{"id":217697,"date":"2025-07-18T20:32:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T20:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/217697\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T20:32:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T20:32:14","slug":"missouri-state-picked-last-in-conference-usa-preseason-football-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/217697\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri State picked last in Conference USA preseason football poll"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conference USA media members don\u2019t appear to have much confidence in Missouri State\u2019s inaugural Football Bowl Subdivision and Conference USA season.<\/p>\n

The Bears, who enter the league from the Football Championship Subdivision along with Delaware, were picked 12th in Friday\u2019s preseason media poll.<\/p>\n

This poll wasn\u2019t as conventional as previous years.<\/p>\n

Conference USA unveiled its first edition of its Bowl Confidence Index, providing a score from media members on the likelihood of each member reaching postseason play. Bowl qualifiers often have to win at least six games.<\/p>\n

Though Missouri State isn\u2019t eligible for postseason play in 2025 due to its initial transition year, it was given a 12.50 percent confidence rating, last among the 12 members. Delaware, which also isn\u2019t eligible due its transition season, was picked eighth (29.17 %).<\/p>\n

The poll\u2019s order: Liberty (100%), Western Kentucky (100%), Jax State (91.67%), Louisiana Tech (75%), Sam Houston (45.83%), UTEP (41.67%), FIU (37.5%), Delaware (29.17%), Middle Tennessee (25%), New Mexico State (25%), Kennesaw State (16.67%) and Missouri State (12.5%).<\/p>\n

Missouri State and Delaware could reach a bowl in 2025 under these conditions: not enough FBS teams qualify for the scheduled bowls or qualifying teams opt out of their respective bowls. MSU and\/or Delaware would have to be bowl-eligible from a wins total and be selected to fill an empty bowl slot from a bowl committee.<\/p>\n

Conference USA said it opted to use the Bowl Confidence Index poll format due to the sizable turnover of rosters in the ever-changing transfer portal and NIL landscape.<\/p>\n

Last year, Missouri State was picked ninth in the 11-team Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll before then-second-year head coach Ryan Beard\u2019s went 8-4 and finished ranked No. 23 in the final FCS coaches poll.<\/p>\n

Five Bears selected to CUSA watch lists<\/p>\n

\"\"Missouri State\u2019s Jmariyae Robinson heads upfield for positive yardage during the Bears\u2019 38-31 win over Youngstown State on Sept. 28. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)<\/p>\n

Conference USA coaches released the 2025 preseason watch list<\/a> on Monday that included five returning Missouri State players.<\/p>\n

Walter Payton Award finalist, First-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference and MSU record-breaking quarterback Jacob Clark; all-MVC offensive lineman Cash Hudson; FCS Freshman All-American freshman kicker Yousef Obeid; two-year MSU starter and speedy wide receiver Jmariyae Robinson; and returning defensive end Davon Townley were selected.<\/p>\n

Clark completed 262 of 376 passes for 3,604 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions with a 169.8 efficiency and 3,608 yards of total offense last season, spearheading one of the country\u2019s top offenses.<\/p>\n

Robinson, one of Clark\u2019s primary targets, hauled in 38 receptions for 585 yards and four touchdowns. He entered the transfer portal in December before opting to return.<\/p>\n

CUSA media day in Dallas area <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Coaches and players from Conference USA\u2019s 12 member institutions will be at PGA of America in Frisco, Texas, on Tuesday, July 22, for the annual CUSA Kickoff.<\/p>\n

The gathering will feature a series of events and interviews with league media members. Missouri State will be representated by head coach Ryan Beard, quarterback Jacob Clark and safety J.J. O\u2019Neal, a Logan-Rogersville graduate. <\/p>\n

ESPN+ is broadcasting the CUSA Kickoff Show, beginning at 9:20 a.m. with ESPN host Mike Corey.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRyan Collingwood\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSports Reporter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Ryan Collingwood covers college and high school sports in the Springfield metropolitan area for the Daily Citizen. Have a story idea or gripe? Send an email to rcollingwood@sgfcitizen.org, call or 417-837-3660, or follow Ryan on social media at X.com\/rwcollingwood. More by Ryan Collingwood<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Conference USA media members don\u2019t appear to have much confidence in Missouri State\u2019s inaugural Football Bowl Subdivision and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[45412,14394,45413,7,45414,45415,38909,21253,39679,38910],"class_list":{"0":"post-217697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-cash-hudson","9":"tag-conference-usa","10":"tag-davon-townley","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-jacob-clark","13":"tag-jmariyae-robinson","14":"tag-missouri-state-football","15":"tag-public","16":"tag-ryan-beard","17":"tag-topsports1"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114876143887540610","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}