The Missouri State Bears have canceled future football games against the Kansas State Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks, the Springfield News-Leader has reported.
Missouri State is currently a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) in the Football Championship Subdivision. However, the Bears are moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and are joining Conference USA in 2025.
Missouri State was scheduled to visit the Kansas State Wildcats on Sept. 5, 2026 in a contest that was agreed to back in 2021. The Bears, who were set to receive a $450,000 guarantee for the game, have reportedly paid around $50,000 to cancel the contest.
The Bears have also reportedly canceled their road contest against the Kansas Jayhawks that was scheduled for Sept. 4, 2027 with no cancellation fee owed. The two schools agreed to the 2027 game back in 2020 with a guarantee of $500,000.
Since Missouri State is moving up to the FBS level, it will be able to obtain single-game guarantees of $1 million and over. The Bears recently announced a new contest against the USC Trojans on Aug. 30, 2025, and the guarantee for that game is $1.15 million, according to the copy of the contract we obtained from Missouri State University.
Missouri State still has five games on its future schedules against FBS opponents that were agreed to prior to its announcement to reclassify from the FCS. Those games include Texas Tech in 2028 ($525,000), Missouri in 2029 ($550,000), Tulsa in 2030 ($400,000) and 2032 ($435,000), and Missouri again in 2032 ($550,000).
Contracts for those games will likely be amended or canceled, although there is no rush since the games are at least four years away.
Football Schedules