1987 Southwest Missouri State Bears football team

The 1987 Southwest Missouri State Bears football team represented the Southwest Missouri State University (now known as Missouri State University) as a member of the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (GCAC) during the 1987 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by second-year head coach Jesse Branch, the Bears compiled an overall record of 5–6, with a mark of 3–3 in conference play, and finished tied for third in the GFC.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5		Central State (OK)*		Briggs Stadium Springfield, MO	W 20–7		[1]
September 12		at Southern Illinois		McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 18–13	13,100	[2]
September 19		Nicholls State*	No. 18	Briggs Stadium Springfield, MO	L 18–13	7,820	[3]
September 26		at Western Illinois		Hanson Field Macomb, IL	L 19–20		[4]
October 3		Indiana State		Briggs Stadium Springfield, MO	W 42–0	8,105	[5]
October 17	1:00 p.m.	at Northern Illinois*		Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	L 21–27	9,017	[6]
October 24		at Eastern Illinois		O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	L 3–7	1,203	[7]
October 31		Illinois State		Briggs Stadium Springfield, MO	W 31–15	7,855	[8]
November 7	1:30 p.m.	No. 7 Northern Iowa		Briggs Stadium Springfield, MO	L 13–17	3,343	[9]
November 14		at Louisiana Tech*		Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	W 13–10	13,780	[10]
November 21		at Southern*		A. W. Mumford Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	L 6–8		[11]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

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