SEC switches to 10-game conference-only schedule

The SEC will move to a 10-game conference-only schedule for the 2020 season due to concerns surrounding COVID-19. AL.com was the first to report the news.

The league also has moved the start of the season back to Sept. 26. The SEC championship game will be on Dec. 19.

We spoke with Mizzou athletic director Jim Sterk on Thursday night. You can watch the entire news conference in the video player below.

MU had three games scheduled before Sept. 26 - vs. Central Arkansas, vs. Vanderbilt and at South Carolina. MU was set to play Eastern Michigan at home on Sept. 26, but that will now be canceled.

MU's other originally scheduled non-conference games were against BYU and Louisiana. Those are now also canceled.

Sterk said he's not sure what the new MU football schedule is going to look like. He said MU will still play all six of its eastern division opponents and Arkansas - which will now be played at Faurot Field instead of Arrowhead Stadium. Sterk was not sure if MU will still play Mississippi State. The SEC said it will announce the schedule at a later time.

Sterk said there will likely be a 20% capacity limit at Memorial Stadium this season. Those seats will likely be filled by students and season ticket holders.

There's still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the college football season, but Sterk said he believes moving things back a few weeks is a good idea.

"Campuses will start to fill up starting middle of August, and if there are outbreaks - it gives an opportunity to settle those down and get them under a better control," Sterk said. "That’s something for the experts. That’s the advice we received is to give that an opportunity to play itself out and then start the season fresh Sept. 26."

Mizzou is still scheduled to start fall camp next week, but Sterk said that could change.