Missouri announces kickoff changes to Arkansas game, 2023 season opener

The Southeastern Conference has announced two scheduling updates for Missouri football, with the dates for the Tigers’ season opener and regular-season finale against Arkansas both set now.

The season opener against South Dakota has been moved up to Thursday, Aug. 31 at 8 p.m. ET with a broadcast on the SEC Network. Meanwhile, the regular season finale on the road at Arkansas will be played on Black Friday, Nov. 24, at 4 p.m. ET.

It will mark the second straight year that Missouri has begun its season on a Thursday night. The program beat Louisiana Tech 52-24 on a Thursday night to open the 2022 campaign.

“A primetime game under the lights of Faurot Field is an awesome way to open the season,” football coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “We appreciate our administration, the SEC and South Dakota for accommodating the date change. We believe this allows our student section and the best fans in the country to show out loud and proud and lead into Labor Day weekend in Missouri the right way!”

The Tigers are looking to take the next step under Drinkwitz, who has steadied the program but thus far been unable to produce a winning season.

Missouri football finished 5-5 in his first season, the COVID-19 year in 2020. Each of the last two years the Tigers have finished 6-7, falling in a bowl game to finish below .500 on the year.

The program certainly sounds excited about opening up the 2023 campaign at home under the lights.

“We are grateful to have another tremendous opportunity to start the Labor Day weekend off with a primetime football game on the SEC Network,” athletics director Desireé Reed-Francois said. “We listened to our fans after last year’s season opener and wanted to create another memorable experience to open the 2023 season. Our student section and the crowd set the tone that night and built a season-long, home-field advantage. We look forward to welcoming everyone home to Columbia on August 31 inside Faurot Field.”

That home field advantage very nearly helped Missouri football pull off the biggest upset of the season.

Defending national champion — and eventual repeat national champion — Georgia came to Faurot Field to start the month of October and got all it could handle. The Bulldogs had to engineer a late rally to pull off a 26-22 win, escaping unbeaten by the narrowest of margins.

Missouri won’t have that home field advantage in the Arkansas game, which will be played on Black Friday.

The annual Battle Line rivalry game has been played on Black Friday in seven of the last eight years, with the COVID-19 year in 2020 being the lone exception.

Missouri football has won six of the last seven games in the series and owns the all-time series 10-4.