Mizzou football’s next SEC opponent is changed up once again
The Missouri Tigers were given another football schedule change, though they’ll have a little more time to prepare for this opponent.
Mizzou will host Arkansas at Memorial Stadium on Dec. 5 instead of traveling for a game at Mississippi State that week, the SEC announced Friday. The change is contingent on there being no more additional postponements prior to the Dec. 5 games.
The Battle Line Rivalry between Mizzou and Arkansas was originally scheduled for Saturday. But as the Hogs battled COVID-19 considerations, the game had to be postponed. Vanderbilt took Arkansas’ place on Mizzou’s schedule, as the Tigers and Commodores will play at 11 a.m. Saturday in Memorial Stadium.
The SEC on Friday also rescheduled the Alabama at LSU game, originally set for Nov. 14, to Dec. 5. That means Alabama at Arkansas, Ole Miss at LSU, and Missouri at Mississippi State will all need to be moved to a later date.
“The cooperation and flexibility of our coaches, athletics directors and campus leaders along with the dedication of our student-athletes now provides the opportunity to reach this point in the season with the ability for each SEC team to play 10 football games in 2020,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement.
“We knew before the season there would be interruptions and scheduling challenges related to COVID-19 and we will continue to manage the remaining weeks of the football schedule to allow for as many games to be played as possible, with a continuing focus on determining an SEC champion.”
In addition to Mississippi State, the Tigers also have a game against Georgia that needs a new date. They have two open weekends to do so, on Dec. 12 and Dec. 19, which is the same day as the SEC championship game.
Mizzou has been at the epicenter of the SEC’s rescheduled or relocated games in 2020, though it hasn’t always been the Tigers dealing with the novel coronavirus. Of the 10 games that comprised the league-only slate, seven of MU’s games have either been affected by COVID-19 or Hurricane Delta.
The Tigers’ game against Vandy was originally set for Oct. 17, but had to postponed to Saturday because of the Commodores and their roster numbers due to COVID-19. The league flipped the Florida (Oct. 24) and Kentucky (Oct. 31) games because the Gators battled a coronavirus outbreak.
Mizzou couldn’t meet the defensive line positional threshold ahead of its Georgia game, which is why that Nov. 14 game needs to be made up.
Friday’s announced schedule change occurred because the SEC needed to fit the Alabama vs. LSU game ahead of the SEC championship Dec. 19. That date will only be open for rescheduled games as long as both teams aren’t division winners. Alabama, currently 7-0, leads the SEC West and will likely play for the league title.
The SEC announced rescheduling measures so each conference team can play all 10 games in 2020. In order to do so, the league office may revise the schedule on a weekly basis. That allowed the SEC to flip Mizzou’s Arkansas game with Vanderbilt earlier this week.
Those alterations need to be made the Monday before the Saturday slate of games. However, Friday’s changes were made with more a little extra time.
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 2:50 PM.