The Big Rivers Conference is a football-only high school athletic conference represented by 10 schools in the northwest and north-central portions of Illinois. It is a member of the Illinois High School Association.
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The Big Rivers consists of Amboy, Erie, Fulton, Kewanee, Bureau Valley, Morrison, Riverdale, and Newman Central Catholic of the Three Rivers Athletic Conference; Marquette from the Tri County Conference; and St. Bede from the Tri-County Conference. Amboy and Erie both have football cooperatives with LaMoille High School of the Little Ten and fellow TRAC-9 member Prophetstown High School respectively.
The Three Rivers Conference played their last football season in 1998. Its' members for football were Morrison High School, Newman Central Catholic High School, Fulton High School, Riverdale High School, Amboy High School, Prophetstown High School, and Savanna High School. In 1999, Amboy joined forces with Tri-County Conference schools St. Bede Academy, Bureau Valley High School, Marquette High School, Eureka High School, and Bradford High School — who was part of a football co-operative with Midland High School and Henry-Senachwine High School — to form the newly formed Big Rivers' Conference's Illinois division. The Mississippi division consisted of former Three Rivers schools Morrison, Newman, Riverdale, Fulton, Erie, and Prophetstown. Savanna joined the Upstate Illini Conference, now known as the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference.
After the 2000-01 school year, Bradford High School was deactivated. Their football cooperative relocated to Midland High School in Varna and named the Marshall County Falcons. After one season, the Falcons renamed their co-operative "The River Valley Timberwolves". They remained at Midland High School and Varna. Erie and Prophetstown consolidated their football programs leaving an open spot in the Mississippi Division which was filled by Amboy. Amboy's spot in the Illinois division was filled by a football cooperative at LaMoille High School. LaMoille only lasted one season in the Big Rivers before pulling their football program for a season before forming a co-operative with Amboy. The Illinois division continued with five teams for the next two seasons.
After the 2003-04 school year, Eureka formed a co-operative with Roanoke-Benson High School and joined the Corn Belt Conference. The reduction in the conference to ten teams prompted the Big Rivers to eliminate divisions and function as a ten team conference with no non-conference schedule.
The 2004 football season was notable for two Big Rivers' teams playing for state titles. Newman won the conference's first state crown by defeating Carthage 21-7 in 2A, while Bureau Valley lost to Driscoll in 3A. Bureau Valley won the 3A state championship the following season highlighting a stretch that included six conference championships, three undefeated regular seasons, and two state title appearances in seven years.
n 2008, Kewanee High School agreed to leave the NCIC and joined the Big Rivers Conference for football and the Three Rivers Conference for all other sports. They played their first season in the Big Rivers in 2010, replacing River Valley who left to play in the Lincoln Trail Conference.
In 2009, Morrison brought the Big Rivers back to the state championship by winning the 2A title in 2009 becoming the 2nd 14-0 state champions in conference history. Newman repeated this feat in 2010 by going 14-0 winning the 2A state title.
In 2011, Marquette announced they were moving their football program to the Northeastern Athletic Conference for the 2012-13 academic year.
| School | Nickname | Colors | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amboy High School | Clippers | Amboy, IL | |
| Erie High School | Panthers | Erie, IL | |
| Fulton High School | Steamers | Fulton, IL | |
| Kewanee High School | Boilermakers | Kewanee, IL | |
| Bureau Valley High School | Storm | Manlius, IL | |
| Morrison High School | Mustangs | Morrison, IL | |
| Hall High School | Red Devils | Spring Valley, IL | |
| St. Bede Academy | Bruins | Peru, IL | |
| Riverdale High School | Rams | Port Byron, IL | |
| Newman Central Catholic High School | Comets | Sterling, IL |