The season starts on a Thursday in August, two days before the Big Ten plays a snap, and the league spends the first three weekends entirely on the road show — Purdue, Kentucky, Northwestern, Middle Tennessee, Northern Illinois. Not one conference game until the calendar turns. Here is the Missouri Valley Football Conference season, week by week.
Table of Contents
- The non-conference stretch
- Week 0 — August 27 to 29
- Week 1 — September 3 to 5
- Week 2 — September 12
- Weeks 3 through 13 — still to come
- Dig deeper
Times are Central. Conference games are in bold — there are none yet. Blank times are still TBA.
The non-conference stretch
Nineteen games open the season and every one of them is non-conference. Five are trips to FBS programs: Indiana State at Purdue, Youngstown State at Kentucky, Murray State at Middle Tennessee, South Dakota State at Northwestern, and Illinois State at Northern Illinois. Two more send teams to the Pacific time zone, Northern Iowa to Cheney and North Dakota to Portland.
Almost every listing carries an ESPN platform, and that is not a coincidence: the league’s multimedia rights deal runs through the 2029 season, with all conference games distributed on ESPN. The regional partners — Midco Sports in the Dakotas, KELOLAND in Sioux Falls — ride alongside it.
The rest is regional. Southern Illinois plays a Gulf Coast doubleheader in Pensacola and Birmingham. Eastern Illinois and Murray State meet in Murray, and SEMO turns up twice in three weeks, at Indiana State and then at Southern Illinois. Illinois State makes both Illinois road trips, Macomb and DeKalb, back to back.
Week 0 — August 27 to 29
| Matchup | Date | Time | Location | TV |
| Mercyhurst at Youngstown State | Thu Aug 27 | 5:00 | Youngstown, Ohio | |
| Southern Illinois at West Florida | Thu Aug 27 | 6:00 | Pensacola, Fla. | |
| Eastern Illinois at Murray State | Thu Aug 27 | 6:00 | Murray, Ky. | |
| LIU at North Dakota | Thu Aug 27 | 7:00 | Grand Forks, N.D. | Midco Sports / ESPN+ |
| Central Connecticut State at South Dakota | Sat Aug 29 | 1:00 | Vermillion, S.D. | ESPN+ / Midco Sports |
| SEMO at Indiana State | Sat Aug 29 | 5:00 | Terre Haute, Ind. | |
| Stetson at South Dakota State | Sat Aug 29 | 6:00 | Brookings, S.D. | Midco / KELOLAND / ESPN+ |
| St. Francis (Ill.) at Illinois State | Sat Aug 29 | 6:00 | Normal, Ill. | ESPN+ |
Four games on Thursday night, four on Saturday, and the league is playing before most of the country. Eastern Illinois at Murray State is a leftover from Murray’s Ohio Valley years, now a non-conference date. Everything here is a home opener except the two Southern Illinois and Eastern Illinois trips.
Week 1 — September 3 to 5
| Matchup | Date | Time | Location | TV |
| Southern Illinois at Samford | Thu Sep 3 | 6:00 | Birmingham, Ala. | |
| Indiana State at Purdue | Fri Sep 4 | 6:00 | West Lafayette, Ind. | |
| Youngstown State at Kentucky | Sat Sep 5 | TBA | Lexington, Ky. | |
| St. Thomas at North Dakota | Sat Sep 5 | 3:00 | Grand Forks, N.D. | Midco Sports / ESPN+ |
| Murray State at Middle Tennessee | Sat Sep 5 | 6:00 | Murfreesboro, Tenn. | |
| Illinois State at Western Illinois | Sat Sep 5 | 6:00 | Macomb, Ill. | |
| Northern Iowa at Eastern Washington | Sat Sep 5 | 6:00 | Cheney, Wash. | |
| South Dakota at Northern Colorado | Sat Sep 5 | 7:00 | Greeley, Colo. | ESPN+ |
| South Dakota State at Northwestern | Sat Sep 5 | 7:00 | Evanston, Ill. | Big Ten Network |
The heaviest travel weekend of the young season. Four teams draw FBS opponents, and only North Dakota plays at home. Indiana State opens the Big Ten‘s Friday night slate at Purdue, and South Dakota State goes to Evanston the next evening on Big Ten Network — the two games where the league gets a national window whether it wants one or not.
Week 2 — September 12
| Matchup | Date | Time | Location | TV |
| SEMO at Southern Illinois | Sat Sep 12 | TBA | Carbondale, Ill. | |
| Duquesne at Youngstown State | Sat Sep 12 | 1:00 | Youngstown, Ohio | |
| Eastern Washington at South Dakota | Sat Sep 12 | 1:00 | Vermillion, S.D. | ESPN+ / Midco Sports |
| Drake at Northern Iowa | Sat Sep 12 | 1:00 | Cedar Falls, Iowa | |
| New Haven at South Dakota State | Sat Sep 12 | 6:00 | Brookings, S.D. | Midco / KELOLAND / ESPN+ |
| Illinois State at Northern Illinois | Sat Sep 12 | 6:00 | DeKalb, Ill. | Mountain West+ |
| Indiana State at Eastern Illinois | Sat Sep 12 | 6:00 | Charleston, Ill. | |
| Valparaiso at Murray State | Sat Sep 12 | 6:00 | Murray, Ky. | |
| North Dakota at Portland State | Sat Sep 12 | 9:00 | Portland, Ore. | ESPN+ |
Nine games, no Friday night, and the league finally gets most of its teams home at the same time. Eastern Washington makes the return trip to Vermillion a week after hosting Northern Iowa. North Dakota at Portland State kicks at nine Central, the latest start on the calendar so far.
Weeks 3 through 13 — still to come
Conference play and the back half of the schedule land here. Section headers and pick links are in place:
- Week 3 — September 19 · Pick this week →
- Week 4 — September 26 · Pick this week →
- Week 5 — October 3 · Pick this week →
- Week 6 — October 10 · Pick this week →
- Week 7 — October 17 · Pick this week →
- Week 8 — October 24 · Pick this week →
- Week 9 — October 31 · Pick this week →
- Week 10 — November 7 · Pick this week →
- Week 11 — November 14 · Pick this week →
- Week 12 — November 21 · Pick this week →
- Week 13 — November 28 · Pick this week →
Dig deeper
- Make your picks — week by week, +20 points each
- See the whole league — the MVFC hub has every school and every sport
- Compare two teams — the School Rivalry tool stacks any two side by side
- Read the other side — the full 2026 Big Ten schedule, for the conference the Valley visits every September
- Watch the movement — the Transfer Tracker
