Missouri State announces first FBS football series

SPRINGFIELD, Missouri — Missouri State has set two non-conference football series for its inaugural season as a Division I FBS program in 2025, the university announced Thursday.

The Bears have played exciting home and away games against Southern Methodist University (SMU) and Marshall University. Both games will begin in 2025, with the games taking place in 2026.

The program’s first-ever home game against an FBS opponent will take place on Saturday, September 13, 2025, when the Bears host SMU at Robert W. Plaster Stadium. The game is expected to be a night game and will mark the university’s official home debut at its newly classified level.

MoState will bring the game back to Dallas on September 26, 2026.

The Bears also signed a home-and-away contract with Marshall. The 2025 schedule includes a game on September 6 in Huntington, W.Va. against the Thundering Herd. The teams will also face each other in a rematch on September 19, 2026 in Springfield.

For Missouri State, these will be the first games against both opponents.

For 2025, previously announced games at Arkansas (August 30) and at home against UT Martin (September 20) round out Missouri State’s first non-conference FBS schedule. Next season will also include eight games in Conference USA. Those dates and opponents have yet to be announced by MSU’s new league.

For season ticket information for the upcoming season, call (417) 836-8899, visit MissouriStateBears.com/tickets or submit a Ticket Interest Form.

2025 Non-Conference Schedule
August 30 – Arkansas
6 September – in Marshall
13 September – SMU
20 September – UT Martin

2026 Non-Conference Schedule
September 5 – at Kansas State
19 September – Marshall
September 26 – at SMU

About Missouri State
This fall, Missouri State will begin its final season at the FCS level – and the second season under head coach Ryan Beard — with 20 starters returning from a 4-7 club. Beard’s first season as Missouri State’s head coach in 2023 was marked by strong November performances and a highly touted pass offense that ranked No. 5 nationally (FCS) with a school-record 300.3 yards per game. MoState’s late-season surge included a convincing home win over No. 15 Northern Iowa and a hard-fought loss to eventual national champion South Dakota State in the season finale.

The Bears have reached the FCS playoffs twice in the last four seasons and are founding members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which has produced 11 of the last 12 national champions at the FCS level, as well as four national runners-up during the same time period. MoState will move to FBS football when it officially joins Conference USA in 2025.

About SMU
Third-year head coach Rhett Lashlee leads the Mustangs into the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2024 after leading the Dallas team to an 11-3 overall record and an undefeated 8-0 record in the American Athletic Conference last season. SMU defeated Tulane in the American Championship game before losing to Boston College in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.

The Mustangs have 12 players on the Athlon Sports Preseason All-ACC Teams, including starter Brashard Smith, who transferred from Miami and was a second-team All-ACC specialist last year. SMU plays at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 32,000 with the potential to expand to 45,000 in the future. Amenities include nearly 600 club-level seats and 240 seats in 24 spacious luxury suites in a three-story tower and a press box.

About Marshall
Marshall enters the 2024 season as one of the most consistent programs in the Group of Five, having appeared in a bowl game in each of the last seven seasons and 10 of the last 11 years. Head coach Charles Huff enters his fourth season as coach of the Thundering Herd and has compiled a 22-17 record in his three completed seasons with the Herd.

Huff’s wins with the Herd include two Power Five victories – a 26-21 victory over No. 8 Notre Dame on Sept. 10, 2022, and a 24-17 win over Virginia Tech in Huntington on Sept. 23, 2023. In each of the last three seasons, Marshall has had a running back surpass the 1,000-yard mark and finish in the FBS top 25 in rushing yards and touchdowns (Rasheen Ali, 2021 and 2023; Khalan Laborn, 2022).

Marshall is in its third season in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference.