The Panthers are the football team of the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) in Cedar Falls, Iowa. They compete in the Football Championship Subdivision of the NCAA and play in the Missouri Valley Conference.
📜 Northern Iowa Panthers Football History
UNI first fielded a football team in 1895. For the program's first 27 years, the Panthers competed as an independent school, but in 1923 they joined the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UNI won 2 conference titles during its 12 years as a member.
From 1935 until 1977, the Panthers played in the North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, winning the conference title 12 times in that 42-year span.
After a brief 6 years in the Mid-Continent Conference, UNI joined the Gateway Football Conference in 1985. In 2008, the conference became known as the Missouri Valley Conference.
