Missouri State leaving MVFC and moving to FBS, Conference USA

FARGO — A Missouri Valley Football Conference program is set to leave the conference and join a Football Bowl Subdivision league.

Missouri State announced Friday, May 10, the it has accepted an invitation to join Conference USA as a full-league member starting July 1, 2025.

Missouri State is currently a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the Missouri Valley Conference, its primary league. Conference USA is an FBS league for football. North Dakota State and University of North Dakota football teams play in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

“We are so excited for the opportunities that CUSA membership will bring to our university, our student-athletes, our coaches and our fans,” said Missouri State Director of Athletics Kyle Moats in a release. “This move represents a transition to a national brand and a platform that will help raise the profile of Missouri State University and the city of Springfield. The steps we have taken over the past 15 years to invest in a successful broad-based athletics program have prepared us for this long-awaited moment.”

The MVFC, an FCS conference, will have 11 members for the 2024 season and 10 members in 2025 after Missouri State exits the league. Western Illinois is slated to move into the Ohio Valley Conference starting in 2024.

“This move will absolutely open doors for us,” Moats explained. “For our student-athletes, they will have less bus travel and more flights which will get them back to campus in a safer and more-timely manner. They will also have more financial resources at their disposal for cost of attendance, Alston funds, and a more strategic presence in the name, image and likeness (NIL) space.”

North Dakota State joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2008. Missouri State had been a league member since 1985.

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Peterson covers college athletics for The Forum, including Concordia College and Minnesota State Moorhead. He also covers the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks independent baseball team and helps out with North Dakota State football coverage. Peterson has been working at the newspaper since 1996.