Title Town -- North Dakota State (6-0) can claim the MVFC outright title and the league’s AQ for the 2025 NCAA Division I Football Championship with a win on Saturday against second-place North Dakota (4-1).  UND could earn the outright crown with wins in its last three games and two NDSU losses.  UND would earn the league’s AQ if UND and NDSU tie with 7-1 league records.  Four other league teams are still in the picture heading into this weekend (Illinois State, South Dakota, South Dakota State, and Southern Illinois all have just two league losses -- each would have to win out to have a chance at a co-championship).
 
Total MVFC Titles (Outright and Shared, Combined)
16.  UNI
11. North Dakota State
  5. South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, Western Illinois
  3. Illinois State, Missouri State
  2. Eastern Illinois, Youngstown State
  1. North Dakota, South Dakota, Western Kentucky
 

MISSOURI VALLEY FOOTBALL
MVFC Stats  – Click Here   |  MVFC Composite Schedule -- Click Here  |  NCAA Statistics –  Click Here    |  NCAA FCS Records -- Click Here
MVFC Records  -- Click Here    |    MVFC Draft Database -- Click Here  |  MVFC in the Playoffs -- Click Here  |  MVFC All-Time Honors -- Click Here
Top-25 Polls -- Click Here  |  Stats Perform --  Click Here   |   HERO Sports -- Click Here   |   FCS Nation -- Click Here
 
 

Saturday, Nov. 8
*#16/17 Illinois State at Indiana State [ESPN+]	12 PM CT
*#1/1 NDSU at #13/15 UND [Midco/ABC ND/ESPN+]	1 PM CT
*Murray State at UNI [ESPN+]	1 PM CT
*#15/16 S. Illinois at #21/22 Youngstown St. [ESPN+]	1 PM CT
*#8/9 SDSU at #22/25 South Dakota [ESPNU]	3 PM CT
FCS rankings listed are Stats Perform/AFCA Coaches polls;
*denotes MVFC contest

 
Weekly Player Honors  |   FULL STORY (Click Here)
7 MVFC Teams Ranked  |  Click Here
 

MVFC Team	Massey		Stats	AFCA	Sagarin
Top 25 Only	Rating	SOS	Poll	Poll	Rank
N. Dakota State	1	24	1	1	35 (1)
S. Dakota State	4	19	8	9	98 (7)
North Dakota	6	9	13	15	87 (5)
Southern Illinois	10	18	15	16	125 (15)
South Dakota	12	17	22	25	137 (22)
Illinois State	20	26	16	17	134 (20)
Youngstown St.	21	11	21	22	118 (12)
Strength of Schedule (SOS) from Massey ratings; Sagarin rankings are overall DI football (FCS rank)

 
No. of Teams in Top 21 of Massey
7 - Missouri Valley Football
4 - Big Sky
2 - Coastal
2 - Southland
2 - United
1 - Ivy
1 - OVC/Big South
1 - Patriot
1 - Southern
 
And Then There Were Five -- Only five FCS programs enter this weekend with unblemished records -- including NDSU.
 
FCS Perfect Teams -- through games of Nov. 1
North Dakota St. (MVFC) -- 9-0
Lehigh (Patriot) -- 9-0
Montana (Big Sky) -- 9-0
Tennessee Tech (OVC) -- 9-0
Harvard (Ivy League) -- 7-0
 
FBS Perfect Teams -- through games of Nov. 1
Indiana (Big Ten) -- 9-0
BYU (Big 12) -- 8-0
Ohio State (Big Ten) -- 8-0
Texas A&M (SEC) -- 8-0
 
Winning Streaks -- Winning streaks for all games, dating back to last season:
 
Active Win Streaks in the FCS
14 -- Tennessee Tech (OVC-Big South)
13 -- North Dakota State
  9 -- Lehigh (Patriot), Montana (Big Sky)
 
NDSU Starts 9-0 -- In MVFC history (counting this season), 10 league teams have started a year 9-0 - all previous nine teams reached the playoffs - the last six MVFC teams to start a season 9-0 won the FCS title. This marks the sixth time as an MVFC member that NDSU has started a season with nine-straight wins.
 
Ranked vs. Ranked -- This week, there are three MVFC games that features ranked teams playing one another.  In Conference history, there have been 254 games in which two league teams ranked in the top 25 played one another. Of those previous 254 games, 74 times the meeting involved teams that were both ranked in the Top 10 at the same time. Twenty meetings have occurred in the playoffs. The home team is 141-111 in those games; the higher-ranked team is 163-90. Those figures include two neutral-site games, and one game in which the teams were both No. 25.
 
MVFC Ranked vs. Ranked (Nov. 8)
#1/1 NDSU at #13/15 North Dakota [Midco/ABC ND/ESPN+] -- 1 PM CT
#15/16 Southern Illinois at #21/22 Youngstown State [ESPN+] -- 1 PM CT
#8/9 SDSU at #22/25 South Dakota [ESPNU] -- 3 PM CT
 

Home Sweet Home -- North Dakota State ranks second nationally with 17-straight home wins.  The Bison next play at home on Nov. 15 (vs. UNI).
 
Longest Active Home Streaks (FCS)
20 -- Villanova (Next Home Game:  11/25 vs. Stony Brook)
17 -- N. Dakota St. (Next Home Game:  11/15 vs. UNI)
13 -- Rhode Island (Next Home Game:  11/22 vs. Hampton)
 
Payton’s Place -- Cole Payton of North Dakota State leads or is near the lead in the FCS in a host of individual statistical categories.  His current pass efficiency rating (192.5) would establish an MVFC all-time single-season mark.
 
Cole Payton in the FCS NCAA Stats (thru 11/1)
1. Yards Per Pass Attempt (11.92)
1. Passing Yards Per Completion (16.02)
1. Completion Percentage (74.4)
2. Passing Efficiency (192.5)
5. Total Offensive Yards Per Game (293.6)
 
Winning Against No. 1 -- Thirteen of the previous 22 MVFC wins vs. a top-ranked team have been league games.  MVFC programs have a 9-15 all-time mark against non-conference No. 1-ranked teams.  As an MVFC member, North Dakota has yet to defeat a No. 1-ranked team.
 
Mighty Defenses -- Top-ranked North Dakota State ranks among the FCS leaders in a host of defensive categories.  The Bison lead the FCS in total defense, surrendering just 237.8 yards per game in 2025.
 
2025 FCS Defensive Leaders (Rush Yards Per Game)
1. Tennessee Tech (OVC) -- 52.4
2. SFA (Southland) -- 72.6
3. Lehigh (Patriot) -- 72.8
4. Mercer (SoCon) -- 78.6
5. Harvard (Ivy League) -- 89.1
6. North Dakota (MVFC) -- 90.2
 
2025 FCS Defensive Leaders (Scoring Defense)
1. Harvard (Ivy League) -- 11.3
2. North Dakota St. (MVFC) -- 11.9
3. Lehigh (Patriot) -- 13.9
 
2025 FCS Defensive Leaders (Total Defense)
1. North Dakota St. (MVFC) -- 237.8
2. Harvard (Ivy League) -- 256.3
3. SFA (Southland) -- 260.6
 
2025 FCS Defensive Leaders (Passing Yards)
1. Prairie View (SWAC) -- 138.8
2. North Dakota St. (MVFC) -- 139.9
3. Saint Francis (NEC) -- 145.6
 
On the Clock -- North Dakota State (2nd, 34:04) and South Dakota State (3rd, 33:46) rank among the FCS leaders in time of possession.
 
Net Returns -- Four MVFC schools rank among the FCS Top 8 in kickoff return average.
 
FCS Leaders, Kickoff Returns
1. Southeastern La. (Southland) -- 31.39
2. Texas Southern (SWAC) -- 30.19
3. Villanova (CAA) -- 29.84
4. Youngstown St. (MVFC) -- 27.92
5. North Dakota (MVFC) -- 27.63
6. North Dakota St. (MVFC) -- 27.35
7. Valparaiso (Pioneer) -- 26.43
8. Illinois St. (MVFC) -- 26.33
 
Beau Knows Football -- A pair of MVFC players are among the top five in the FCS in rushing yards per game.  South Dakota RB LJ Phillips leads the MVFC with his 129.6 per game average.  QB Beau Brungard of Youngstown State is fifth nationally, but he’s the top rushing QB in the FCS.  His 1,041 total rush yards is climbing the all-time single-season leaderboard in league history for rushing by a QB.
 
All-Time Single-Season Rushing Bests, MVFC QBs
1,334, Aaron Bailey, UNI, 2015 (14 games)
1,291, Tirrell Rennie, UNI, 2010 (12 games)
1,100, Trey Lance, NDSU, 2019 (16 games)
1,041, Beau Brungard, Youngstown St., 2025 (9 games)
1,034, Sheraton Fox, Indiana State, 1999
1,029, Tre Roberson, Illinois State, 2014 (15 games)
998, Beau Brungard, Youngstown St., 2024 (12 games)
 
FCS Leaders, Rushing Yards Per Game
1. Rodney Nelson, Monmouth (CAA) -- 164.7
2. Joshua Dye, Southern Utah (United) -- 146.9
3. L.J. Phillips Jr., South Dakota (MVFC) -- 129.6
4. Josh Pitsenberger, Yale (Ivy League) -- 116.6
5. Beau Brungard, Youngstown St. (MVFC) -- 115.7
 
FCS Leaders, Rushing TDs
1. Joshua Dye, Southern Utah (ASUN) -- 19
2. Beau Brungard, Youngstown St. (MVFC) -- 16
3. Barika Kpeenu, North Dakota St. (MVFC) -- 15
3. Rodney Nelson, Monmouth (CAA) -- 15
5. DJ Williams, Southern Ill. (MVFC) -- 13
5. Eli Gillman, Montana (Big Sky) -- 13
7. L.J. Phillips Jr., South Dakota (MVFC) -- 12
7. Kente Edwards, Lafayette (Patriot) -- 12
 
FCS Leaders, Total Offensive Yards Per Game
1. Braden Atkinson, Mercer (SoCon) -- 354.4
2. Beau Brungard, Youngstown St. (MVFC) -- 347.0
3. Derek Robertson, Monmouth (CAA) -- 346.7
4. Liam O’Brien, Penn (Ivy League) -- 300.6
5. Cole Payton, North Dakota St. (MVFC) -- 293.6
6. DJ Williams, Southern Ill. (MVFC) -- 288.0
 
FCS Leaders, Points Responsible For Per Game
1. Derek Robertson, Monmouth (CAA) -- 24.6
2. Braden Atkinson, Mercer (SoCon) -- 22.3
3. Beau Brungard, Youngstown St. (MVFC) -- 20.9
4. Jerry Kaminski, North Dakota (MVFC) -- 18.7
4. DJ Williams, Southern Ill. (MVFC) -- 18.7
 
On the Offensive -- Three MVFC teams (North Dakota, North Dakota State, and Southern Illinois) are on the leaderboards for scoring offense and rushing offense in the FCS this season.
 
FCS Leaders (Scoring Offense)
1. Tennessee Tech (OVC) -- 47.9
2. Tarleton St. (United) -- 43.6
3. UTRGV (Southland) -- 42.9
4. North Dakota St. (MVFC) -- 42.3
11. North Dakota (MVFC) -- 37.9
19. Southern Ill. (MVFC) -- 34.6
 
FCS Leaders (Rushing Offense)
1. Delaware St. (MEAC) -- 303.4
2. Jackson St. (SWAC) -- 273.8
3. Sacramento St. (Big Sky) -- 249.8
4. North Dakota St. (MVFC) -- 231.7
10. North Dakota (MVFC) -- 220.9
12. Southern Ill. (MVFC) -- 207.4
 
2024:  Another Title -- Last season, the MVFC extended its FCS-record to 14-straight title-game appearances as NDSU defeated No. 1 seed Montana State in Frisco for the crown.  Notably, the 2024 season marked the 20th title appearance for a league team. The league is 14-6 in title games, although Youngstown State (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994) and Southern Illinois (1983) both played in the championship prior to joining the league.  All 20 of the league’s title-game appearances have occurred since 1997.
 
MVFC Playoff Dominance -- The league has established itself as a leader among FCS conferences.  Counting last year, an MVFC member has reached the FCS semifinals 23 times in the past 14 seasons (and 37 times overall).  The MVFC has had two semifinal teams eight times since 2014 (and three in 2024).  The MVFC is 107-48 (.690) since 2010 in the playoffs -- which includes 18 intra-conference games (meaning the league is 89-30 against teams from other leagues for a phenomenal .748 winning percentage).