For the first time since 2005, the league will have a winner-take-all contest as South Dakota State hosts Southern Illinois on Saturday.  The winning team will claim at least a share of the regular-season title and the conference's automatic bid into the FCS playoffs.  The game will be the first meeting between two teams with 6-0 league records.

The Last Time ...?
 The last time the league had a decisive Saturday similar to next weekend's SDSU-SIU game in Brookings was in 2005, when UNI claimed the league's automatic bid on the final weekend of the regular season with a 25-24 victory against SIU.  That forced a three-way co-championship and UNI won a tiebreaker with the tri-champs (SIU, YSU).

For a full conference notebook, including school-by-school results and notes, please click on the PDF icon near the bottom of the page.

Western Illinois at Illinois State (Family Day)
Normal, Ill. * 1:05 p.m. CT
Series:  WIU leads, 49-38-3 * Last Year:  WIU, 48-45
Note:  Western has won the past two meetings in the series and five of the last seven against Illinois State.  The Redbirds haven't won at home against the Leathernecks since 1999.

Indiana State at Missouri State
Springfield, Mo. * 1 p.m. CT
Series:  MSU leads, 15-8 * Last Year:  MSU, 27-24
Note:  Missouri State has won the past two meetings in the series, and five of the last six.  Indiana State has an all-time 2-9 record in games at MSU, last winning there in 2001.

#3 Southern Illinois at #9 South Dakota State
Brookings, S.D. * 1 p.m. CT
Series:  SIU leads, 1-0 * Last Year:  SIU, 38-35
Note:  The Salukis posted a three-point win in Carbondale last year in the only previous meeting between the two schools.  Kyle Dougherty's 28-yarder with 2:59 remaining provided the winning margin for SIU.

Youngstown State at #11 UNI
Cedar Falls, Iowa * 4:05 p.m. CT
Series:  UNI leads, 17-6 * Last Year:  UNI, 21-20
Note:  UNI has eight-straight wins versus the Penguins, and YSU has not won in the UNI-Dome in four-straight trips.  The last Youngstown State win there was a 29-20 result in 1999.

Another Top-25 Battle
 Southern Illinois and South Dakota State play one another this week, marking the third time this year that two ranked league teams will face one another.  There have been 83 previous games in which two league teams ranked in the Top 25 played one another. Of those 83, 20 times both teams were in the Top 10.  Two meetings have occurred in the playoffs.  The home team is 51-32, while the higher-ranked team is 45-38.

Ranked vs. Ranked, This Season
Oct. 17 -- #5 Southern Illinois 27, at #2 UNI 20
Oct. 24 -- #11 S. Dakota State 24, #6 UNI 14

UNI Looks for Nine in a Row
 Youngstown State plays at UNI this weekend, and the Panthers are looking to win for the ninth-straight time against the Penguins. YSU has not won in the UNI-Dome in four-straight trips.  The last Youngstown State win there was a 29-20 result in 1999.  The league record for consecutive wins between two league members is 18, set by Western Illinois -- vs. Southern Illinois -- from 1984 until 2002. 

Win Streaks, Valley FB vs. Valley FB
18 W. Illinois vs. S. Illinois (1984-2002)
13 Youngstown vs. Indiana State (1997-present)
11 UNI vs. Indiana State (1991-2002)
9 Indiana State vs. S. Illinois (1994-03)
9 W. Illinois vs. Indiana State (2000-09)
8 Youngstown St. vs. Missouri St. (1996-04)
8 Southern Illinois vs. Illinois State (1976-83)
8 Western Illinois vs. Illinois State (1956-63)
8 Missouri State vs. Illinois State (1986-93)
8 Missouri St. vs. Southern Illinois (1987-94)
8 UNI vs. Missouri State (1990-98)
8 UNI vs. Youngstown State (2001-present)

Title Town
 In the league's first 24 seasons, UNI has won or shared the title a league-best 14 times.  Western Illinois has the second-most Valley Football titles, with five.  Southern Illinois has four titles.

Long-Time Rivals
 The second-oldest series between current league members is 90 - between Illinois State and Western Illinois (starting in 1904).  Those two play one another in Normal on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Most Played Rivalries, by number of games
110 - North Dakota State vs. North Dakota (began in 1894)
104 - South Dakota State vs. South Dakota (began in 1889)
*98 - Illinois State vs. Eastern Illinois (began in 1901)
*96 - North Dakota St. vs. South Dakota St. (began in 1903)
*90 - Illinois State vs. Western Illinois (began in 1904)
*84 - Indiana State vs. Eastern Illinois (began in 1901)
83 - South Dakota State vs. North Dakota (began in 1906)
78 - Illinois State vs. Illinois Wesleyan (began in 1887)
76 - North Dakota State vs. South Dakota (began in 1900)
75 - South Dakota State vs. Morningside (began in 1922)
*played or will play in 2009

Blank Stares
 Southern Illinois shut out Indiana State last weekend (33-0).  Valley Football teams have recorded a minimum of three shutouts in nine of the past 10 years.  Since 1985, a total of 22 conference games have been shutouts, and Southern Illinois has three of those (two of them coming in the past two seasons).

Two Teams Reach 6-0
 Counting South Dakota State and Southern Illinois this year, only 10 teams in league history have started a season with at least six-straight conference victories.  All of the previous eight 6-0 teams won the league:

Year Team, Note (* - denotes playoffs)
1985 *UNI was 5-0, won league [at 5-0]^
1987 *UNI was 6-0, won league [at 6-0]^
1987 W. Illinois started 5-0, finished second
1988 *W. Illinois was 6-0, won league [at 6-0]^
1989 *MSU started 5-0, won league
1994 *UNI was 6-0, won league [at 6-0]^
1995 *UNI started 5-0, won league
1996 *UNI was 5-0, won league [at 5-0]^
1997 *W. Illinois was 6-0, won league [at 6-0]^
1998 *W. Illinois started 5-0, won league
1999 *Illinois St. was 6-0, won league [at 6-0]^
2003 *UNI started 5-0, won league
2003 *S. Illinois started 6-0, won league
2004 S. Illinois was 7-0, won league [at 7-0]^
2007 *UNI was 6-0, won league [at 6-0]^
2009 Southern Illinois started 6-0
2009 South Dakota State started 6-0
^teams that went undefeated in league play

Perfect Seasons in the League
 In 2007, UNI (6-0) became the ninth team in league history to win the conference title with an undefeated record.  Before that, Southern Illinois (2004) was the last to do it.  Illinois State (1999), Western Illinois (1988 and 1997) and UNI (1985, 1987, 1994, and 1996) have also gone unbeaten.  SIU in 2004 was the only to go 7-0; UNI was 5-0 in 1985 and 1996; and the others were 6-0.

Behind the Eight Ball
 The Missouri Valley Football Conference has had at least two eight-game winners for 15-straight seasons.  In 23 previous Valley Football seasons, 46 teams have won eight or more games during the regular season, and all but five have made the playoffs:  UNI (in 1989 and 1999), WIU (in 1994), and YSU (in 2001 and 2005) are the only league teams to win eight and not make it.

Road Warriors
 Last weekend all four league teams won on the road in conference play, marking the first time since Nov. 22 of last year that it had happened.  Notably, it also happened on Oct. 25, 2008, but before that the league had not gone 4-0 on the road in conference play since 2004.  The league also was perfect on the road on Nov. 3, 2007, although only three league games were played.

Unchartered Waters
 On Oct. 13, 2003, Southern Illinois (6-0) faced UNI (5-0) in a battle of league unbeatens.  It marked the first time in league history that two perfect conference teams faced each other that late in a season.  League unbeatens South Dakota State and Southern Illinois play each other Nov. 7 in Brookings. 

Winning on the Road
 In 2007, UNI set a league record by winning six road games.  Only 12 teams in league history have won five road games in a season and all of them reached the playoffs.  No previous league team had claimed six road victories in a season, although both Western Kentucky (2002) and Youngstown State (1997) won six away from home in a season as each won the national title in those respective seasons.  Southern Illinois (2-0) and SDSU (3-0) are perfect on the MVFC road this year, while Missouri State has won four league road games in a row, dating back to last year.  SIU's road winning streak in league games is at five games.

Harbor Approaches MSU Mark
 TE Clay Harbor posted his third 100-yard receiving game of the season -- and second in three games -- in Saturday's game against Illinois State, pulling in eight passes for 102 yards.  His eight receptions matched a career high and pushed him into first place on Missouri State's career pass receptions list at 138.   His 47 receptions this season is already a career high and makes him just the second MSU player to record three seasons with 40 catches or more (Jason Cannon, 1995-96-97).  He has at least one pass reception in 31-straight games. That streak is now the second-longest string in Bears' history (the record is 33 by Jason Cannon, 1995-97).  It's the eighth-best streak in the league's 25-year history.

CONSECUTIVE GAMES W/CATCH, MVFC History
44, Eddie Berlin, UNI, 1997-00
38, Cornell Craig, Southern Illinois, 1996-99
35, Laurént Robinson, Illinois State, 2003-06
33, Gunnard Twyner, Western Illinois, 1993-95
33, Jason Cannon, Missouri State, 1995-97
33, Mike Furrey, UNI, 1997-99
32, Alan Turner, Southern Illinois, 2006-07
31, Clay Harbor, Missouri State, 2006-current
30, Kyle Smith, Youngstown State, 2003-05

Two Reach 1,000 Yards
 Only 10 times in the league's 25-year history has a league RB reached 1,000 yards in seven or fewer games.  Pat Paschall of North Dakota State got 1,017 yards in his first seven games, while Southern Illinois' Deji Karim had 1,025 yards through the Salukis' first seven contests.  It marks just the second time in league history that two RBs reached 1,000 yards through seven games during the same season (the other coming in 2006).

National Rushing Leaders
 Western Illinois RB Herb Donaldson, the league's all-time leading rusher, led the nation in rushing and scoring as a senior in 2008.  This year, the league has four candidates who are currently challenging for the nation's rushing title, as NDSU's Pat Paschall leads the nation while SIU's Deji Karim ranks No. 2.  Notably, four league rushers are in the Top 6 in the NCAA rankings.

Rushing Yards Per Game, National Leaders
1 Pat Paschall, North Dakota State, Sr. 141.00
2 Deji Karim, Southern Illinois, Sr. 139.00
3 David Sinisi, Monmouth, Sr. 125.75
4 James Mallory, C. Conn, Sr. 113.50
5 Dre Gibbs, Western Illinois, Sr. 111.88
6 Kyle Minett, South Dakota State, Jr. 110.75
7 Ryan White, Austin Peay, Jr. 108.63
8 Chase Reynolds, Montana, Jr. 102.75
9 Curtis Pulley, Florida A&M, Sr. 101.25
10 Taiwan Jones, Eastern Washington, So. 100.33

Leading the Nation
 Several league players rank among the national leaders through nine weeks in the season.  Here are league players and teams who rank in the Top 3 nationally:

#1 - Pat Paschall, NDSU (141.0 rushing yards/game)
#2 - Deji Karim, SIU (139.0 rushing yards/game)
#2 - Deji Karim, SIU (195.25 all-purpose yards/game)
#3 - Eyad Salem, ILS (8.38 receptions/game)
#3 - Korey Lindsey, SIU (.75 interceptions/game)
#1 - South Dakota State (scoring defense)
#2 - UNI (pass efficiency)
#3 - South Dakota State (pass efficiency defense)

Six on FCS Lists
 Six Valley football players are among 40 nationwide players listed by The Sports Network as official "Payton Watch" and "Buchanan Battle" members.  The honors will be presented at the 23rd annual FCS College Football Awards in Chattanooga. 

QB Pat Grace, UNI (Payton)
RB Deji Karim, Southern Illinois (Payton)
DE Danny Batten, South Dakota State (Buchanan)
LB Brandin Jordan, Southern Illinois (Buchanan)
DE James Ruffin, UNI (Buchanan)
DT Mychal Savage, Youngstown State (Buchanan)