# 2018 Missouri State Bears football team

The 2018 Missouri State Bears football team represented Missouri State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Dave Steckel and played their home games at the Robert W. Plaster Stadium. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 4–7, 2–6 in MVFC play to finish in ninth place.

## Preseason
### Preseason MVFC poll

The MVFC released their preseason poll on July 29, 2018, with the Bears predicted to finish in ninth place.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | North Dakota State | 390 (39) |
| 2 | South Dakota State | 270 |
| 3 | Northern Iowa | 258 |
| 4 | Youngstown State | 248 |
| 5 | Illinois State | 248 |
| 6 | South Dakota | 206 |
| 7 | Western Illinois | 163 |
| 8 | Southern Illinois | 139 |
| 9 | Missouri State | 90 |
| 10 | Indiana State | 41 |

### Preseason All-MVFC Teams

The Bears placed three players on the preseason all-MVFC teams.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 7:00 p.m. | at Oklahoma State* | | Boone Pickens StadiumStillwater, OK | FS1 | L 17–58 | 50,103 |
| September 6 | 10:00 a.m. | Lincoln (MO)* | | Robert W. Plaster StadiumSpringfield, MO | ESPN3 | W 52–24 | 1,284 |
| September 15 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 20 Northern Arizona* | | Robert W. Plaster StadiumSpringfield, MO | ESPN3 | W 40–8 | 7,217 |
| September 29 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 9 Illinois State | | Robert W. Plaster StadiumSpringfield, MO | ESPN+ | W 24–21 | 12,224 |
| October 6 | 2:00 p.m. | at South Dakota | No. 24 | DakotaDomeVermillion, SD | ESPN3 | L 28–35 | 10,092 |
| October 13 | 1:00 p.m. | at Indiana State | | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN+ | W 29–26 | 6,721 |
| October 20 | 2:00 p.m. | Western Illinois | | Robert W. Plaster StadiumSpringfield, MO | ESPN+ | L 14–31 | 12,109 |
| October 27 | 2:00 p.m. | Southern Illinois | | Robert W. Plaster StadiumSpringfield, MO | ESPN+ | L 35–49 | 6,374 |
| November 3 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 7 South Dakota State | | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | ESPN+ | L 7–59 | 5,869 |
| November 10 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 1 North Dakota State | | Robert W. Plaster StadiumSpringfield, MO | ESPN+ | L 7–48 | 5,224 |
| November 17 | 4:00 p.m. | at Northern Iowa | | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | ESPN+ | L 0–37 | 10,072 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Oklahoma State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 17 |
| Cowboys | 17 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 58 |

### Lincoln (MO)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Blue Tigers | 10 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| Bears | 7 | 28 | 10 | 7 | 52 |

### Northern Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 20 Lumberjacks | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Bears | 10 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 40 |

### Illinois State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 9 Redbirds | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 |
| Bears | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 24 |

### At South Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 24 Bears | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
| Coyotes | 14 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 35 |

### At Indiana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 29 |
| Sycamores | 0 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 26 |

### Western Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Leathernecks | 7 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
| Bears | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

### Southern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Salukis | 0 | 21 | 21 | 7 | 49 |
| Bears | 7 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 35 |

### At South Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 7 Jackrabbits | 7 | 31 | 7 | 14 | 59 |

### North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Bison | 20 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 48 |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |

### At Northern Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Panthers | 10 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 37 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | — | — | — | RV | RV | 24 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | |