Mizzou football to kick off season on a Thursday night for fifth-straight season
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
For the fifth straight year, Mizzou football will kick off its season on a Thursday night.
The program announced in a Tuesday press release that its 2026 season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff will occur at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3 at Faurot Field. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 5.
The season opener will be the ninth time since 2015 that the Tigers have hosted a game on a weeknight. Missouri has had 20 consecutive sellouts at its home stadium.
"Opening the season on a Thursday night in CoMo is becoming a great tradition for our program," head coach Eli Drinkwitz said in the release. "We appreciate Arkansas-Pine Bluff and the SEC for working with us on the adjustment so our season opener can be broadcast nationally on SEC Network. There's nothing like a renovated and full Memorial Stadium to kick off a season, and we're excited to carry our program-record sellout streak into 2026."
Missouri finished the 2025 season with an 8-5 record and closed the season out with a 13-7 loss to Virginia in the Gator Bowl. The tigers have had a 29-10 record since the 2023 season.
The 2026 opener will also mark the premiere of the north end zone concourse that has been under construction.
Mizzou’s home schedule also includes Troy (Sept. 19), Florida (Oct. 3), Texas A&M (Oct. 10), Texas (Nov. 7), Kentucky (Nov. 21) and Oklahoma (Nov. 28).
