I've spent some time over the past few weeks poring through the websites of just about every Division 1 softball program and after waiting on a couple of schools to release their schedules, I'm finally able to piece together about 95% of the Missouri schedule, so without further ado:
Feb. 5 - Appears to be the earliest date for games to be played.
Feb. 13 - Black and Gold game
Diamond 9 Citrus Classic I; Orlando, FL
Feb. 19 - Jacksonville State
Feb. 19 - Elon
Feb. 20 - College of Charleston
Feb. 20 - UAB
Feb. 21 - Stephen F. Austin
Feb. 21 - Stetson
Mary Nutter Classic; Palm Springs, CA
Feb. 25 - North Carolina State
Feb. 25 - Stanford
Feb. 26 - Colorado State
Feb. 27 - Oregon
Feb. 27 - BYU
Judi Garman Classic; Fullerton, CA
March 3 - Michigan
March 3 - San Jose State
March 4 - California
March 5 - Arizona State
March 5 - Baylor
March 11 - AT Ole Miss
March 12 - AT Ole Miss
March 13 - AT Ole Miss
March 16 - Western Illinois
March 16 - Western Illinois
March 19 - AT New Mexico State
March 19 - AT New Mexico State
March 20 - AT New Mexico State
March 21 - AT UTEP
March 21 - AT UTEP
March 23 - AT Northern Iowa
March 26 - AT Alabama
March 27 - AT Alabama
March 28 - AT Alabama
March 30 - AT St. Louis
March 30 - AT St. Louis
April 1 - Tennessee
April 2 - Tennessee
April 3 - Tennessee
April 8 - Georgia
April 9 - Georgia
April 10 - Georgia
April 13 - Wichita State
April 13 - Wichita State
April 15 - AT Kentucky
April 16 - AT Kentucky
April 17 - AT Kentucky
April 19 - AT Iowa
April 19 - AT Iowa
April 23 - Texas A&M
April 24 - Texas A&M
April 25 - Texas A&M
April 27 - AT SEMO
April 27 - AT SEMO
April 29 - AT Mississippi State
April 30 - AT Mississippi State
May 1 - AT Mississippi State
May 6 - South Carolina
May 7 - South Carolina
May 8 - South Carolina
SEC Tournament; Starkville, MS
May 11 - May 14
May 15 - NCAA Selection Show
NCAA Regionals
May 20 - May 22
NCAA Super Regionals
May 26 - May 29
NCAA Championships; Oklahoma City, OK
June 2 - June 8
So a couple things should be obvious:
- I'm missing two SEC opponents...both are home series. The only schools left to release their schedules are Georgia and South Carolina. What confuses me is that the rotation is messed up. From what I was able to find, there's a 3 year rotation: home, away, off. Based on previous schedules, we should have been home against Arkansas and South Carolina and at LSU, but that's clearly not the case.
- Including the 6 missing SEC games, there are 50 games scheduled so far. I *think* they can play up to 56. So what's left? Illinois hasn't released their schedule, but I'd expect a doubleheader in St. Charles against them. Wichita State hasn't released their schedule and a doubleheader in Columbia wouldn't surprise me since Nicole Hudson is now on their coaching staff. Other than those two, likely candidates would be: St. Louis, Western Illinois, Creighton and Evansville.
This schedule is going to really boost our RPI for next year. It may be the toughest schedule we've ever had. Against top 50 RPI programs from the last rankings in 2015: UAB (48), North Carolina State (29), Oregon (5), Michigan (4), California (23), Arizona State (20), Baylor (18), New Mexico State (43), Alabama (6), Tennessee (9), Kentucky (22), Texas A&M (21), Mississippi State (34), Georgia (14) and South Carolina (32).
UPDATE 1: I wrote this a couple of days ago and I've already got an update. South Carolina will be the final series of the regular season. Waiting on confirmation of the Georgia series in early April. Also, Illinois has released most of their schedule, but it appears to be missing some games and Missouri is not included yet.
UPDATE 2: Added in the missing games and adjusted some dates due to TV. Schedule now matches the school website.