Illinois State travels to Villanova on Saturday, Dec. 20, in a semifinal match of the NCAA Division I Football Championship.  MVFC schools have an all-time record of 26-16 vs. the CAA.

Playoff Notebook (PDF)
 

Saturday, Dec. 20 - Semifinals	Time (CT)
#3 Montana (13-1) at #2 Montana State (12-2) [ABC]	3:00 PM
Illinois State (11-4) at Villanova (12-2) [ESPN2]	6:30 PM

MVFC ALL-CONFERENCE NEWS
2025 All-Conference Team -- https://bit.ly/43Xq45O
2025 All-Newcomer Team -- https://bit.ly/3KliPhu
2025 Scholar-Athlete Team -- https://bit.ly/48H2mwd

MVFC ON ALL-AMERICA TEAMS
Stats Perform Team (All-America & All-Freshman) -- Click Here
Associated Press -- Click Here
FCS Football Central All-America Teams -- Click Here
FCS Football Central Freshman All-Americans -- Click Here

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

Playoff Ledger, By Conference -- Here are the league records in this year’s NCAA Division I Football Championship:

Big Sky (UC Davis, Montana, Montana St.)	5-1	0.833
Coastal (UNH, Rhode Island, Villanova)	4-2	0.667
MVFC (ILS, UND, NDSU, USD, SDSU, YSU)	7-5	0.583
United (Abilene Christian, Tarleton State)	2-2	0.500
Ivy (Harvard, Yale)	1-2	0.333
Southland (Lamar, SE Louisiana, SFA)	1-3	0.250
Patriot (Lehigh)	0-1	0.000
Southern (Mercer)	0-1	0.000
Northeast (Central Connecticut State)	0-1	0.000
OVC/Big South (Tennessee Tech)	0-1	0.000
Pioneer (Drake)	0-1	0.000

Against the Rest -- Illinois State travels to Villanova on Saturday, Dec. 20, in a semifinal match of the NCAA Division I Football Championship.  MVFC schools have an all-time record of 26-16 vs. the CAA.

MVFC vs. Other Leagues in the Playoffs

vs. Pioneer Football League	6-0	1.000
vs. Mid-Eastern Athletic	4-0	1.000
vs. Northeast Conference	3-0	1.000
vs. SWAC	1-0	1.000
vs. OVC/Big South*	25-3	0.893
vs. United Athletic	2-1	0.667
vs. Southland Conference	17-10	0.630
vs. Patriot League	5-3	0.625
vs. CAA Football	26-16	0.619
vs. Big Sky Conference	34-25	0.576
vs. Southern Conference	15-14	0.517
vs. Intra-Conference	21-21	0.500
vs. Independents	3-3	0.500
vs. Ivy League	0-1	0.000
TOTAL	162-97	0.625

*OVC/Big South Association and pre-Association records


All-Time Semifinal Trips -- Here’s a look at the leaders, by conference, since 1978 (first year of the playoffs).
38 - Missouri Valley Football Conference
38 - Big Sky Conference
33 - CAA Football
29 - Southern Conference
20 - Southland Conference

Title Town -- The MVFC has 14 total titles, the most by an FCS league.

Title-Game Appearances, Since 2011
16 -- Missouri Valley Football Conference
4 -- Big Sky
4 -- CAA
3 -- Southland
1 -- OVC

All-Time Title-Game Appearances, By Conference
20 - Missouri Valley Football (14 titles)
17 - Big Sky Conference (6 titles)
16 - Southern Conference (8 titles)
13 - CAA Football (6 titles)
12 - Independents (9 titles)*
9 - Southland Conference (2 titles)
5 - Ohio Valley Conference (2 titles)
*includes 5 combined trips by YSU (4) and SIU (1), with 4 FCS titles when they played as independents.

Leagues With Six Bids -- Only four times in FCS history has a Conference received six playoff bids in the same season, all since 2018)

Leagues With Six Playoff Teams (Notes)
2018 -- CAA (3-6 overall; 1-1 intraleague; Maine reached semis)
2021 -- MVFC (7-5 overall; 2-2 intraleague; FCS title - NDSU)
2023 -- MVFC (10-5 overall; 1-1 intraleague; FCS title - SDSU)
2025 -- MVFC (7-5 overall; 1-1 intraleague)

Road Warriors -- Illinois State picked up its third road win of the 2025 playoffs with its victory at UC Davis on Dec. 13. All-time, MVFC teams have a combined 43-67 road record in playoff games. In the 13-year history of the 24-team bracket (since 2013), Illinois State has more road wins (8) than any other FCS team.  Only four times in MVFC history has the Conference had two playoff road wins on the same date (11/29/2014; 12/7/2019; and twice this season).  2025 marks the first time in a 24-team bracket that two teams have won two or more road games (Villanova, ISU).

Most Playoff Road Wins, Same Season
5 -- 2025 (UND, South Dakota, Illinois State -- 3)
4 -- 2014 (Indiana State, SDSU, Illinois State -- 2)
3 -- 2005 (Southern Illinois, UNI -- 2)
3 -- 2019 (UNI, Illinois State -- 2)
3 -- 2021 (Southern Illinois, SDSU -- 2)

Most Road Wins, 24-Team Bracket Era (2013-pres.)
8 -- Illinois State
5 -- South Dakota State
3 -- North Dakota
3 -- Kennesaw State
3 -- New Hampshire

MVFC, Big Sky Dominate -- The MVFC (9) and Big Sky (6) accounted for 15 of the 23 playoff wins in 2024 - that matched a record win total by two leagues, also accomplished in 2016 and in 2023.  This season the two leagues have three of the remaining four teams in the field and have combined to win 12 of the 20 total possible victories in the tournament.

In the Round of 8 -- Since the bracket expanded to 20 teams in 2010 (3 years) and 24 in 2013 (13 years), the MVFC has had a minimum of two teams in the quarters 14 times.

4 - 2020-21
3 - 2015, 2016, 2019, 2023, 2024
2 - 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2025

7 MVFC Teams Ranked -- Seven Missouri Valley Football teams are ranked in the Stats Perform and AFCA Coaches Top 25 polls.  Seven or more MVFC teams have been ranked in the same week 40 times in league history, including 11 times this season.  

In the Round of 16 -- Since the playoff bracket expanded to 20 teams in 2010 (3 years) and 24 in 2013 (13 years), the MVFC has had a minimum of two teams in the Round of 16 every year.  

5 - 2014, 2020, 2023, 2025
4 - 2015, 2017, 2019, 2024
3 - 2012, 2016, 2018, 2021
2 - 2010, 2011, 2013, 2022

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 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.