Missouri State University will be joining Conference USA as a full-time league member on July 1, 2025, with a news conference held on Monday afternoon at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield to announce the move. The Bears, for the first time in school history, will be playing in the NCAA’s Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
MSU will be joining C-USA as the 12th member of a conference that has seen a large amount of change in the 2020s, with the Bears joining universities that include Florida International, Jacksonville State, Liberty, and Western Kentucky.
Football, basketball, baseball, and volleyball will be among the Missouri State sports competing in Conference USA, with STUNT and acrobatics and tumbling added to women’s options. For the 2024-2025 school year, Missouri State will remain a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, with continued opportunities to compete for regular season and postseason championships.
