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The SEC released its schedules on Tuesday evening. There was no surprise in revealing who was on the schedule — we’ve known that for a while — but now it’s all laid out in a grid for us. And it’s super weird.
- Sept. 2: Missouri State
- Sept. 9: South Carolina
- Sept. 16: Purdue
- Sept. 23: Auburn
- Oct. 7: at Kentucky
- Oct. 14: at Georgia
- Oct. 21: Idaho
- Oct. 28: at UConn
- Nov. 4: Florida
- Nov. 11: Tennessee
- Nov. 18: at Vanderbilt
- Nov. 25: at Arkansas
Oddity No. 1: Four September home games
Missouri has home games in each of the first four weeks of the season ... and then only three over the final eight games/nine weeks. (And two of those three happen back-to-back as well.) That’s conducive to a fast start ... in theory. It better be, anyway.
Per Mizzou's release, the last time Tigers football opened with four straight home games (as it will in 2017) was 1908. #namethatcoach.
— Tod Palmer (@todpalmer) September 14, 2016
Mizzou opened w/ 5 straight games in 1908, winning the first four before a loss to Iowa State under W.J. Monilaw.
— Tod Palmer (@todpalmer) September 14, 2016
Oddity No. 2: Two non-conference games in late-October
Mizzou plays two SEC opponents within the first four weeks, then takes on Idaho (for Homecoming, no less) and UConn (in Storrs) in the eighth and ninth weeks of the season. Obviously plenty of SEC programs have had schedules like this for a while. I doubt I will ever be fond of it.
If the current depth chart is any guide, Mizzou could return about nine starters on offense and 5-6 on defense. If the receiving corps continues to develop, the Tigers could have their most potent offense since 2013, and in theory, a particularly good team could expect to begin the season 7-1 or 6-2 heading into November. We’ll see how it plays out.
Post-Dispatch: Mizzou 2017 football schedule finalized
KC Star: Missouri will open 2017 football season with four straight home games