Missouri State Bears

The Missouri State Bears compete in the Missouri Valley Football Conference out of Springfield, a program built on a founding role in three different leagues across a century of play. The Bears ended a 30-year conference championship drought with a share of the 2020 MVFC title, adding to a program total of 10 conference crowns. Missouri State's identity blends old Midwestern small-college roots with modern FCS competitiveness.

Missouri State fielded its first team in 1909 and was a founding member of the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Association, winning seven conference titles there through 1980. The Bears helped found the Gateway Football Conference in 1985 (later the MVFC) and added two more titles before a long championship drought. That drought ended in 2020, when Missouri State shared the MVFC title with North Dakota and South Dakota State.