| 2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference season | |
| Color: |
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| League: | NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision |
| Sport: | Football |
| Duration: | August 29, 2024 through January 6, 2025 |
| No Of Teams: | 11 |
| Tv: | ESPN College Football, ESPN+, Local TV partners |
| Draft: | 2025 NFL draft |
| Draft Link: | 2025 NFL draft |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champ Name: | Champions Playoff participants |
| Season Champs: | North Dakota State South Dakota State South Dakota Illinois State |
| Seasonslistnames: | Football |
| Prevseason Year: | 2023 |
| Nextseason Year: | 2025 |
The 2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference season is the 39th season of college football play for the Missouri Valley Football Conference and part of the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season. This is the MVFC's first season returning to 11 teams, and its fourth in the last 5 seasons. It is also the conference's last for now as Missouri State announced before the season that they would be joining Conference USA starting in the 2025–26 academic year. The Bears are ineligible for the FCS playoffs during the 2024 season.[1]
In 2023, South Dakota State won the conference and received the automatic bid to the 2023 playoffs. The top seeded Jacks would go on to win their second consecutive FCS Championship, beating second seeded Montana.[2] South Dakota would also make a seed and wait until the second round to play as the third seed, but would fall to North Dakota State in the quarterfinal round.[3] The Bison made the tournament unseeded for the first time since the 2010 season, and would make it all the way to the semifinal round before losing to the Griz[4] - winning two straight road games to get there. Southern Illinois, Youngstown State and North Dakota would also make the playoffs as unseeded teams. The Salukis and Penguins fell in the second round, to 4th seeded Idaho[5] and 6th seeded Villanova[6] respectively. The Fighting Hawks fell at home to Sacramento State in the first round.[7]
After the conclusion of the 2023 college football season, Western Illinois left the conference for the Ohio Valley Conference after 38 years in the league as a charter member. This move matches the Leathernecks departure from their main conference, the Summit League, which they left after the 2022-23 collegiate season.[8]
On January 10, 2024, Jody Wright was named the new head coach at Murray State.[9] Wright takes over for Dean Hood, who retired after the 2023 season.[10]
On December 17, 2023, Tim Polasek was named the new head coach at North Dakota State.[11] Polasek takes over for Matt Entz, who left the Bison for the linebackers/assistant coach position at USC.[12]
The annual preseason poll; voted on by conference coaches, athletic directors, and media members.[13]
| 1 | South Dakota State | 482 (42) | |
| 2 | North Dakota State | 437 (1) | |
| 3 | South Dakota | 371 | |
| 4 | Southern Illinois | 293 | |
| 5 | North Dakota | 276 | |
| 6 | Illinois State | 264 | |
| 7 | Youngstown State | 255 | |
| 8 | Northern Iowa | 227 | |
| 9 | Missouri State | 164 (1) | |
| 10 | Indiana State | 68 | |
| 11 | Murray State | 67 |
| First Team Offense | Mark Gronowski | South Dakota State | QB | Sr. |
| Mason King | Illinois State | RB | Sr. | |
| Tyshon King | Youngstown State | RB | Sr. | |
| Hunter Brozio | North Dakota State | FB | Sr. | |
| Carter Bell | South Dakota | WR | Sr. | |
| Bo Belquist | North Dakota | WR | Sr. | |
| Dan Sobkowicz | Illinois State | WR | Jr. | |
| JJ Galbreath | South Dakota | TE | Sr. | |
| Gus Miller | South Dakota State | OL | Sr. | |
| Jared Penning | Northern Iowa | OL | Sr. | |
| Jaison Williams | Youngstown State | OL | Sr. | |
| Grey Zabel | North Dakota State | OL | Sr. | |
| Hunter Zambrano | Illinois State | OL | Sr. | |
| First Team Defense | Jarod DePriest | South Dakota State | DL | Sr. |
| Nick Gaes | South Dakota | DL | Sr. | |
| Dylan Hendricks | North Dakota State | DL | Sr. | |
| Eli Mostaert | North Dakota State | DL | Sr. | |
| Amir Abdullah | Illinois State | LB | Sr. | |
| Adam Bock | South Dakota State | LB | Sr. | |
| Logan Kopp | North Dakota State | LB | Jr. | |
| Garret Ollendieck | Indiana State | LB | Sr. | |
| Dalys Beanum | South Dakota State | DB | Sr. | |
| Maddix Blackwell | Indiana State | DB | Jr. | |
| Tucker Large | South Dakota State | DB | Jr. | |
| Dennis Shorter | South Dakota | DB | Sr. | |
| Cole Wisniewski | North Dakota State | DB | Sr. | |
| First Team Special Teams | Hunter Brozio | North Dakota State | LS | Sr. |
| Will Leyland | South Dakota | PK | Jr. | |
| Grant Burkett | Missouri State | P | Sr. | |
| Carter Bell | South Dakota | RS | Sr. | |
| Amar Johnson | South Dakota State | AP | Sr. |
| Second Team Offense | Cam Miller | North Dakota State | QB | Sr. |
| Amar Johnson | South Dakota State | RB | Jr. | |
| Travis Theis | South Dakota | RB | Sr. | |
| Jaden Norby | North Dakota | FB | Sr. | |
| Vinson Davis III | Southern Illinois | WR | Jr. | |
| Max Tomczak | Youngstown State | WR | Jr. | |
| Griffin Wilde | South Dakota State | WR | So. | |
| Joe Stoffel | North Dakota State | TE | Sr. | |
| Evan Beernten | South Dakota State | OL | Sr. | |
| Joe Cotton | South Dakota | OL | So. | |
| Chase Evans | Southern Illinois | OL | Sr. | |
| Joe Lombard | South Dakota | OL | Sr. | |
| Mason Miller | North Dakota State | OL | Jr. | |
| Second Team Defense | Jake Anderson | Illinois State | DL | So. |
| Cannon Butler | Northern Iowa | DL | Jr. | |
| Blake Holden | South Dakota | DL | Sr. | |
| Darion Smith | Missouri State | DL | Sr. | |
| Colin Bohanek | Southern Illinois | LB | Sr. | |
| Tucker Langenberg | Northern Iowa | LB | Jr. | |
| Tye Niekamp | Illinois State | LB | So. | |
| Wyatt Pedigo | North Dakota | LB | Sr. | |
| PJ Hall | Missouri State | DB | Sr. | |
| Keondre Jackson | Illinois State | DB | Sr. | |
| Todric McGee | Missouri State | DB | Jr. | |
| Cale Reeder | South Dakota State | DB | Sr. | |
| Ubayd Steed | Southern Illinois | DB | Sr. | |
| Second Team Special Teams | Kaydon Olivia | South Dakota State | LS | Jr. |
| Griffin Crosa | North Dakota State | PK | Sr. | |
| Hunter Dustman | South Dakota State | P | Sr. | |
| Tucker Large | South Dakota State | RS | Jr. | |
| Vinson Davis III | Southern Illinois | AP | Jr. |
Source:[14]
See main article: 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings.
| Improvement in ranking | ||
| Drop in ranking | ||
| Not ranked previous week | ||
| No change in ranking from previous week | ||
| RV | Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll | |
| т | Tied with team above or below also with this symbol | |
| Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois State | STATS | 19 | 21 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 11 | |
| Coaches | 20 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 19 | 16 | 23 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 10 | ||
| Indiana State | STATS | |||||||||||||||
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | |||||||||
| Missouri State | STATS | |||||||||||||||
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 18 | 21 | |||
| Murray State | STATS | |||||||||||||||
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | |||||||||||
| North Dakota | STATS | 24 | 23 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 15 | 21 | RV | |||
| Coaches | 22 | 20 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 23 | RV | RV | |||
| North Dakota State | STATS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Coaches | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Northern Iowa | STATS | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | |||||||||
| Coaches | RV | RV | 21 | 19 | 19 | 18 | RV | |||||||||
| South Dakota | STATS | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | |
| Coaches | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | ||
| South Dakota State | STATS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| Coaches | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| Southern Illinois | STATS | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 19 | RV | ||||||||
| Coaches | 11 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 23 | RV | |||||||||
| Youngstown State | STATS | 25 | 25 | 21 | RV | |||||||||||
| Coaches | 23 | 23 | 20 | 25 | RV | |||||||||||
| Index to colors and formatting | |
|---|---|
| MVFC member won | |
| MVFC member lost | |
| MVFC teams in bold |
† denotes Homecoming game
^ denotes AP Poll ranking for FBS teams
In 2024, four teams made the FCS playoffs. North Dakota State (No. 2), South Dakota State (No. 3), and South Dakota (No. 4) all received byes, while Illinois State (No. 12) played in the first round. Below are the games in which they played.
All times central. Seedings in parenthesis.
2024–25 records against non-conference foes:
| FCS power conferences | Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Big Sky | 2–1 | |
| CAA | 1–1 | |
| FCS power total | 3–2 | |
| Other FCS conferences | Record | |
| Big South–OVC | 5–2 | |
| Ivy League | None | |
| MEAC | None | |
| Northeast | 0–1 | |
| Patriot | None | |
| PFL | 6–1 | |
| SoCon | 1–0 | |
| Southland | 3–1 | |
| SWAC | 1–0 | |
| UAC (ASUN–WAC) | 2–0 | |
| Other FCS total | 17–5 | |
| Other Division I opponents | Record | |
| Football Bowl Subdivision | 0–12 | |
| Total Division I | 21–19 | |
| Other NCAA opponents | Record | |
| Division II | 2–0 | |
| Total non-conference record | 23–19 | |
Post season
| FCS power conferences | Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Big Sky | None | |
| CAA | None | |
| FCS power total | 0–0 | |
| Other FCS conferences | Record | |
| Big South–OVC | 1–0 | |
| Ivy League | None | |
| MEAC | None | |
| Northeast | None | |
| Patriot | None | |
| PFL | None | |
| SoCon | None | |
| Southland | None | |
| SWAC | None | |
| UAC (ASUN–WAC) | None | |
| Other FCS total | 1–0 | |
| Total postseason record | 1–0 | |
| Week | Offensive | Defensive | Special teams | Freshman | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Team | Player | Position | Team | Player | Position | Team | Player | Position | Team | ||
| Week 1 (Sept. 2) [15] | Cam Miller | QB | NDSU | Todric McGee | S | MOST | Keyondray Jones-Logan | RS | USD | Ethan Wright | RB | YSU | |
| Week 2 (Sept. 9) [16] | Beau Brungard | QB | YSU | Ben Bogle | LB | SIU | C.J. Elrichs | PK | UND | Elijah Owens | QB | INST | |
| Week 3 (Sept. 16) [17] | DJ Williams | QB | SIU | Garret Ollendieck | LB | INST | Hayden Futch | P | ILST | Keontez Lewis | WR | SIU | |
| Jacob Clark | QB | MOST | |||||||||||
| Week 4 (Sept. 23) [18] | Kirby Vorhees | RB | SDSU | Josh Navratil | LB | UND | Jackson Williams | WR/RS | NDSU | CharMar Brown | RB | NDSU | |
| Week 5 (Sept. 30) [19] | Jacob Clark | QB | MOST | Eli Mostaert | DT | NDSU | Tyler Erkman | DB | UND | CharMar Brown | RB | NDSU | |
| Week 6 (Oct. 7) [20] | Cam Miller | QB | NDSU | Tye Niekamp | LB | ILST | Brendon Kilpatrick | P | YSU | Quaron Adams | WR | USD | |
| Week 7 (Oct. 14) [21] | Jacob Clark | QB | MOST | Gary Bryant III | LB | USD | Angel Johnson | RB/KR | SDSU | Elijah Owens | QB | INST | |
| Week 8 (Oct. 21) [22] | Tommy Rittenhouse | QB | ILST | Logan Kopp | LB | NDSU | Kaedin Steindorf | P | NDSU | Xavier Loyd | WR | ILST | |
| Week 9 (Oct. 28) [23] | Beau Brungard | QB | YSU | Geoffrey Brown | LB | INST | Andrew Lastovka | PK | YSU | CharMar Brown | RB | NDSU | |
| Week 10 (Nov. 4) [24] | Jayden Becks | RB | MOST | Joey Shew | DE | INST | James London | PK | MUR | CharMar Brown | RB | NDSU | |
| Week 11 (Nov. 11) [25] | Jacob Clark | QB | MOST | Mi'Quise Grace | DL | USD | Hunter Dustman | K/P | SDSU | Jake Curry | QB | SIU | |
| Week 12 (Nov. 18) [26] | Charles Pierre Jr. | RB | USD | Matthew Durrance | S | SDSU | Griffin Crosa | K | NDSU | Xavier Loyd | WR | ILST | |
| Beau Brungard | QB | YSU | |||||||||||
| Week 13 (Nov. 25) [27] | Michael Lindauer | QB | SIU | Tye Niekamp | LB | ILST | Sergio Morancy | WR/RS | UNI | Nate Ewell | LB | USD | |
On December 2, 2024, the Missouri Valley Football Conference released their Players of the Year and All-Conference Honors.[28]
| First Team Offense | Cam Miller | North Dakota State | QB | Sr |
| Jacob Clark | Missouri State | QB | Sr | |
| Amar Johnson | South Dakota State | RB | Sr | |
| Charles Pierre Jr. | South Dakota | RB | RS-So | |
| Travis Theis | South Dakota | FB | Sr | |
| Evan Beernsten | South Dakota State | OL | Sr | |
| Joey Lombard | South Dakota | OL | Sr | |
| Gus Miller | South Dakota State | OL | Sr | |
| Mason Miller | North Dakota State | OL | Sr | |
| Grey Zabel | North Dakota State | OL | Sr | |
| JJ Galbreath | South Dakota | TE | Sr | |
| Bo Belquist | North Dakota | WR | 5th | |
| Bryce Lance | North Dakota State | WR | Jr | |
| Max Tomczak | Youngstown State | WR | Jr | |
| First Team Defense | Jarod DePriest | South Dakota State | DL | Sr |
| Nick Gaes | South Dakota | DL | Sr | |
| Mi'Quise Grace | South Dakota | DL | RS-So | |
| Eli Mostaert | North Dakota State | DL | Sr | |
| Adam Bock | South Dakota State | LB | Sr | |
| Geoffrey Brown | Indiana State | LB | Sr | |
| Caleb Francl | South Dakota State | LB | Sr | |
| Logan Kopp | North Dakota State | LB | Jr | |
| Tye Niekamp | Illinois State | LB | So | |
| Dalys Beanum | South Dakota State | DB | Sr | |
| Devin Hembry | North Dakota | DB | 5th | |
| Keondre Jackson | Illinois State | DB | Sr | |
| Tucker Large | South Dakota State | DB | Jr | |
| Dennis Shorter | South Dakota | DB | Sr | |
| First Team Special Teams | Grant Burkett | Missouri State | P | Sr |
| Sergio Morancy | Northern Iowa | RS | Sr | |
| Caden Bolz | Missouri State | DS | Sr | |
| Beau Brungard | Youngstown State | AP | So | |
| Angel Johnson | South Dakota State | AP | Jr |
| Second Team Offense | Mark Gronowski | South Dakota State | QB | Sr |
| CharMar Brown | North Dakota State | RB | RS-Fr | |
| Jacardia Wright | Missouri State | RB | Sr | |
| Jaden Norby | North Dakota | FB | Sr | |
| Joe Cotton | South Dakota | OL | RS-So | |
| Bryce Henderson | South Dakota | OL | RS-Jr | |
| Cash Hudson | Missouri State | OL | So | |
| Jared Penning | Northern Iowa | OL | RS-Sr | |
| Jaison Williams | Youngstown State | OL | Sr | |
| Lance Mason | Missouri State | TE | Jr | |
| Daniel Sobkowicz | Illinois State | WR | Jr | |
| Griffin Wilde | South Dakota State | WR | So | |
| Hunter Wood | Missouri State | WR | Sr | |
| Second Team Defense | Jake Anderson | Illinois State | DL | So |
| Blake Holden | South Dakota | DL | Sr | |
| Joey Shew | Indiana State | DL | RS-Jr | |
| Darion Smith | Missouri State | DL | Sr | |
| Ben Bogle | Southern Illinois | LB | So | |
| Gary Bryant III | South Dakota | LB | RS-So | |
| Tahj Chambers | Missouri State | LB | Sr | |
| Mark Cannon Jr. | Illinois State | DB | Jr | |
| Colby Huerter | South Dakota State | DB | Sr | |
| Colby Humphrey | South Dakota State | DB | Sr | |
| Mike Reid | South Dakota | DB | Sr | |
| Ubayd Steed | Southern Illinois | DB | Sr | |
| Second Team Special Teams | Griffin Crosa | North Dakota State | PK | Sr |
| Brendon Kilpatrick | Youngstown State | P | Jr | |
| Jackson Williams | North Dakota State | RS | Fr | |
| Sam Merryman | Youngstown State | DS | Sr | |
| Jacardia Wright | Missouri State | AP | Sr |
On November 26, 2024, STATS Perform released their list of finalists for the Walter Payton Award, Buck Buchanan Award, Jerry Rice Award, and Eddie Robinson Award, respectively. Finalists are listed by order they appears in the STATS Perform article:
The following MVFC players were listed as finalists for the Walter Payton Award, which is given to the best FCS offensive player:[29]
The following MVFC players were listed as finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is given to the best FCS defensive player:[30]
The Jerry Rice Award is given to the most outstanding FCS freshman. The MVFC's own CharMar Brown (RB - North Dakota State) won the award.[31] The other conference finalist is listed below:[32]
The following MVFC coaches were listed as finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award, which is given to the best FCS head coach:[33]
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Game 8 | Game 9 | Total | Average | % of capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois State | Hancock Stadium | 13,391 | 12,440† | 9,012 | 11,687 | 6,232 | 6,381 | 5,631 | 51,383 | 8,563 | 64.0% | |||
| Indiana State | Memorial Stadium | 12,764 | 3,614 | 3,466 | 3,056 | 4,266† | 3,013 | 3,188 | 20,603 | 3,433 | 26.9% | |||
| Missouri State | Robert W. Plaster Stadium | 17,500 | 9,642 | 12,117† | 11,280 | 8,134 | 7,142 | 48,315 | 9,663 | 55.2% | ||||
| Murray State | Roy Stewart Stadium | 16,800 | 7,213 | 9,088 | 6,437 | 15,991† | 6,133 | 5,127 | 49,989 | 8,331 | 49.6% | |||
| North Dakota | Alerus Center | 12,283 | 11,595 | 10,685 | 8,491 | 10,828 | 11,617† | 9,797 | 8,974 | 71,987 | 10,283 | 83.7% | ||
| North Dakota State | Fargodome | 18,700 | 16,811 | 17,185 | 18,723 | 18,807† | 14,528 | 14,679 | 100,463 | 16,743 | 89.5% | |||
| Northern Iowa | UNI-Dome | 16,324 | 8,458 | 12,611† | 10,848 | 1,880 | 8,398 | 42,195 | 8,439 | 51.7% | ||||
| South Dakota | DakotaDome | 9,100 | 7,435 | 6,529 | 6,706 | 8,934 | 5,515 | 9,062† | 44,181 | 7,363 | 80.9% | |||
| South Dakota State | Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium | 19,340 | 19,321 | 19,376† | 19,331 | 19,351 | 16,376 | 17,268 | 111,023 | 18,503 | 95.7% | |||
| Southern Illinois | Saluki Stadium | 15,000 | 7,879 | 13,421† | 7,157 | 9,610 | 4,933 | 5,310 | 48,310 | 8,051 | 53.7% | |||
| Youngstown State | Stambaugh Stadium | 20,630 | 7,649 | 12,415† | 8,560 | 9,979 | 4,933 | 43,536 | 8,707 | 42.2% | ||||
See main article: 2025 NFL draft. The following list includes all MVFC players who were drafted in the 2025 NFL draft.
| Player | Position | School | Draft round | Round pick | Overall pick | Team |
|---|
Through November 30, 2024
All stats include 2024 season
| Team | Head coach | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | MVFC record | MVFC titles | FCS playoff appearances | FCS playoff record | National titles | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois State | Brock Spack | 16 | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | 2 | 6 | data-sort-value= | 0 | |||||
| Indiana State | Curt Mallory | 7 | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | 0 | 0 | data-sort-value= | 0 | |||||
| Missouri State | Ryan Beard | 2 | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | 0 | 0 | data-sort-value= | 0 | |||||
| Murray State | Jody Wright | 1 | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | 0 | 0 | data-sort-value= | 0 | |||||
| North Dakota | Bubba Schweigert | 11 | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | 0 | 5 | data-sort-value= | 0 | |||||
| Tim Polasek | 1 | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | 1 | 1 | data-sort-value= | 0 | ||||||
| Northern Iowa | Mark Farley | 24 | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | 7 | 13 | data-sort-value= | 0 | |||||
| South Dakota | Bob Nielson | 9 | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | 1 | 3 | data-sort-value= | 2 | |||||
| Jimmy Rogers | 2 | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | 2 | 2 | data-sort-value= | 1 | ||||||
| Southern Illinois | Nick Hill | 9 | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | 0 | 3 | data-sort-value= | 0 | |||||
| Youngstown State | Doug Phillips | 5 | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | data-sort-value= | 0 | 1 | data-sort-value= | 0 |