Open Season -- The 2025 Missouri Valley Football Conference season opens on Saturday, Sept. 27.  Southern Illinois and Missouri State played the league’s first conference game (Sept. 7, 1985), while the earliest start for a league game occurred on Aug. 30, 2001 (Western Illinois vs. Western Kentucky). 
 
MISSOURI VALLEY FOOTBALL
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Weekly Notebook (PDF)

 

Saturday, Sept. 27
*#17/18 USD at #1/1 NDSU [ABC ND/Midco/ESPN+]	1 PM CT
Mercyhurst at #2/2 SDSU [Midco/ESPN+]	2 PM CT
Saturday, Oct. 4
*Murray State at South Dakota	2 PM CT
*North Dakota at UNI	4 PM CT
*South Dakota State at Youngstown State	5 PM CT
*Indiana State at Southern Illinois	6 PM CT
*North Dakota State at Illinois State	6 PM CT

 
FCS rankings listed are Stats Perform/AFCA Coaches polls;
 
MVFC On Top of the FCS -- Missouri Valley Football Conference teams have combined for a 21-6 record against FCS teams from other conferences - that’s the best among FCS leagues.  The MVFC is 2-2 against ranked FCS programs.   Last year, MVFC teams combined for an FCS-best 29-9 record vs. non-league FCS opponents, which included an 11-5 record against ranked FCS teams.
 
7 MVFC Teams Ranked -- Seven MVFC teams are ranked in both the AFCA FCS Coaches poll and in the Stats Perform poll.  NDSU (1) and SDSU (2) hold the top two positions in both rankings.  Including this week, six or more MVFC teams have been ranked in the same top-25 poll 86 times, including a record 12-straight weeks in 2014 (and 10 times in 2024).  The league has had seven or more teams ranked in the same week 32 times in its history, including three-straight weeks this year.  It marks the 31st time in MVFC history that the league held the top two positions, which includes seven polls in 2024.
 
In the Metrics -- Seven of the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s 10 programs rank in the top 20 of the Massey FCS Ratings.  In Sagarin, the MVFC has four in the Top 10 of that ranking metric (among FCS programs), and seven MVFC teams are in the Top 25 of FCS schools in the Sagarin rankings.
 
MVFC Takes National Awards -- For the fourth-straight week, an MVFC player earned Stats Perform National Player of the Week honors.  Southern Illinois’ DJ Williams and Youngstown State’s Andrew Lastovka were selected on Monday as the Stats Perform FCS National Players of the Week.  Williams accounted for 493 yards and six touchdowns in SIU’s win at Southeast Missouri State, and Lastovka hit the game-winning field goal as the clock expired in YSU’s victory at Towson.
 
Ranked vs. Ranked -- This week, No. 17/18 South Dakota takes on top-ranked North Dakota State.  In Conference history, there have been 244  games in which two league teams ranked in the top 25 played one another. Of those previous 244 games, 71 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 137-105 in those games; the higher-ranked team is 154-89. Those figures include two neutral-site games, and one game in which the teams were both No. 25.
 
Home Sweet Home -- Three Missouri Valley Football Conference programs are among the national FCS leaders for consecutive home victories (active streaks).  South Dakota State has the nation’s longest streak with 31-straight wins in Brookings, S.D.
 
At the Buzzer -- Youngstown State’s Andrew Lastovka hit a 42-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Penguins to a 31-28 victory at Towson on Sept. 20.  That marked the 28th game in the league’s 41-year history that a game was decided on the final play in regulation.  MVFC schools are now 9-1 in non-league games decided on the final play.
 
MVFC-Big Sky Challenge Series -- In an effort to publicize current matchups and promote future non-conference scheduling between two of the premier FCS conferences, the MVFC and the Big Sky Conference announced a Challenge Series between the two leagues before the 2017 season. (Only regular-season contests count in the series standings.)  The MVFC claimed the 2025 series with a 5-2 advantage.  The MVFC has never lost a season series in the Challenge.
 
And Then There Were 14 -- Only 14 FCS programs enter this weekend with unblemished records -- two of those are from the MVFC.
 
National Leader on Defense -- North Dakota State has yielded an FCS-best 158.0 yards per game to start the season. NDSU has allowed only 78.7 passing yards per game (also an FCS best).  The Bison only trail Brown (which has played just one game and recorded a shutout) by allowing just 5.7 points per game in 3 games.
 
DJ Williams Has Career Day -- Southern Illinois’ QB DJ Williams had 493 yards of total offense and accounted for six touchdowns in the Salukis’ 59-31 victory at Southeast Missouri State on Sept. 20.  It marked the third-best single-game performance in the FCS this season.
 
On the Clock -- South Dakota State leads the FCS in average time of possession (35:34) through three games this year.
 
NCAA FCS TD Leaders -- Five MVFC QBs rank among the Top 30 in the FCS in total touchdowns.  Jerry Kaminski of North Dakota has thrown 10 TD passes this season to rank fourth in the FCS.
 
Climbing The Charts -- WR Daniel Sobkowicz of Illinois State now has 27 TD receptions in his career - that tops FCS active leaders and is tied for 14th all-time in MVFC history.  With 2,747 career receiving yards -- he’s 20th on the all-time MVFC list for career receiving yards. He’s the active leader in the FCS for receiving yards.
 
He’s No. 1 -- RB Julius Loughridge of South Dakota State is the active FCS leader in career rushing yards and rushing yards per game (93.6).  He ranks second among active FCS players with 3,830 all-purpose yards, and his 29 rushing TDs rank fourth among active FCS players.
 
MVFC in the NFL -- A total of 43 alums from current Missouri Valley Football schools made NFL opening-day rosters in 2025.
 
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).