ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Valley Football Conference will play an eight-game conference-only Spring 2021 schedule over a nine-week period beginning the weekend on Feb. 20, with North Dakota at home against Missouri State from the Alerus Center.
On Aug. 7, the Missouri Valley Football Conference Presidents Council announced that league’s schools would not conduct conference competition this fall. In its unwavering commitment to providing meaningful and safe competitive opportunities for the Conference’s student-athletes, the MVFC moved its schedule to the spring to align its season with the FCS Playoffs. Non-conference competition this fall is being conducted at institutional discretion as Missouri State (3 games), North Dakota State (1 game) and Southern Illinois (1 game) all have opted to schedule non-league teams before November.
On Tuesday, 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 title game will be played on either May 14-15-16 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, as the model follows a “Southern Start” with early-season games played either at domes or at institutions in the southern-most part of the league footprint. Typically, MVFC schools would not play more than two-straight games at home or two-straight games on the road, but it will occur three times next spring due to facility conflicts at some sites.
Start times and the league’s television schedule will be announced at a later date.
Friday, Feb. 19
Western Illinois at South Dakota
Saturday, Feb. 20
Illinois State at UNI
Missouri State at North Dakota
South Dakota State at Southern Illinois
Sunday, Feb. 21
Youngstown State at North Dakota State
Friday, Feb. 26
UNI at South Dakota
Saturday, Feb. 27
Illinois State at Missouri State
Indiana State at Southern Illinois
South Dakota State at North Dakota
Thursday, March 4
South Dakota at North Dakota
Saturday, March 6
Western Illinois at Illinois State
North Dakota State at Indiana State
Missouri State at UNI
Southern Illinois at Youngstown State
Saturday, March 13
Illinois State at North Dakota State
South Dakota at Indiana State
Southern Illinois at Missouri State
UNI at Western Illinois
Youngstown State at South Dakota State
Saturday, March 20
North Dakota at Illinois State
Indiana State at Youngstown State
North Dakota State at South Dakota
UNI at Southern Illinois
Western Illinois at South Dakota State
Saturday, March 27
South Dakota at Illinois State
Indiana State at South Dakota State
North Dakota State at Missouri State
North Dakota at Western Illinois
UNI at Youngstown State
Saturday, April 3
Illinois State at Indiana State
Missouri State at South Dakota
Southern Illinois at North Dakota
South Dakota State at North Dakota State
Youngstown State at Western Illinois
Saturday, April 10
Missouri State at Indiana State
North Dakota at Youngstown State
North Dakota State at UNI
South Dakota at South Dakota State
Western Illinois at Southern Illinois
Saturday, April 17
Southern Illinois at Illinois State
Indiana State at Western Illinois
Youngstown State at Missouri State
North Dakota at North Dakota State
South Dakota State at UNI
*Courtesy UND Athletics
