Mizzou opens 2020 season vs. Alabama, will allow fans to attend games at Faurot Field
Welcome to the Southeastern Conference, Eliah Drinkwitz.
Now, play Alabama.
The Missouri Tigers and their first-year coach will open their 2020 season against Alabama coach Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide, per the complete schedule unveiled Monday evening on the SEC Network.
After that tough opening weekend, the Tigers head to Tennessee and then visit No. 5-ranked LSU in the first three weeks of the season, an early gauntlet that lines up as an undeniably top-heavy schedule for MU.
The opening showdown against the preseason No. 3-ranked Crimson Tide is definitely a marquee game. The Tide were a recent addition as the conference added two league games to each school’s schedule after dropping all non-conference matchups because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here’s Mizzou football’s complete 2020 schedule (home games in bold):
Week 1 (Sept. 26): Mizzou vs. Alabama
Week 2 (Oct. 3): Mizzou at Tennessee
Week 3 (Oct. 10): Mizzou at LSU
Week 4 (Oct. 17): Mizzou vs. Vanderbilt
Week 5 (Oct. 24): Mizzou at Florida
Week 6 (Oct. 31): Mizzou vs. Kentucky
Week 7 (Nov. 7): BYE
Week 8 (Nov. 14): Mizzou vs. Georgia
Week 9 (Nov. 21): Mizzou at South Carolina
Week 10 (Nov. 28): Mizzou vs. Arkansas
Week 11 (Dec. 5): Mizzou vs. Mississippi State
Mizzou’s Battle Line Rivalry game against Arkansas is still scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend instead of being reset to Dec. 5.
The Tigers will host the Hogs at Faurot Field instead of playing them in Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium. Some other highly anticipated SEC rivalry games, including Alabama-Auburn and Mississippi-Mississippi State, will be contested that weekend, as well.
There’s a chance, however, that Mizzou’s rivalry game against Arkansas will be moved to Black Friday, per the SEC, as it has been the past few years.
Drinkwitz, who was hired away from Appalachian State in December, started preseason camp with his Tigers Monday. Opening against Alabama is a huge task for the 37-year-old head coach.
Mizzou originally had Vanderbilt (Sept. 12) and South Carolina (Sept. 19) on its schedule before the SEC made its pandemic-prompted changes. Among them: the start of the season was pushed back to Sept. 26 to allow teams a chance to gain control of any potential outbreaks as students return to SEC campuses.
The SEC championship game, originally set for Dec. 5, is now scheduled for Dec. 17.
Fans at Faurot
As college football returns to Faurot Field this fall barring further changes, Mizzou fans will be allowed to attend the Tigers’ home games in a limited capacity.
The MU athletic department plans to allow “up to” 25 percent capacity at home games in Columbia this season, an MU spokesperson told The Star Monday. Faurot Field can hold up to 62,621 spectators, so a max of about 15,600 fans will be permitted at those games. The seating plan the school is outlining mandates social distancing and can fluctuate based on “household pod seating,” the spokesperson said
A ”pod seating” system has been discussed for the NFL, wherein fans would purchase a group, or pod, of tickets instead of individual allotments. MU athletic director Jim Sterk said a few weeks ago that it was likely only season-ticket holders and fans would be allowed to attend games, as opposed to single-ticket purchasers.
“We’ll try to abide by the county regulations,” Sterk said July 30. “If it’s mandatory at the time, it’ll be mandatory. We’d highly recommend it. I’m not sure where we’ll be as a state and a county by the time the games start.”
It’s unclear how the athletic department is affected by Boone County’s social-distancing guidelines, which limit events to 100 people. The MU athletic department said it’s a “fluid situation” that is still being worked through. Kansas State on Monday received permission from local health officials to host fans in limited capacity in Manhattan, Kan.
Mizzou on also announced other event restrictions on Monday stipulating that university faculty, staff and students are not permitted to hold events of more than 20 people. It’s unclear whether that would typically also apply to athletic events.
This story was originally published August 17, 2020 at 2:43 PM.