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Columbia Daily Tribune
5 takeaways from Missouri football’s 2026 season schedule reveal
- Story byColumbia Daily Tribune
- 5 takeaways from Missouri football’s 2026 season schedule reveal
Missouri football learned when and where it will be on every Saturday next fall as the Southeastern Conference announced the full 2026 calendar for all of its members in a live show Thursday night on SEC Network.
There were some unexpected changes. It's also now, for the first time, a nine-game conference schedule.
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There's a lot to discuss, so let's get to the major points.
Here is what stood out to us from the Tigers ' 2026 schedule reveal.
More: Missouri football 2025 review of defensive ends, predictions for 2026
Battle Line game moves off Thanksgiving weekend
The major news on the schedule is that there's a change on the final weekend.
There will be no more Callin' the Hogs on Thanksgiving weekend as the Tigers' Battle Line Rivalry game against Arkansas has been moved to Oct. 31 for the 2026 season. Since the rivalry game was created by the SEC, it has held the spot on either Black Friday or the following Saturday.
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Mizzou will instead now play another one of its 'permanent' SEC rivals on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, as Oklahoma is now set to visit Columbia on Nov. 28.
Nov 29, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Missouri Tigers running back Jamal Roberts (20) celebrates with offensive lineman Dominick Giudice (56) after rushing for a touchdown during the first quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images
Four new coaches on the calendar
Mizzou is currently set to face four first-year head coaches in the 2026 season in SEC play.
Florida will visit Columbia on Oct. 3 for ex-Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall's second road SEC game. Two weeks later, the Tigers will visit Ole Miss to face Pete Golding's Rebels.
When Mizzou visits Arkansas on Halloween, it will face former Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield.
Then, in the penultimate week of the regular season, Will Stein, the former Oregon offensive coordinator, visits Columbia with Kentucky.
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Three November home games, but final stretch is rough
Buckle in for the final four weeks. It ain't gonna be easy.
The Tigers get three home games in the final month of the regular season, with Texas (Nov. 7), Kentucky (Nov. 21) and Oklahoma (Nov. 28) all coming to town. Mizzou also visits Georgia in November, heading to Athens on Nov. 14.
That'll separate the contenders from the pretenders in a hurry.
More: Is Missouri football OC Kirby Moore interviewing for Washington State job?
No back-to-back weeks on the road
There is a nearly one-month stretch from Oct. 11 to Nov. 6 when Mizzou will not play at home.
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But, the Tigers avoid back-to-back Saturdays on the road.
The only time Missouri plays two straight road games is in October, when the team visits Ole Miss and Arkansas in consecutive games. Those two matchups are separated by MU's idle week, though, meaning it will get a week off before getting back on the charter.
That's ideal. Mizzou had to play back-to-back road contests twice in 2025, and the Tigers ended up losing three games out of four. It's not an easy ask, and Missouri will avoid it entirely in 2026.
Oct 25, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Beau Pribula (9) throws while pressured by Vanderbilt Commodores defensive lineman Nick Rinaldi (24) during the second quarter at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
How much harder is nine-game SEC slate?
Eli Drinkwitz posited "unintended consequences" of moving from an eight-game to a nine-game SEC schedule.
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Looking not just at what Mizzou faces, but what is on deck across the league?
Yikes.
There are three games in SEC play that Mizzou, as it stands, is likely to be favored in, and two of those are on the road. After the portal opens, who knows what Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi State could look like.
Apart from that? The Tigers are probably going to be underdogs pretty often.
Life just got harder for everyone. Missouri certainly is not immune.
Full 2026 Missouri football schedule
(home games in bold)
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Arkansas Pine Bluff (Sept. 5, Columbia)
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Kansas (Sept. 12, Lawrence, Kan.)
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Troy (Sept. 19, Columbia)
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Mississippi State (Sept. 26, Starkville, Miss.)
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Florida (Oct. 3, Columbia)
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Texas A&M (Oct. 10, Columbia)
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Ole Miss (Oct. 17, Oxford, Miss.)
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IDLE WEEK (Oct. 24)
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Arkansas (Oct. 31, Fayetteville, Ark.)
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Texas (Nov. 7, Columbia)
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Georgia (Nov. 14, Athens, Ga.)
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Kentucky (Nov. 21, Columbia)
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Oklahoma (Nov. 28, Columbia)
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Takeaways from Missouri football's 2026 season schedule reveal
