Here’s what we know about the Mizzou Tigers’ 2020-21 men’s basketball schedule so far
The Missouri Tigers have a basketball schedule less than three weeks from the season’s tipoff, though not all the details are fully squared away yet.
The Tigers will host Oral Roberts at Mizzou Arena on Nov. 25, the soonest the season is allowed to start. MU has four other non-conference games officially on the schedule: at Wichita State (Dec. 6), Liberty (Dec. 9), Bradley (Dec. 22) and TCU (Jan. 30) as part of the Big 12-SEC Challenge.
Those five games are all that’s set on MU’s non-conference slate. The Tigers are working on a multi-team event (MTE) that would take place between the Oral Roberts game and road game at Wichita State. Mizzou was originally scheduled in the Myrtle Beach Invitational, which would’ve been played under bubble-like conditions in Orlando. But that was canceled, leaving teams like MU scrambling.
Mizzou’s schedule is also, at this point, missing two key rivalry games: the Braggin’ Rights game against Illinois and the Border War game against Kansas.
The KU game was pushed back a year when the two schools couldn’t come to an agreement about a 2020-21 date. The Tigers will travel to Lawrence next season to open the six-year contract that brought back the historic rivalry.
MU’s Braggin’ Rights game date is still being negotiated, per a team spokesperson. That rivalry showdown is unlikely to be in St. Louis at this point and would likely be moved to either Columbia or Champaign, Illinois, if it does happen.
The SEC unveiled its 18-game schedule Friday, bringing MU to 23 games on its 2020-21 slate. Division I schedules have been reduced from a maximum of 31 games to 27 this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That means the Tigers are set to play 18 SEC games and as many as nine non-conference games.
Expect Mizzou Arena to have a capacity of around 3,000 people at each game this season. The Tigers are hoping to make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the second time under coach Cuonzo Martin, who enters his fourth year with the program.
The Tigers open the 2020-21 SEC season against Tennessee at Mizzou Arena on Dec. 30. MU plays three permanent conference foes: Arkansas, Texas A&M and Mississippi. This year, the Tigers’ rotational opponents — who they’ll play both home and away — are Tennessee and South Carolina.
Mizzou’s home games are against LSU, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Alabama; road games are at Mississippi State, Auburn, Georgia and Florida.
Here’s Mizzou’s full 2020-21 SEC schedule (bold games are home):
Tennessee, Dec. 30, Mizzou Arena
Arkansas, Jan. 2, Bud Walton Arena
Mississippi State, Jan. 5, Davis Wade Stadium
LSU, Jan. 9, Mizzou Arena
Vanderbilt, Jan. 12, Mizzou Arena
Texas A&M, Jan. 16, Reed Arena
South Carolina, Jan. 19, Mizzou Arena
Tennessee, Jan. 23, Thompson-Boling Arena
Auburn, Jan. 26, Auburn Arena
Kentucky, Feb. 2, Mizzou Arena
Alabama, Feb. 6, Mizzou Arena
Mississippi, Feb. 10, Pavilion at Ole Miss
Arkansas, Feb. 13, Mizzou Arena
Georgia, Feb. 16, Stegeman Coliseum
South Carolina, Feb. 20, Colonial Life Arena
Mississippi, Feb. 23, Mizzou Arena
Texas A&M, Feb. 27, Mizzou Arena
Florida, March 3, Stephen O’Connell Center
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 11:13 AM.