BREAKING: Mizzou, Arkansas game postponed, Tigers will face Vanderbilt instead

As the COVID-impacted College Football world turns, you never know week-to-week what will happen, who will be available, and which team will feature enough players to play a football game.

And it turns out, this week’s victims are the Arkansas Razorbacks, who were supposed to play in Columbia this weekend in the annual post Turkey-Day TRADITION™ “Battle-Line”™ presented by Shelter Insurance™. From the release:

The Arkansas at Missouri football game of November 28 has been postponed, resulting in rescheduling of games that include Vanderbilt playing at Missouri on November 28 and the postponement of the Tennessee at Vanderbilt game originally scheduled for November 28.

The Arkansas at Missouri football game of November 28 has been postponed due to combination of positive tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Arkansas football program, consistent with Southeastern Conference COVID-19 management requirements.

The Vanderbilt at Missouri game is a rescheduling of a game postponed on October 17. The game will be played at Noon ET on Saturday on the SEC Network.

The Tennessee at Vanderbilt game is postponed for the purpose of facilitating the rescheduling of the Vanderbilt at Missouri game. This rescheduling of games allows for the continued opportunity for all 14 teams to play all of its 10 games in the 2020 season.

“As we continue to adapt to the current realities, it important to remain flexible as we move forward in the final weeks of the season,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “Contact tracing continues to be the biggest contributing factor to game interruptions. We will continue to manage the remaining weeks of the football schedule to allow for as many games to be played as possible.”

The opportunity to reschedule the Arkansas at Missouri and Tennessee at Vanderbilt games will be evaluated. The rescheduling of games on the remaining SEC football schedule will include December 19 as a playing date.

The SEC’s COVID-19 management requirements, as developed by the SEC’s Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force, are available on SECsports.com.

If there’s good news here, Missouri avoids playing on the dreaded SEC Network Alternate channel, their resident home for the season (cc: Nate Edwards). Playing Vanderbilt, a team without a win — although they are playing much better of late — means Mizzou will be looking to extend their one game win streak, and go above .500 on the schedule for the first time this season.

There’s still some scheduling possibilities to make sure the Battle Line™ presented by Shelter Insurance™ game is played. And it’s really gotten to be day to day in trying to determine who you’re going to play on Saturday, IF you’re going to play at all.