SPRINGFIELD -- Missouri State men's soccer head coach Michael Seabolt has announced a highly-competitive 2025 season schedule that includes eight home games and 11 total games against top-100 teams from last season.

MSU men's soccer's first season in the American Athletic Conference also features four contests against fellow 2024 NCAA Tournament teams.

"We could not be more excited about our inaugural campaign in the American Athletic Conference," said Seabolt. "The American is a Power Four league in men's soccer, and the sport is a priority. Likewise, our non-conference schedule is elite. We start a two-year deal with Penn State with a return match to Springfield in 2026. We will host top-50 teams Seattle and Drake in addition to four high-level AAC teams."

In August, the Bears have non-conference home games in store against Seattle (Aug. 21) and Tampa (Aug. 28). Seattle was an NCAA Tournament team a year ago with a top-50 RPI. Tampa was 9-6-2 in a highly-competitive Sunshine State Conference in the Division II ranks and fell to eventual national champion Lynn in double-overtime in its season finale.

August also brings the Bears an Aug. 25 road showdown against Kansas City. The contest is a rematch of last year's NCAA second-round match in Springfield against a program that finished with a 13 RPI.

MoState will play four of its six September games on the road with non-conference dates with Penn State (Sept. 1), Saint Louis (Sept. 16), FIU (Sept. 21) and UAB (Sept. 27). The Bears also entertain Central Arkansas at Allison South Stadium on Sept. 7 before opening conference play against Temple on Friday, Sept. 12.  Saint Louis is the only September foe that played in the NCAA field a year ago, but SLU (41), FIU (66) and Penn State (81) all had top-100 rankings in the final RPI.

The schedule flips in October and November with Seabolt's squad slating four home matches in their last seven regular-season events. FAU (Oct. 3), Drake (Oct. 21), Memphis (Oct. 25) and Charlotte (Nov. 2) will come to Springfield for some highly-competitive home matches. 

The Bears also renew the series with long-time rival Creighton on Oct. 8 at a neutral site in Kansas City along with AAC road contests at South Florida (Oct. 17) and Tulsa (Oct. 29). All seven October/November foes finished 105 or better in last season's NCAA RPI, including Charlotte (29), Drake (46) and Creighton (57) in the top 60.

The American Athletic Conference Tournament commences November 7 at campus sites with semifinals and finals set for Nov. 12 and Nov. 15, hosted by the No. 1 seeded team. 

Seabolt's Missouri State squad is coming off a 12-4-2 campaign a year ago and final national ranking of 19 in the NCAA's RPI metrics. The Bears have reeled off six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and have hosted NCAA Tournament games four times in that span.

"Our returning guys did a great job this spring to help them prepare for the fall season and the work we have ahead of us," Seabolt explained. "Our newcomers are ready for the challenge as well. We plan to work hard, enjoy what we do, represent Missouri State very well, and take the season one day at a time. Go Bears!"