2020 MVFC title (played spring 2021)
Missouri State shares the Missouri Valley Football Conference title under Bobby Petrino, ending a 30-year drought
Program outlook
Program outlook
Missouri State ended a 30-year title drought under Bobby Petrino, jumped to the FBS in 2025, and played its first-ever bowl game under his son — because the coach who got them there had already left for another job.
Since Jul 3: L 13-34 at Western Kentucky; W 24-21 vs Kennesaw State; L 38-61 at Delaware; W 24-3 vs Sam Houston. 3-5 this season.
Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs
Bobby Petrino took over in January 2020 and, in the COVID-delayed season played that spring, ended a conference championship drought that had lasted 30 years, sharing the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and reaching the FCS Playoffs in back-to-back seasons. Then, like coaches at this level tend to do, he left — for the offensive coordinator job at UNLV, in December 2022.
Ryan Beard took the program the rest of the way, through the FCS-to-FBS transition and into Conference USA for 2025. The debut season went 7-6 (5-3 CUSA), good enough for the program's first-ever Division I-A bowl bid. And then, almost the moment the regular season ended, Beard left too — for the head coaching job at Coastal Carolina.
So when Missouri State played its first-ever bowl game, the 2025 Xbox Bowl against Arkansas State, the man on the sideline was Nick Petrino — Bobby's son — serving as interim head coach for a game the previous architect had already walked away from. The Bears lost 34-28, a close one that came down to the final possessions. Casey Woods, hired that December for his first-ever head coaching job after two decades as a coordinator across four different conferences, inherits a program that keeps building real things and keeps losing the builder right after. Whether he's the one who finally sticks around is the whole question for 2026.
On the field
A program mid-transition on the field as much as on the sideline — Petrino's disciplined FCS-era program-building gave way to Beard's FBS-transition roster reshaping, and Casey Woods now inherits a roster and identity still being defined heading into his first season.
Missouri State has won 37% of its games since 1911 — 50% at home, 26% on the road.
106-183-1 all-time · 47 seasons · 1911–2026
Home
59-59
Away
40-112-1
Neutral
7-12
2 g
1910s
2 g
1920s
45%
1980s
14%
1990s
41%
2000s
29%
2010s
50%
2020s
The CFP era
13 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality
AP rank (inverted)
CFP appearance
Swipe left for earlier seasons
Missouri State’s 2014–2026 record is 52-85.
Casey Woods
Casey Woods took over from Ryan Beard for the 2026 season.
Era Casey Woods · 2026–presentPrev: Ryan Beard (2025)OC: Mark CalaPrev OC: Nick Petrino (2025)DC: Jack CurtisPrev DC: L. D. Scott (2025)
1
year · era
Moments in Missouri State history
- Kennesaw State 41, Missouri State 34Nov 22, 2025
- Missouri State 21, Liberty 17Nov 8, 2025
- Missouri State 24, New Mexico State 17Oct 22, 2025
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
2022
Bobby Petrino leaves for UNLV
Petrino departs for the UNLV offensive coordinator job after three seasons
Wound
2025 Xbox Bowl
Missouri State's first-ever Division I-A bowl game ends in a 34-28 loss to Arkansas State, coached by interim Nick Petrino after Ryan Beard's departure for Coastal Carolina
Heartbreak
Moment of the year · 2026
Lost 0-50 at Texas A&M
Week 1 of 2026. A reckoning loss — the data point the next season must answer.
2022–2022
Missouri State has sent 1 player to the NFL Draft since 2022 — none in the first round.
Thin. Roster development still maturing.
1
picks · 0 in round 1
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Eric Johnson
Defensive Tackle · 2022 · 
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Indianapolis Colts
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Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 3-5
Season standing · 2026 · 3-5Missouri State is 3-5 — below .500 in FBS.
Below .500 in FBS play. The rebuild bar.
FBS sub-.500
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
Conference USA standing · 2026
5th in the Conference USA
Missouri State sits 5th of 10 in the Conference USA at 2-2. Mid-conference — moves up or down depend on rivalry results and the late-season closing run.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacksonville State | 4-0 |
| 2 | Liberty | 4-0 |
| 3 | Delaware | 2-2 |
| 4 | Middle Tennessee | 2-2 |
| 5 | Missouri State | 2-2 |
| 6 | New Mexico State | 2-2 |
| 7 | Western Kentucky | 2-2 |
| 8 | Florida International | 1-3 |
| 9 | Kennesaw State | 1-3 |
| 10 | Sam Houston | 0-4 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Casey Woods
- Hired Nick Petrino (interim)
- Ryan Beard departs
- Nick Petrino departs (interim)
- Hired Ryan Beard
Coordinator lineage
Missouri State’s offense and defense, by coordinator
FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.
Offense2025–2026
2025 · Nick Petrino2026 · Mark Cala
Defense2025–2026
2025 · L. D. Scott2026 · Jack Curtis
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
The Bobby Petrino Turnaround (2020-2022)
since 2020
more
Bobby Petrino was hired in January 2020 and immediately ended a 30-year conference championship drought, sharing the Missouri Valley Football Conference title in the COVID-delayed 2020 season (played spring 2021) and reaching the FCS Playoffs in back-to-back years. He left for the UNLV offensive coordinator job in December 2022 after three seasons.
The First-Ever Bowl Game (2025 Xbox Bowl)
since 2025
more
Missouri State's first-ever Division I-A bowl appearance came in its first FBS season -- a 34-28 loss to Arkansas State in the 2025 Xbox Bowl at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Head coach Ryan Beard, who had led the 7-6 (5-3 CUSA) regular season, had already left for the Coastal Carolina job by kickoff; Nick Petrino, son of former head coach Bobby Petrino, served as interim head coach for the game.
Boomer the Bear
since 1925
more
The Bears identity dates to 1925, when Southwest Missouri State Teachers College became Southwest Missouri State College and adopted a mascot with strength behind the new name. Boomer the Bear has represented the program ever since, through the school's 2005 rename to Missouri State.
Cultural identity
Bowls
Recent postseason (2025): 0-1
Most recent: 2025 Xbox Bowl — loss 34-28. Last 5 postseason: 0-1.
Reddit blowups
r/CFB moments
431
[Postgame Thread] USC Defeats Missouri State 73-13
114
[Postgame Thread] SMU Defeats Missouri State 34-24
103
[Postgame Thread] Missouri State Defeats FIU 28-21
All-time top community posts
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