— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — After Army canceled a previously schedules 2025 football game with Marshall in Huntington, Herd Director of Athletics Christian Spears scrambled to find a replacement.
That replacement has been found, as Spears announced Marshall will be facing new Conference USA member Missouri State in the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
Marshall will host the Bears on September 6, 2025, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium and the Herd will visit Missouri State on September 19, 2026.
“Playing Missouri State, a brand-new member of Conference USA, should be an engaging series for us,” Spears said. “They wanted to play Marshall and early on, we recognized their sincere desire to bring their team to Huntington.”
The 2025 matchup will mark the first meeting between the two programs.
Missouri State officially joins Conference USA in 2025 when the Bears begin the transition from FCS to FBS competition.
Marshall has limited football history with teams from Missouri. The Herd won a 2000 home matchup against Southeast Missouri in 2000.
The Herd’s only visit to the Show Me State was in the 1992 season when Marshall faced Missouri. The Tigers claimed a 44-21 victory over the Herd. Marshall eventually won the I-AA National Championship that season.
Missouri State also added SMU to its football schedule in 2025 and 2026.
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First-year Marshall women’s basketball coach Juli Fulks now knows the Herd’s opening opponent in what will be her first game guiding MU.
Marshall will start the 2024-25 season on November 4 at Toledo with a 7 p.m. start.
The game will pit league champions from last season against each other as Toledo won the Mid-American Conference regular season and Marshall won both the Sun Belt regular season and tournament championships.
It is part of the MAC-SBC Challenge, which will also feature a home game for Marshall against a yet to be named MAC opponent that will be announced later as part of the second leg of the challenge.