Missouri State University has completed its 2017 football schedule, head coach Dave Steckel announced Wednesday. The Bears' 11-game slate includes five home dates, as well as a season-opening trip to Columbia to take on Missouri for the first time in nearly a century.
The Bears face a daunting early stretch, with four of their first six contests taking place on the road. Missouri State will kick off the season on Sept. 2, at Faurot Field, where the Bears will meet Mizzou for the first time since 1923.
"This is an exciting time for our program, our university and our alumni to have the opportunity to travel up north for the first time in a long time," Steckel commented on the Bears' season-opening visit to Columbia. "It's a fitting start to a strong non-conference schedule, as we'll also play two solid football teams in North Dakota and Murray State."
As Steckel noted, Missouri State will travel to Grand Forks, N.D., for a non-conference tilt against a North Dakota (Sept. 9) squad that went 9-3 last fall and finished 12th in STATS FCS Top 25 poll. From there, the Bears return to Springfield to open their 2017 home slate Sept. 16, with a Family Weekend meeting versus Murray State.
The Bears will open their 33rd season of Missouri Valley Football Conference play with a home game against Illinois State on Sept. 23. The Redbirds are coming off their third-consecutive FCS playoff berth after winning four of their final five regular-season contests in 2016.
Missouri State returns to the road for a pair of games, beginning with a trip to Fargo, where the Bears will battle perennial Valley power North Dakota State on Sept. 30. The Bison saw their string of five-straight FCS national championships come to an end in 2016, but still went 12-2 en route to another MVFC title and a national semifinal appearance. Following their lone bye week of the season, the Bears travel to Western Illinois (Oct. 14) with a narrow 17-16-1 edge in their series with the Leathernecks.
Back-to-back home games against South Dakota State (Oct. 21) and Indiana State (Oct. 28) will follow to conclude the month of October. The Jackrabbits posted a 9-4 overall mark in 2016, claiming a share of the MVFC crown before advancing to the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs. ISU will serve as the Bears' 2017 Homecoming opponent, with MSU looking to build on a key road win over the Sycamores this past October.
MSU wraps up the regular season with road games against Southern Illinois (Nov. 4) and national runner-up Youngstown State (Nov. 18) sandwiching a Senior Day match-up with UNI (Nov. 11) in Springfield.
"Obviously, we are familiar with the caliber of teams we will be going up against during the conference season," Steckel added. "We will be working hard throughout the winter, spring and offseason in order to make sure we're ready to meet those challenges."
Start times for the upcoming season will be announced at a later date.
The Bears, who posted a three-win improvement by going 4-7 overall in 2016, will begin spring workouts on March 26 and conclude with the squad's annual Maroon and White spring game on April 29 at Robert W. Plaster Stadium, starting at Noon.
Season ticket renewal information for the 2017 season will be mailed to current ticket holders in the coming weeks. New season ticket applications are available by contacting Duane Miller via email at duanemiller@missouristate.edu or phone at (417) 836-8899.
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