2021 Missouri Valley Football Conference season

2021 Missouri Valley Football Conference season
LeagueNCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision
SportFootball
DurationSeptember 1, 2022
through January 8, 2023
Number of teams11
2022 NFL Draft
Top draft pickTrevor Penning, OT, Northern Iowa
Picked byNew Orleans Saints (round 1, pick 19)
Regular season
Champion

Playoff Participants
North Dakota State

Missouri State
Southern Illinois
South Dakota
South Dakota State
Northern Iowa
Football seasons
← 2020
2022 →
2021 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 1 North Dakota State $^   7 1     14 1  
No. 14 Missouri State ^   6 2     8 4  
No. 16 Southern Illinois ^   5 3     8 5  
No. 18 South Dakota ^   5 3     7 5  
No. 4 South Dakota State ^   5 3     11 4  
No. 23 Northern Iowa ^   4 4     6 6  
Indiana State   3 5     5 6  
North Dakota   3 5     5 6  
Western Illinois   2 6     2 9  
Illinois State   2 6     4 7  
Youngstown State   2 6     3 7  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2021 Missouri Valley Football Conference football season was the 36th season of college football play for the Missouri Valley Football Conference and part of the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. This was the MVFC's 2nd straight season with 11 teams.
North Dakota State made it to the National Championship and won their 9th FCS title in program history.[1] South Dakota State made the playoffs unseeded, and won their way into the semifinals where they lost to 8th seeded Montana State.[2] Southern Illinois also made it to the playoffs, and beat fellow MVFC member South Dakota in the first round, but would fall to eventual champion North Dakota State in the second round.[3] Northern Iowa also made it to the playoffs, but lost to Eastern Washington in the first round.[4]

  1. ^ "North Dakota State football continues dominant FCS run, wins ninth championship in 11 seasons". espn.com. ESPN. January 8, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  2. ^ "South Dakota State University's football playoff run ends at Montana State". argusleader.com. Sioux Falls Argus Leader. December 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  3. ^ "North Dakota State beats Southern Illinois to advance to quarterfinals". bleacherreport.com. Bleacher Report. December 4, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  4. ^ "EWU's defense leads playoff victory over Northern Iowa, sets up rematch with Montana in round of 16". spokesman.com. The Spokesman-Review. November 27, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2023.