(STATS) – The Missouri Valley Football Conference is the only FCS league that lays claim to having at least one FBS win in every season this decade.
It gets tougher with each year that FBS teams duck playing FCS national champ North Dakota State, but South Dakota kept the streak alive by beating Bowling Green last season. All but NDSU has an FBS matchup this year.
FCS programs earned nine wins last season, and as they seek to make their mark again in this year’s 111 matchups, here’s a look at the ones involving Missouri Valley teams:
The Matchups (9) – Illinois State: Colorado State (Sept. 22); Indiana State: Louisville (Sept. 8); Missouri State: at Oklahoma State (Sept. 1); Northern Iowa: Iowa (Sept. 15); South Dakota: Kansas State (Sept. 1); South Dakota State: Iowa State (Sept. 1); Southern Illinois: Ole Miss (Sept. 8); Western Illinois: Illinois (Sept. 8); Youngstown State: West Virginia (Sept. 8)
Glamour Game – Northern Iowa: Iowa (Sept. 15). The Panthers have been competitive with Iowa in recent matchups, but they’ve only won once in 17 all-time meetings. It’s always big in the Hawkeye State that Iowa and Iowa State regularly schedule the Panthers.
Upset Alert – Illinois State at Colorado State (Sept. 22). In a first-ever meeting between the programs, the Redbirds hope their upset bid is as shiny and good looking as Colorado State’s second-year stadium. The host Rams finished 7-6 a year ago.
Notable – FCS national champion North Dakota State has won its last six games against FBS opponents, but the Bison have found it increasingly harder to land the guarantee games. They won’t play another one until a trip to Oregon on Sept. 5, 2020. … Western Illinois hasn’t made it easy on first-year coach Jared Elliott, putting the Illinois matchup in between games with traditional Big Sky powers Montana State and Montana. The Leathernecks have lost two prior games against Illinois. … Iowa State was the first FBS team South Dakota State played after its move to Division I in 2008 (a 44-17 Cyclones’ win). SDSU notched its lone FBS triumph in 2015, beating Kansas 41-38. … This is Youngstown State’s second game against a Big 12 opponent. Its first was a 38-21 loss at West Virginia two years ago (the Penguins held a 14-7 lead in the second quarter). Last year, they took Pittsburgh to overtime before falling to the Panthers. … Southern Illinois and Ole Miss are squaring off for the third time, with the host Rebels winning in 1994 and 2011. … Winless last year in coach Curt Mallory’s first season, Indiana State has a winnable home game against Division II Quincy on Aug. 30 before its first matchup against Louisville since 2009. The Sycamores are 3-6-1 in the series. … Missouri State takes an 0-7 all-time record against Oklahoma State into this year’s matchup. The programs are signed to a 2022 meeting as well.
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