Who has the toughest schedule in the Valley this season?
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Missouri Valley Football Conference slate of games for the 2026 season is finally complete after Illinois State recently added a 12th game to its schedule.
So which team plays the toughest schedule? That distinction likely belongs to Southern Illinois.
First, consider that the Salukis are the only Valley team that is playing seven road games this fall. By comparison, South Dakota State will make just five road trips, while the rest of the league has six road games apiece.
SIU is also the only Valley school that will play every game against full-scholarship, Division I opponents. Everyone else is playing at least one team from either the Northeast Conference (limited scholarships) or Pioneer League (no scholarships), while Illinois State is playing an NAIA opponent (St. Francis of Joliet).
2026 MVFC games vs. NEC or Pioneer opponents
Indiana State (Valparaiso)
Murray State (Valparaiso)
North Dakota (LIU, St. Thomas)
Northern Iowa (Drake)
South Dakota (Central Connecticut State)
South Dakota State (New Haven)
Youngstown State (Mercyhurst, Duquesne)
Finally, SIU’s guarantee game, Illinois, is the third-highest rated Valley FBS opponent, according to ESPN’s preseason power index.
2026 MVFC games vs. FBS opponents
Northern Iowa at #25 Iowa
North Dakota at #30 Nebraska
SIU at #39 Illinois
Youngstown State at #40 Kentucky
South Dakota at #50 Boise State
Murray State at #54 Oklahoma State
South Dakota State at #60 Northwestern
Indiana State at #71 Purdue
Illinois State at #125 Northern Illinois
Murray State at #130 Middle Tennessee
Although Northern Iowa plays the highest-rated FBS opponent (#25 Iowa), they are also the only Valley school to schedule just 11 total games, and one of them is against non-scholarship Drake.
While North Dakota plays at No. 30 Nebraska, the Fighting Hawks play two home games against teams with reduced scholarships (LIU and St. Thomas).
Give Murray State credit for playing two guarantee games (Oklahoma State and MTSU), but the Racers also play two easy ones at home against Eastern Illinois and Valparaiso.
It’s hard to predict how big of an impact playing seven road games will have on Southern. The Salukis are the only Valley team that plays its first two games of the season on the road.
The trip to play former Division II powerhouse West Florida will be a charter plane, so it’s a quick flight from Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois to Pensacola. However, the Samford game is a seven-hour bus ride, with a projected arrival time in Carbondale after the game of 5 a.m. the following morning.
There are a few more schedule oddities for Southern. SIU plays five night games, including an unusual 6 p.m. ET kick at Indiana State on Nov. 7. That has the potential to be one of the sparsest crowds on record to watch a game at Memorial Stadium.
SIU’s Homecoming game is traditionally at 2 p.m., but that won’t be the case this year. It’s likely to be a late-afternoon kick to accommodate a national television audience on ESPN.
The sixth and final installment of our video series “Unscripted With Nick Hill” comes out later this week. Hope you’ve enjoyed seeing a window into his philosophy on life and football. Check out and subscribe to our Youtube channel to get all of the latest video content.
Beginning Sunday, we’ll provide daily coverage of training camp with news reports, videos and photos. Be sure to follow us on socials.
Sunday also marks the one-year anniversary of the debut of StrongDawgs! In one year’s time, we’ve published 290 news stories, player profiles, alum updates and video features, and we’re just getting started.
Some of the content is available for paid subscribers-only, and if you’re not a subscriber, I encourage you to join. For just $99/year, you’ll get exclusive insider content. (You can also make a donation of $100 or more to StrongDawgs and receive a complimentary subscription.)
All of the money gets passed through to Saluki Football players, who are compensated for their name, image and likeness.
Below is an example of the type of insider content that paid subscribers receive. It’s a recap of the offseason workouts and which players and position groups made big gains.
⬇️PAID SUBSCRIBER-ONLY CONTENT⬇️
