University of Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson was named the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year on Thursday during the league's Coach of the Year luncheon in downtown St. Louis. UNI is the No. 1 seed and outright regular-season champion after being picked third in the league's pre-season poll last fall.
Jacobson is one of the winningest coaches in the history of the MVC. His 174 Conference wins leads all active coaches in the MVC and ranks third all-time in Conference history, trailing only Henry Iba of Oklahoma State (187) and Dana Altman of Creighton (182).