Another Program To Move Up (Bit of a Surprise)

[IdaGriz01]

I don’t copy entire bylined articles, but this is a generic AP item, so I’ll make an exception:

Associated Press
Missouri State heads to FBS, joining Conference USA in 2025

Missouri State will move up to the highest tier of Division I college football and join Conference USA in 2025, the league announced Friday.
Missouri State will become the 12th full member of CUSA and the third school -- along with Kennesaw State this season and Delaware in 2025 -- to move up from the FCS to the FBS and join the league over the next two seasons.
A longtime member of the Missouri Valley Conference, Missouri State has been competing in FCS/I-AA since 1981. The Bears have reached the NCAA playoffs four times, most recently in 2020 and 2021 under then-coach Bobby Petrino.
"The institution boasts a great tradition in athletics and academics that will strengthen and further position our membership for long term success in the national landscape," Conference USA commissioner Judy MacLeod said.

Conference USA lost six members to the American Athletic Conference and have rebuilt by adding former independents such as Liberty and New Mexico State and former FCS schools Sam Houston State and Jacksonville State last year.
The rest of Conference USA includes Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, UTEP and Florida International.

Of course, Petrino – not the most exemplary guy in the coaching world – bailed after the 2022 season. We don’t know why … but does it matter?

Anyway, who saw this program as a likely move up? No me, for sure. Despite the brief glimmer under Petino, the Bears haven’t set the world on fire in the MVFC (like 44-79 in the last decade or so). Their enrollment – a bit over 23,000 – is okay, but hardly set to compete financially with the two big Missouri schools. Their stadium was originally built in 1941, with a “major” renovation in 1990 … which still left capacity less than 18,000. And they’ve only been close to capacity three times in the last thirty years.

Still, they’re supposedly Gung Ho! to go, according to this article from their hometown (Springfield) newspaper:
https://www.news-leader.com/story/s...l-expenses-clif-smart-mvc-valley/73640659007/

Oddity: Although the article is fairly long, I did not catch any mention of plans for facility upgrades.

All I can say, otherwise, is: Good luck, fellas!

 

[DoubleNicks]

From their announcement article last week I found it interesting that they plan to stay Title IX compliant by adding STUNT (cheer skills/tumbling), so they could essentially just give scholarships to their cheerleaders and use them, if they wanted. (MO State has Mens' Baseball, Golf, and Soccer but doesn't have Track & Field, Cross Country, or Tennis for men like UM does. But they also additionally had/have Beach Volleyball and Swimming & Diving for women.)

With the move to FBS football and the additional 22 scholarships it requires, the university has already announced the addition of two new emerging women's programs – STUNT, and acrobatics and tumbling. These new sports will debut during the 2024-25 school year, keeping Missouri State in step with its long-standing tradition of excellence in women's athletics and its commitment to Title IX compliance.

https://missouristatebears.com/news...ccepts-invitation-to-join-conference-usa.aspx

Anyway, this makes sense for them. They will pretty much be smack dab in the center of the conference geographically. And nothing to lose competitive/momentum-wise as they have long had the moniker "Misery State" on other FCS message boards.