An analysis of competitive success between public and private institutions: The case of Missouri Valley Conference

Abstract

The purpose of our research was to gauge whether private institutions can effectively compete with public schools in the same athletic conference. To gain insight into this question we measured the winning percentages for each of the institutions in five team sports and overall, as well as the championships won by these institutions over a ten-year period in the Missouri Valley Conference. The conference’s public schools had a higher winning percentage in four of the five sports, but none of the differences in winning percentages was statistically significant. However, the distribution of championships between public and private schools significantly differed from the expected distribution with the public institutions holding the advantage.