ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Valley Football Conference announced Thursday its spring schedule. All 11 MVFC members will play eight conference games during a nine-week period from Feb. 20 to April 17, 2021.Missouri State will open its MVFC slate on Saturday, Feb. 20, at North Dakota and have its league home opener the following Saturday (Feb. 27) against Illinois State at Plaster Stadium.
The Bears will play three games during the month of March, starting with a road game against Northern Iowa (March 6), followed by home contests on March 13 vs. Southern Illinois and March 27 against defending national champion North Dakota State.
Two of MSUs three April games will be on the road with contests at league newcomer South Dakota on April 3 and at Indiana State on April 10. Coach Bobby Petrino’s squad will conclude the Valley season on April 17 at home against Youngstown State.
The Bears will not play South Dakota State or Western Illinois this season.
On Sept. 22, the NCAA Board of Directors approved NCAA Division I fall championships to be played in the spring as outlined by the Division I Council. The FCS playoffs will feature 16 teams, and the bracket will be announced on Sunday, April 18. The 16-team field will be feature automatic bids from 11 FCS conferences and an additional five at-large selections. The NCAA Division I title game will be played on either May 14, 15 or 16 in Frisco, Texas.
The spring 2021 MVFC slate features the same original matchups as the previously announced fall 2020 schedule. The sequence of games, however, is different, with early-season games played either at domes or at institutions in the southern-most part of the league footprint.
Information on start times, tickets and fan protocol will be updated as soon as the information is available. Season-ticket inquiries may be directed to Duane Miller at (417) 836-8899 or duanemiller@missouristate.edu.
Petrino’s Bears are back in action this weekend when they take on Central Arkansas at 7 p.m. Saturday in Conway in the second of three fall, non-conference contests.
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