success in boys' basketball.

[edit] Source

1 Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union — 2005-2006 enrollment beds.

2 Bettendorf Football — Bettendorf Football archival website