Missouri State to Conference USA: 5 quick thoughts on Bears' move to FBS

Missouri State athletics is Conference USA-bound, beginning in the 2025-26 athletics season and there is a lot to unpack as the school jumps to the FBS level in football.

Many thoughts have come to mind over Missouri State's Friday morning news bomb. Here are five quick thoughts we have on the university's jump.

Missouri State making conference change shouldn't be a surprise to anyone

This has been in the rumor mill for several years and we've always written that it makes sense. Missouri State's annual athletics budget lines up with those in Conference USA, or the often-rumored Sun Belt, and it has sat near the top of the Missouri Valley Conference public school budgets for years.

It's easy to point and laugh and say "Missouri State is no good at football" when the history is what it is. You'll hear administrators say that it's not only a football decision but that's where the dollars are. There is much more money at the FBS level than FCS. They wouldn't be leaving the Missouri Valley Football Conference if that wasn't the case.

More: Missouri State to Conference USA: Here's what it means as the Bears move to FBS

There's also the fact that MSU President Clif Smart and Athletics Director Kyle Moats have been outspoken about this possibility ever since Oklahoma and Texas announced they were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC in 2021. Smart said for almost a year he believed it would happen at some point, whether he was the president or not.

Geographically, Missouri State makes more sense than others — even those who have won recent FCS national championships like North Dakota State which has been even more outspoken than MSU's administration has been.

Clif Smart, Kyle Moats make legacy-altering move

We wrote in recent months that the decline of interest in Missouri State men's basketball looked like it would be Smart's legacy in his impact on athletics as he heads into retirement. Moats' future also appeared questionable when MSU searched for Smart's replacement.

With Smart months away from departing the university, he and Moats have redefined what will be their greatest impact on the university athletics program for years to come. This is the legacy unless either is involved if the school looks to make another jump someday, say to the American Athletic Conference.

More: Missouri State accepts invitation to join Conference USA, leave Missouri Valley Conference

Whether this works remains to be seen. There's no reason to be overreactive and hate it. Plenty thought Mizzou was foolish for ditching the Big 12 for the SEC and it's now in a position where it's a legitimate College Football Playoff threat. This is a move to attempt to grow the university instead of being complacent.

Smart and Moats brought back Cuonzo Martin as its men's basketball coach in recent months and the entire athletics program now has a highly-anticipated future. When is the last time we've been able to say that about Missouri State?

Missouri State football has an uphill climb to compete at FBS level

The elephant in the room that many are laughing at is the Missouri State football program and its lack of success over the last several decades. This isn't a storied program nor has it had much postseason success. In recent years, especially during the Bobby Petrino era, a successful football program can create excitement leading to MSU believing a move like this was desirable.

That doesn't mean Missouri State doesn't have a long way to go. There are 22 scholarships to fill, stadium renovations that need to be done and, as a result, a lot more money going into making it something that can be competitive. This is unlikely to be as smooth of a transition as James Madison had when joining the Sun Belt.

More: Jalen Hampton commits to Missouri State basketball, Cuonzo Martin

Missouri State isn't close to being a team that qualifies for a New Year's Six bowl, like future conference foe Liberty did this past season. Sam Houston, which won an FCS national championship as recently as 2020 and later joined CUSA, went 3-9 last season and 2-6 in league play.

It should be noted that MSU football coach Ryan Beard, a Western Kentucky alum heading into his second year leading the Bears, has a contract that runs through the 2026 season with a base salary of $275,000. Barring an extension,

How Missouri State basketball is impacted will be something to watch

Missouri State made a football move when it's commonly considered a basketball school. Conference USA had its heyday in men's basketball with the Memphis and Louisvilles of the world but those days are long gone.

CUSA is a one-bid league with recent men's basketball success including Florida Atlantics' run to the Final Four before it departed for the American Athletic Conference. It's not as much success as what the Valley has seen over the last decade with Loyola (Chicago) and Wichita State.

More: Missouri State basketball, Cuonzo Martin add commit from Austin Peay transfer Dez White

As far as KenPom rankings go, the Valley ranked 10th last year with CUSA ranking 15th. Louisiana Tech was the highest-ranked KenPom team at No. 94 with Western Kentucky second ranking 135th. Missouri State ranked No. 149 at the end of the season.

Middle Tennessee was the highest-ranked CUSA women's basketball program last year, in the NET, at No. 40 when the Lady Bears ranked 107th. When using the NET, Warren Nolan ranked CUSA as the ninth-best women's hoops league compared to the Valley ranking 13th.

This is a gamble Missouri State probably needed to take

With the college football landscape changing seemingly every other day, Missouri State was in a position to make this happen and it couldn't put itself in a position to be left behind.

Many consider there to be three different levels of college football — the power conferences, the Group of 5 and then the FCS. Missouri State fans went to bed on Thursday night with a football team playing at the third-highest level. When they woke up the next morning, it was announced they'd move to the second.

Being a Conference USA member doesn't carry quite the prestige it once had but it's a better position for football and earning revenue it wasn't getting at the FCS level. Conference USA appears to be in a sustainable spot when there will now be some questions regarding Valley schools like NDSU, South Dakota State, Illinois State and maybe others.

It's an exciting day for Missouri State athletics as it looks to grow its university. It will now be fascinating to watch how budgets change in the future years.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State to Conference USA: Reaction to Bears move to FBS