Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears

Last updated
Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears
Missouri State Athletics logo.svg
University Missouri State University
Conference Missouri Valley (primary)
MVFC (football)
CUSA (beach volleyball;
primary on July 1, 2025)
NCAA Division I (FCS)
Athletic directorPatrick Ransdell
Location Springfield, Missouri
Varsity teams19
Football stadium Robert W. Plaster Stadium
Basketball arena Great Southern Bank Arena
Baseball stadium Hammons Field
Soccer stadium Allison South Stadium
MascotBoomer the Bear and Growl the Bear
NicknameBears and Lady Bears
Beach Bears (beach volleyball)
Fight songThe Scotsman
ColorsMaroon and white [1]
   
Website missouristatebears.com
Missouri State Athletics wordmark.svg
Missouri Valley Conference logo in Missouri State's colors Missouri Valley Conference in Missouri State Bears colors.svg
Missouri Valley Conference logo in Missouri State's colors

The Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears are the athletic teams representing Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University). Missouri State's athletics programs date back to 1908. Missouri State competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, but started a transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision on July 1, 2024. The majority of sports play in the Division I Missouri Valley Conference. Missouri State football competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the women's beach volleyball team, nicknamed Beach Bears instead of "Bears" or "Lady Bears", [2] competes in Conference USA (CUSA), having moved from the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association after the spring 2023 season. [3] Men's swimming & diving had competed in the Mid-American Conference through the 2023–24 season, but sponsorship of that sport transferred from that conference to the MVC in July 2024. [4] Missouri State will become a full member of CUSA on July 1, 2025. [5]

Contents

Missouri State athletics are frequently abbreviated as "MOST" when televised.

Sports sponsored

Men's sportsWomen's sports
Baseball Acrobatics & tumbling
Basketball Basketball
Football Beach volleyball
GolfCross country
Soccer Golf
Swimming & divingSoccer
Softball
Stunt
Swimming & diving
Tennis
Track & field
Volleyball
† – Track & field includes both indoor and outdoor

A member of the Missouri Valley Conference, Missouri State University sponsors six men's and 13 women's teams in NCAA sanctioned sports. The women's sports of acrobatics & tumbling and stunt, both included in the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program, were added in 2024–25. [6]

National championships

Team

AssociationDivisionSportYearOpponent/Runner-UpScore
NAIA n/a Men's basketball 1952 Murray State 73–64
NAIA n/a Men's basketball 1953 Hamline 79–71
NCAA Division II Men's golf [7] 1963 Aquinas 1,188–1,199
AIAW n/a Softball (Women's College World Series) 1974 Northern Colorado 14–7
AIAW Division II Field hockey 1979 Colgate 2–0

Women's basketball NCAA tournament results

NCAA Tournament appearances

YearSeedRoundOpponentResult
1991 #8First Round
Second Round
#9 Tennessee Tech
#1 Tennessee
W 94–64
L 47–55
1992 #8First Round
Second Round
Sweet Sixteen
Elite Eight
Final Four
#9 Kansas
#1 Iowa
#5 UCLA
#2 Ole Miss
#4 Western Kentucky
W 75–59
W 61–60
W 83–57
W 94–71
L 72–84
1993 #7First Round
Second Round
Sweet Sixteen
#10 Oklahoma State
#2 Maryland
#6 Louisiana Tech
W 86–71
W 86–82
L 43–59
1994 #6First Round
Second Round
#11 Northern Illinois
#3 Virginia
W 75–56
L 63–67
1995 #9First Round
Second Round
#8 Utah
#1 Colorado
W 49–47
L 34–78
1996 #12First Round#5 TexasL 55–73
1998 #8First Round#9 Notre DameL 64–78
1999 #7First Round
Second Round
#10 UC Santa Barbara
#2 Colorado State
W 72–70
L 70–86
2000 #10First Round#7 AuburnL 74–78
2001 #5First Round
Second Round
Sweet Sixteen
Elite Eight
Final Four
#12 Toledo
#4 Rutgers
#1 Duke
#6 Washington
#3 Purdue
W 89–71
W 60–53
W 81–71
W 104–87
L 64–81
2003 #15First Round#2 Texas TechL 59–67
2004 #12First Round#5 Notre DameL 65–69 (OT)
2006 #13First Round#4 PurdueL 52–73
2016 #13First Round#4 Texas A&ML 65–74
2019 #11First Round
Second Round
Sweet Sixteen
#6 DePaul
#3 Iowa State
#2 Stanford
W 89–77
W 69–60
L 46–55
2021 #5First Round
Second Round
Sweet Sixteen
#12 UC Davis
#13 Wright State
#1 Stanford
W 70–51
W 64–39
L 62–89
2022 #11First Four
First Round
#11 Florida State
#6 Ohio State
W 61-50
L 63-56

WBIT appearances

2024

WNIT appearances

2002, 2005 (Champions), 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2023

AIAW tournament appearances

Missouri AIAW state tournament: 1970–1982 (won 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1981 tournaments)
AIAW Region VI tournament: 1974, 1975, 1981
AIAW Division II national tournament: 1981

Conference championships

Gateway Conference (1983–1992) 2
1991, 1992

Missouri Valley Conference (1992–present) 12
1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2020, 2021

Head coaches

• Beth Cunningham (2 seasons, 43-20) 2022–Present

Retired numbers

Facilities

FacilityOpenedRenovatedSportCapacity
Robert W. Plaster Stadium 19411991, 2014Football17,500
Great Southern Bank Arena 20082013Basketball11,000
Hammons Student Center 1976Volleyball
Swimming
8,846
300
Hammons Field 2004Baseball7,986
Killian Sports Complex2009Softball1,200
Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium2014Soccer
Track & field
1,500
Betty and Bobby Allison North Stadium2014Field hockey
Lacrosse
250
Betty and Bobby Allison Sand Volleyball Courts2014Beach volleyball150
Cooper Tennis Complex
w/Mediacom Stadium
1994Tennis2,500
Twin Oaks Country Club
+ 4 Other local courses
n/aMOST/TOCC
Practice Facility 2016
GolfN/A

Club sports

The university also sponsors several club sports teams, including ice hockey (ACHA), lacrosse (MCLA), and roller hockey (NCRHA).

Men's ice hockey

Missouri State ice hockey players celebrate a goal against University of Missouri. MSUIcebearscele.jpg
Missouri State ice hockey players celebrate a goal against University of Missouri.

Missouri State men's ice hockey, known as the Ice Bears, began in 2001 and despite not being a varsity NCAA sport receives much attention on and off-campus. The Ice Bears currently compete at the Division I level of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) in the Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL). [8] The teams play off-campus at the 2,000-seat Mediacom Ice Park. [9] [10] [11]

Men's varsity ice hockey finished the 2009–2010 season ranked 2nd in the MACHA DII with a record of 12–4–0 in 16 league games, the team lost in the MACHA Championship 1–5 to Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville. In addition to the ACHA DII team the University also fields a JV teams playing at the ACHA DIII level. [12] The team won the MACHA DIII championship with a 5–3 win over Robert Morris University- Peoria. [13] [14] [15]

Men's lacrosse

Missouri State also fields a highly successful club Lacrosse Team. Founded in 2003, it competes in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) Division II and was a member of the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference (GRLC) through 2017 before it moved to Division II of the Lone Star Alliance (LSA) in 2018. The Bears have been conference champions five times in their history (2004, 2009, 2010, 2017, and 2018) and have qualified for the MCLA National Championships on four occasions (2009, 2010, 2017, and 2018). The Bears finished the 2018 season with a record of 12–3, including a perfect 6–0 conference record and victories over Creighton, Baylor, and in-state rival University of Missouri. Since 2003, Missouri State has fielded 11 All-Americans, over 80 All-Conference players, 3 GRLC Tournament MVP's, and 4 GRLC Division II Coach's of the Year.

Head coachYearRecord
Daren Turner2002–200824–21
Austin Holman2009–201023–9
Pat Callaham2011–201212-13
Dustin Rich2013–201832-30
Donnie Curran2019–present0-0

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References

  1. "Colors - Identity Standards - Missouri State University". February 5, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  2. See, e.g., "Beach Volleyball Program Will Join C-USA in 2024" (Press release). Missouri State Athletics. May 11, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023. The Beach Bears will part ways with the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) next season to join TCU and Tarleton State as affiliate members of Conference USA.
  3. "BVB: C-USA Adds TCU, Tarleton State and Missouri State as Affiliate Members for Beach Volleyball" (Press release). Conference USA. May 11, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  4. "MVC To Sponsor Men's Swimming & Diving in 2024-25" (Press release). Missouri Valley Conference. April 11, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  5. "CUSA Adds Missouri State" (Press release). Conference USA. May 10, 2024. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
  6. "Missouri State Will Add Two Women's Varsity Sports" (Press release). Missouri State Athletics. December 11, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  7. "NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  8. [ dead link ]
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20080724171155/http://www.cfpmidweek.com/weeks/IssuePDFs/vo5i19web.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2010.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. "Experience Fall in the Ozarks - Springfield Missouri Travel & Tourism - Ozarks/Midwest Vacations". springfieldmo.org. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  11. "Alumni News - Missouri State University Alumni Association - Missouri State University". Archived from the original on June 1, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  12. "Mid-America Collegiate Hockey Association Home Page". Machahockey.com. 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
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  14. https://web.archive.org/web/20080724170815/http://www.cfpmidweek.com/weeks/IssuePDFs/vo5i21web.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2010.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. [ dead link ]