The FBS’s NEWEST Program... (The Rise of Missouri State Football)

The FBS will welcome another new team come 2025 with Missouri State surprising many when they announced last week that they would be joining the Conference USA. The Bears have not found a ton of historic success at the FCS level but will look to take advantage of Missouri NIL laws to help them build up into a potential group of 5 playoff contenders. This is the story of Missouri State Football. The FBS’s newest member.

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[ryanmaurer]

First rebuild in CFB 26 w them will go crazy

[prdbrndn]

as springfield resident, i know they aren't the best but i do hope the best for them! can't wait to watch the games

[keatoncymbaluk]

Everything has really changed here so much since the Bobby Petrino. Our records don’t even show how competitive this team has become. The last couple years we’ve been hit by injuries. But we have nearly beaten 2 power five ranked teams and the FCS champs. Not to mention the FCS conference we played in was the SEC equivalent at the level.

[brmhandle]

Missouri’s advantageous NIL laws could turn Mo State into an overnight success. Brilliant move.

[the_taco_man]

The black and maroon Mo State jerseys are tuff

[DioChicken]

I don’t want any other FCS schools to make the jump. The FCS is great and the FBS jump often ends up losing rivalries

[limitlessmdrt]

Would love for you to do a video on Eastern Kentucky. I know you did one on the UAC last year, but EKU is a team on the rise as of late and with our best coach in history Roy Kidd passing away during this past season, timing would be perfect for a video on their rise fall and rise again

[HeaZyay]

I didn’t know we had good NIL laws here lol. Mizzou born and raised in Columbia but shoutout Springfield much love

[willaddison]

I'll root for my alma mater all day long. I'm so excited about the move

[gregb]

So is SMS going to Conference USA in basketball also?

[Etronoxz]

Im definitely ready to see my team move up but yeah we’ve been historically bad but definitely gotten alot better over the last couple of years but losing the rivalries is sad but most likely might end up playing some of those teams every other year or so

[SuperMAXALLEN]

FCS football is super entertaining, don’t know why all these teams want to move up go 5-7 and play in a shit bowl. That’s all these programs can hope for.

[j.thompson]

I would like to see Valdosta State make the jump from D2 to FCS....like their rivals West Georgia.

[Sean_Regularjoe]

Why are we seeing a team that has historically underperformed move to D1... But a team who always plays above their level SDSU still have not made the move

[Christian-fnyu]

I'm really hoping that the University of Tennessee Chattanooga hasn't missed out on the opportunity to move up but if they did it was probably for the best I do not know if they are good enough financially to survive the move

[PPChickenNug]

I would like to see North Dakota State, South Dakota State, or Youngstown State in the FBS.

[mmmcounts]

I think Mo St will be in the upper half of C-USA. They'll compete hard with Delaware to see which of those two can do better at this level, and it will be interesting to see them link up with former MVFC members in WKU and MTSU. I like this move by the conference. I think Mo St will actually stay in C-USA for the foreseeable future, I hope that C-USA sees the wisdom of adding MVFC programs in football only sometimes, and I like the direction this is going. I do know that Northern Iowa has wanted to make the jump for quite some time, and they are probably the next program that comes into C-USA. It helps the conference have a presence in the center of the country, and if all goes well, the best pieces of the MVFC (aka the SEC if the FCS) will find their way into C-USA. Again, sometimes with a football only move. That's what helped make the MVFC so good, and C-USA should copy that model to a large extent.

Further down the road, I do believe NDSU and SDSU make their way into C-USA. I think they make the jump, and it will be a lot of fun to follow that.

[FyreFrostDragon]

I don't mean to be Debby Downer here but I'm a Missouri State alumni and our football program...sucks. We couldn't win in the Missouri Valley Football Conference so I'm not holding out much hope of winning in C-USA.

[vinnybadon]

Id like weber state and the montanas also the dakotas to go to fbs :)

[DeezusNWG]

when is the last time this Missouri team won the Missouri Valley conference?? I can see NDSU or SDSU moving up but this is silly