Missouri State President believes athletics program will move to FBS 'at some point'

For Missouri State athletics, it's starting to look more like a "when" and not an "if" the school will move up a subdivision in Division I football, based on recent comments by the university's president.

Clif Smart, in a sit-down interview with the News-Leader, was more optimistic than the MSU administration has been in the past regarding the school's hope of moving from an FCS athletics program to the FBS.

Since Oklahoma and Texas were first reported to be moving from the Big 12 to the SEC in 2021, conference realignment has been among the top storylines in college athletics. The domino effect moved from the Power 5 conferences down to the smallest of leagues.

Missouri State has frequently been brought up nationally as a school that could move from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision. Reports have connected MSU to the likes of the Sun Belt and Conference USA for several years.

"There's not a question in my mind that, at some point, Missouri State will be playing FBS football," Smart said. "But it's gotta be the right move at the right time and that's just what we're trying to figure out."

A few factors, according to Smart, have to be taken into account before making the leap and leaving the Missouri Valley Conference — which he still believes is a strong men's basketball league especially following the additions of Murray State and Belmont. MSU has been a part of the Valley since 1990.

Those factors would include the regional aspect and the impact travel would have on student-athletes and their academics. The school would also have to look at the different on-field rivalries they can have in addition to having travel partners to ease the financial requirements.

"What are the financial requirements and what are the revenue changes that would offset some of that?" Smart said. "(MSU Athletics Director Kyle Moats) is always evaluating and engaging in those conversations. It just hasn't been the right fit yet or the right time."

Based on current expenses, which would increase with a move to a new conference because of additional scholarships being handed out and travel among other reasons, Missouri State would be on par with some of the top spenders in the next iteration of Conference USA and nearly $8 million below the Sun Belt median.

While expenses would go up, revenue would also increase with larger guarantee payments for different athletics competitions, conference television and streaming deals, and bowl revenue.

In the fiscal year 2022, Missouri State was nearly even with the average donor contributions with the current schools in Conference USA and about $500,000 ahead of the average Sun Belt school. Missouri State spends more than $5 million less in institutional subsidies than the average Conference USA school and about $6.4 million less than the average Sun Belt institution.

Smart said the biggest thing Missouri State needs to do if it wants to make the move in the near future, is improve its football facilities.

"I think we need to figure out a way to fund that endzone project," Smart said. "I think that's a piece of it."

Moats, MSU's athletics director, first teased the university's hopes of building a football facility in the south endzone of Plaster Stadium in 2021 when the school was in the middle of its second season under then-head coach Bobby Petrino.

The potential facility included locker rooms for football, a club, team meeting rooms and coaches offices. It was then estimated to cost around $20 million and the school hoped it would be able to pay for it using private funds from donations. Moats recently said the four-story building would cost around $23 million.

"We're still plugging away at it," Moats said. "We've just got to find the money to do it. We desperately need it for football and it would free up some other things that would help other schools too with the weight room, training room and that kind of stuff. We've just got to find some heavy hitters and people who want to help out.

"We've got some people that want to help but we just need to get to 23. I know (football head coach) Ryan Beard and other folks really want it and I really want it too. We've got to find the money to be able to do it."

Missouri State football hasn't had a major facility upgrade since students voted to pass the B.E.A.R. Fee in 2013 which led to a $50 per semester student fee that built and renovated multiple facilities including the school's soccer stadium. It also paid for the construction of the student-section side of Plaster Stadium.

Plaster Stadium has undergone several major renovations since it first opened in 1941. Compared to the renovations to stadiums and what other institutions have in Group of 5 conferences, the Bears would appear to be in need of major upgrades to compete.

Outside of football, Smart believes MSU's facilities, with Great Southern Bank Arena, Hammons Field and others, are as good as anyone's and could easily jump to another league. He already believes the Bears could compete on the field in most sports.

"If you picked any of the other five conferences, other than football where we'd have to ramp up in terms of facilities and staffing and a variety of other things, we'd be competitive in soccer, baseball, traditionally in volleyball and women's basketball," Smart said. "Our facilities are as good as anybody's, our coaches are as good as anybody's and we could certainly compete at that level.

"We do compete with the University of Missouri and the University of Arkansas and Kansas and all sorts of sports and almost all of the games are competitive. It's only a matter of timing."

As far as a timeline to make it happen, Smart didn't share one. The university's president since 2011 kept referring to making the move at the right time but also knows that his days in charge of the Springfield campus are limited.

Smart has been open about his plans to retire within the next few years. It would then be up to the next president, and Moats who is signed through 2026, to figure out the school's desired perfect timing.

"I don't know if it'll happen while I'm here or not," Smart said. "I don't want to make a move just to make a move. It needs to be the right move and needs to make sense for our teams, for our student-athletes, for our fanbase, for travel and for all of that."

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL.