The Missouri Valley Football Conference has long built its reputation as the standard of FCS football.
National championships, deep playoff runs and a long history of producing teams capable of challenging FBS opponents have become alike with the Valley. Yet despite that reputation, opportunities against FBS competition have become more difficult to get on the schedule.
Many FBS programs have become hesitant to schedule the top FCS opponents, especially those from the MVFC, where a paycheck game can quickly become a derailing upset. That makes the upcoming season unique. Every Missouri Valley program has been given at least one opportunity to play an FBS opponent during non-conference play, which is a rarity in today’s scheduling.
Including Southern Illinois’ 14-11 victory over Northern Illinois on Sept. 9, 2023, MVFC programs have combined for 49 victories over FBS opponents since 1985. A Valley school has recorded at least one FBS victory in 13 of the past 16 seasons, consistently proving the conference can compete with programs playing one level above them.
With North Dakota State no longer a member of the conference, which picked up a more than a few of those FBS wins, each of the remaining nine MVFC schools will have an opportunity this fall to add another chapter to that history.
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For South Dakota State, one of the premier programs in the FCS over the last decade, the challenge comes in Week 1 when the Jackrabbits travel to Evanston, Illinois, on Sept. 5 to face Northwestern of the Big Ten Conference. The matchup marks SDSU’s first game against an FBS opponent since opening the 2024 season at Oklahoma State, where the Jackrabbits fell 44-20. The last time the Jackrabbits faced a Big Ten opponent came on Sept. 3, 2022, when they nearly upset Iowa on the road before falling 7-3 in a memorable defensive battle.
“I am just super grateful to be a part of such an unbelievable conference,” SDSU head coach Dan Jackson said. “When you look at the style of play, when you look at the level of coaching and the level of player, I mean, this conference is powerful and strong. And so, for us, the scheduling part of it, we wanted to play 12 Division I games, and I am thankful that we were able to get that done.”
Jackson believes the Northwestern game represents exactly the type of challenge his program needs to succeed this season.
“To be able to have Northwestern on the schedule is a great challenge,” Jackson said. “We love being able to go on the road first and foremost. We enjoy that time together. We want to play our best every week, and it really doesn’t matter if it’s FBS, Power Four, or FCS, none of that really matters when the whistle blows and the ball is snapped. We’re excited about the opportunity, and we’re familiar with the staff and a couple of the players, too. I am excited to see our guys play in that one.”
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Murray State will face perhaps the toughest non-conference slate in the conference with two FBS opponents. The Racers first travel to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Sept. 5 to face Middle Tennessee before heading to Stillwater, Oklahoma, two weeks later for a Sept. 19 showdown with Oklahoma State. The second contest comes just one week before Murray State opens league play against Southern Illinois.
Last season, the Racers traveled to Atlanta and dropped a 37-21 FBS contest against Georgia State, but head coach Jody Wright believes the difficult schedule will pay dividends once conference play begins.
“Those two games against Middle Tennessee and Oklahoma State will help us prepare for the speed, and the physicality that you see every week in the Valley,” Wright said. “Would you probably like to have a game that’s a better matchup for your team? Well, of course, just like any coach. But I also think it is hopefully going to help us in the long run to be competitive in a difficult conference.”
Northern Iowa renews one of the Midwest’s most recognizable in-state rivalries when the Panthers travel to Iowa City on Sept. 19 to face the Hawkeyes. The programs have not met since 2018, when Iowa claimed a 38-14 victory. Last season, UNI traveled to Wyoming for its FBS matchup and fell 31-7.
For second-year UNI head coach Todd Stepsis, the opportunity goes beyond football.
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“It’s one of those things where you wish you could do that every year, and in fact, I think over the next five years we will play Iowa twice and Iowa State twice and there is a ton of pride in those games,” Stepsis said. “The in-state rivalry is always unique, and I know a lot of our Iowa guys are excited for the opportunity to play in such an historic place like Kinnick Stadium. People really love where they are from here in Iowa, and so anytime you can bring these teams together to compete, you are going to bring communities and the state together and that is what athletics are all about.”
North Dakota may have one of the conference’s most intriguing opportunities. The Fighting Hawks travel to Lincoln on Sept. 19 to face Nebraska after nearly pulling off one of the bigger upsets in the country last season. North Dakota pushed then-ranked Kansas State to the brink before the Wildcats escaped with a dramatic 38-35 victory thanks to a touchdown in the final minute.
South Dakota heads west to Boise on Sept. 19 for a meeting with Boise State on the Broncos’ famous blue turf. The Coyotes opened last season at Iowa State, where they suffered a 55-7 defeat, and the last FBS victory for USD was a 41-38 road victory over Minnesota in 2010. If USD settles its quarterback situation during the first three weeks, the matchup with Boise State could become one of the more compelling MVFC versus FBS matchups.
Southern Illinois, the conference’s most recent winner against an FBS opponent, will look to claim another victory when it travels to Champaign to face Illinois on Sept. 19. The Salukis earned national attention in 2023 by defeating Northern Illinois 14-11, adding another signature win to the Valley’s impressive victories over FBS opponents. Last season, SIU traveled to Purdue and dropped a 34-17 contest.
Illinois State enters the season with perhaps the most momentum of any Valley program after finishing as the FCS national runner-up a year ago. The Redbirds will travel to DeKalb on Sept. 12 to face Northern Illinois, which begins its first season as a member of the Mountain West Conference. Illinois State opened last year against nationally ranked Oklahoma, falling 35-3 in Norman, but enters this matchup with far greater expectations after its postseason breakthrough.
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Youngstown State also opens with a significant challenge, traveling to Lexington on Sept. 5 to face Kentucky of the SEC. The Penguins’ most recent FBS contest came last season against Michigan State, where they fell 41-24 in East Lansing.
Indiana State rounds out the conference’s FBS opportunities when the Sycamores visit Purdue on Sept. 4. The last time Indiana State faced an FBS opponent came against eventual national champion Indiana, a difficult 73-0 loss in Bloomington last year.
Several of this year’s matchups appear somewhat capable of producing another Valley upset. SDSU has the pedigree and experience to challenge Northwestern. North Dakota already demonstrated last season it can push a Power Four opponent deep into the fourth quarter and could do the same against Nebraska. Illinois State enters its matchup with Northern Illinois carrying the confidence of an FCS runner-up, while USD’s trip to Boise State carries intrigue depending on how quickly the Coyotes establish their starting quarterback.
Whether those games end in victories or competitive games, they do offer another chance to reinforce what the numbers have already shown for decades: the gap between the nation’s best FCS conference and many FBS programs is smaller than many are willing to admit.
“I think there’s a lot of teams in this conference that would be ranked in the FBS for a lot of years, and so it definitely helps playing an FBS team before league play starts,” Wright said. “But also, I think there are a lot of FBS head coaches that are scared because there’s a lot of teams in our conference that have a really good chance to beat these FBS teams they’re playing. It will be exciting to watch.”
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