SEC, ESPN release time slots for full 2024 Mizzou football schedule (2024)

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Some scheduling clarity for Missouri’s football team came on Tuesday as the Southeastern Conference released kickoff times and TV windows for the entirety of the Tigers’ 2024 season.

While there is still some room for games to be flexed between certain time slots, the summer announcement vastly predates the usual 12-days-in-advance determination of when games will begin, making logistical plans for games and travel far easier.

The SEC and ESPN, which now televises all games controlled by the conference, have designated three windows for games. Early ones will begin between 11 a.m. and noon, afternoon games between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., and night contests between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Games that received a “flex” designation on Tuesday will fall into afternoon or night slots closer to their dates.

Mizzou’s Sept. 21 game against Vanderbilt has been designated a flex game, which means it will begin between 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

The Tigers’ first road game of the season, a trip to Texas A&M on Oct. 5, will kick off at 11 a.m. and be televised nationally on ESPN or ABC.

Timing and broadcast information for a unique road nonconference game on Oct. 12 at Massachusetts is yet to be announced because the SEC does not control that telecast.

Missouri’s homecoming game, Oct. 19 against Auburn, will take place in the early window. MU requested an afternoon or evening kickoff to accommodate the homecoming parade and festivities that usually occupy the morning of that Saturday but did not receive it — though the university will still host its usual events and work with the early game time.

Games on Oct. 26 at Alabama and Nov. 9 at home against Oklahoma are both flexes between the afternoon and night slots.

MU’s final three games of the season — Nov. 16 at South Carolina, Nov. 23 at Mississippi State and Nov. 30 at home against Arkansas — will have afternoon kickoffs.

The time and TV information for some of MU’s early season games already had been released.

The Tigers will open their season at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29, at home against Murray State on the SEC Network. Missouri’s second game, against Buffalo, will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, shown on SEC Network+ and ESPN+. A home game against Boston College on Saturday, Sept. 14, will get a new TV window that will be in use on the SEC Network this season: 11:45 a.m.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — From Missouri’s leap into the upper echelon of college football to a change in athletics department leadership to top-down administrative oversight, the 2023-24 sports year at MU was defined at its upper levels.

There were surprises — such as Eli Drinkwitz’s first winning season with the Tigers totaling 11 wins and former athletics director Desiree Reed-Francois’ departure. And there were slow burns — take the 19 consecutive losses in Southeastern Conference play for the men’s basketball team or the process of planning and approval for the eventual release of Memorial Stadium north concourse renovation renderings.

These are the Post-Dispatch’s choices for the 10 stories that defined Mizzou athletics’ 2023-24 academic year.

1. Football turns in decade’s best season

You can quite easily quantify and contextualize just how stark of a contrast the 2023 football season was to the campaigns that came before it. Missouri landed at No. 8 in the year-end AP poll, its best performance in that ranking since finishing the 2013 season at No. 5.

The Tigers’ 11 wins were the most since 2014. Six MU players went off the board in the NFL draft, the most since 2009. Mizzou sold out Memorial Stadium for the final five home games of the season, a stadium-packing streak not seen since 1980.

What was just as remarkable was how the season unfolded. There was no shortage of drama, with wins that came thanks to a 61-yard field goal, a fake punt touchdown pass and a 4th-and-17 conversion that preserved a game-winning drive.

Missouri’s best season in a decade could wind up supplanted this fall, with plenty of talent still in place and expectations much higher than they were a year ago. But for now, the 2023 season stands as a special one in Columbia.

2. MU undergoes unexpected AD change

It’s settled now, but the sudden departure of athletics director Reed-Francois and the eventual hire of Laird Veatch from Memphis raised plenty of questions throughout the back end of the academic year. Some, such as whether she pushed MU to lower or ditch her contract buyout — as Arizona wanted her to — remain unanswered. Others, like the power dynamics that may have contributed to her exit, have become largely moot.

Veatch was hired after a lengthy, quiet process that still led to the arrival of one of the more obvious candidates for the job. His priorities and expertise — namely in fundraising and revenue generation — fit an athletics department that needs to raise money for a stadium renovation and keep afloat with modern college sports spending.

3. Men’s hoops can’t get a win

It was improbable up until the very end, but Missouri men’s basketball broke the wrong kind of records with a 19-game losing streak that included an 0-18 run through Southeastern Conference play. It was just the second time in the modern composition of the conference that a team went winless and the second time in MU history that’s happened — though the sport looked vastly different when the Tigers had their only other such season, in 1907-08.

4. Curators add oversight

There is one notable factor in the Reed-Francois exit that has stuck around: the UM System Board of Curators’ special committee created to oversee Mizzou athletics. The board established this four-person group just a couple of weeks before the AD shakeup, and it has met once since Veatch’s hire. Curators felt a need to keep a closer eye on the athletics department, particularly its finances, to uphold their “responsibility” to the university system.

5. Memorial Stadium renovations unveiled

There was a long wait for some art. After beginning the process of proposing renovations to Mizzou sports facilities in the fall, the Board of Curators and athletics department leadership settled on a renovation of Memorial Stadium’s north concourse. There was a rigid process for planning and approving that project, but renderings emerged from an April Board of Curators meeting.

The Rock M and hill are staying but will be surrounded by premium seating — a project that will cost $250 million and be done in time for the 2026 season.

6. Recruiting efforts strengthen

Perhaps Columbia’s tourism bureau should hire Mizzou’s coaches as consultants. They seem to be pretty comfortable drawing people to the college town, if recruiting counts for anything. Drinkwitz secured another five-star recruit in edge rusher Williams Nwaneri, the top defensive prospect in his class and an in-state player. Dennis Gates managed to sign a five-player class that ranks as one of the nation’s best, providing a timely influx of talent.

Success on the recruiting trail looks to be a concrete trend for that duo.

7. Women’s hoops left murky

Mizzou women’s basketball missed out on the NCAA Tournament after finishing last in the SEC with only a couple more conference wins than the men’s team, a performance that looked likely to end coach Robin Pingeton’s tenure — based on preseason expectations, anyway. But with no permanent AD to fire her, MU stayed its course, allowing her to coach into the final year of her contract.

8. Softball makes another run to supers

MU softball continued its trend of emerging from the SEC gauntlet to make a postseason run. The Tigers advanced to the conference title game but lost to Florida, though their SEC Tournament performance was enough to secure hosting duties for the regional and super regional rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Winning four straight elimination games in the regional meant Duke came to town for a three-game super regional series. The Blue Devils won, though, meaning Missouri has now failed to advance from its past six super regionals.

9. New coaches, varied results

Two of Mizzou’s higher-profile new coaches saw very different results. Volleyball’s Dawn Sullivan shared SEC Coach of the Year honors after getting the Tigers into the NCAA Tournament. Baseball’s Kerrick Jackson saw a rockier first year as he sorted through personnel and missed the SEC Tournament.

10. Consistent expectations on mats

National titles evaded Missouri wrestling, which was something of a disappointment for the program — but a testament to the standard Brian Smith has instilled in Tiger Style throughout his tenure.

Mizzou gymnastics enjoyed a handful of perfect 10s in multiple events as the season went on but came up just short of a chance to compete for an NCAA Championship in the postseason.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The artificial turf that occupies Faurot Field could become a little bit greener soon. The surface can’t grow grass, but it can grow Missouri athletics’ revenue stream under an NCAA rule change the university is prepared to leverage.

Schools can now place sponsor logos in up to three spots on their football fields, the NCAA decided Thursday, and that has immediate appeal for Mizzou.

“Absolutely,” MU athletics director Laird Veatch told the Post-Dispatch when asked whether he’s interested in finding the right sponsor for a logo on Memorial Stadium’s playing surface. “It has to be an interest. It has to be something that we take and present as opportunities to partners like that — that want to help us but also want to really help their brand and their company. Those are huge opportunities.”

What logos could wind up placed on Faurot Field and what they would look like remains to be seen. The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel moved to allow the advertisem*nts Thursday afternoon, so the logistics are still hazy.

If they choose to display them, schools can place an advertisem*nt centered on the 50-yard line along and two smaller flanking logos elsewhere on the field — likely around the 25-yard line.

Those latter locations seem to have more immediate appeal than replacing a university logo in the middle of the field with a corporate insignia — particularly in the tradition-rich Southeastern Conference.

Sponsorship deals for on-field advertisem*nts around the 25-yard line would likely bring in at least $1 million per season for SEC programs, Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger estimated, citing industry sources.

On-field logos can be swapped out game-by-game or run across an entire season, depending on schools’ preferences.

Part of the NCAA’s rationale for making the rule change is to align the policies for regular season home games with the regulations for postseason, neutral-site bowl games that are heavily sponsored.

And it’s readily available revenue at a time when schools need it, with the need to share revenue with student-athletes to the likely tune of $20 million to $22 million per year on the horizon.

“This change allows schools to generate additional income to support student-athletes,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement. “I’m pleased that we could find flexibility within our rules to make this happen for member schools.”

Veatch agrees with that reasoning.

“I’m really encouraged to see that, nationally, we’re also evolving on that side because we’re going to need more and more corporate support,” he said. “Those types of opportunities, we have to be — I believe — aggressive with. We have to really look to leverage those kinds of things because the price to compete is going up.”

Through his first month on the job at MU, Veatch has made securing more corporate support one of his early priorities. On-field advertisem*nts are just another front for that effort.

“It’s just an incredible branding, exposure opportunity for a company or business,” he said. “But we need to look for other opportunities that are new and different, particularly now that you can really incorporate true NIL (name, image, likeness marketing) with student-athletes and create that connection, that direct, personal connection with a young face and name and personality. It’s a whole new era and corporate partnership, that’s another great thing.”

The next frontier of increased advertising in college football could eventually come in the form of jersey patches representing sponsors.

Those have already entered professional sports like Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and soccer leagues around the world. Sponsorship deals for logo patches would likely be worth several times more than on-field advertisem*nts if college football embraces them.

Veatch didn’t conclusively say whether he’s for or against putting commercial logos on uniforms, but he is intrigued by what it could offer.

“I think we need to explore all those kinds of opportunities, collectively,” he said. “Now, that hasn’t been something that’s received a lot of discussion yet, but I think it needs to. I do believe we need to be exploring all those kinds of opportunities because it’s going to also continue to help us provide more support for student-athletes.”

Bring your Tigers football, basketball and recruiting questions, and talk to Eli Hoff in a live chat at 11 a.m. Thursday.

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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Even as Missouri’s football team prepares for a highly anticipated 2024 season, there’s been talk of a Mizzou player who stands no chance of suiting up in black and gold this fall: Cody Schrader.

The running back who famously walked on with the Tigers after beginning his college career at Division II Truman State, rising from the bottom of the MU depth chart to the top of the school’s record books and leading the Southeastern Conference in rushing yards, still is referenced aplenty inside the team facility at his alma mater.

“Cody was the standard,” running backs coach Curtis Luper said this spring.

The firepower of what Schrader showcased on the field last season and the respect he garnered around the Mizzou locker room and college football world are part of why he’s the Post-Dispatch’s choice for MU’s male athlete of the year in 2023-24 — part of the newspaper’s annual honors capping the year in sports at the school.

Male Athlete of the Year: Schrader, football

This distinction pales in comparison to the other honors that poured in for Schrader near the end of the 2023 football season, right as he was wrapping up a campaign that ended with 1,627 rushing yards, a Missouri single-season record.

Schrader received the Burlsworth Trophy, which honors the best player in the nation to start his career as a walk-on. He landed on several All-American teams and was a first-team all-SEC player. By leading the conference in rushing, he was a finalist for the Doak Walker Award, which goes to the nation’s premier running back.

The work ethic that guided and fueled Schrader through his rise became the same sort of benchmark and motivation for others in the Mizzou locker room. The end to his time as a Tiger was an emotional one, but two seasons were enough for Schrader to leave an imprint on the MU program.

“Our players are like sons to us,” Luper said. “We spend so much time with them. Their journey is our journey — we went on that journey together. I can remember when we were nailing it down in the Cotton Bowl and Cody was running off — man, it was a moment. I was proud of him. I am proud of him.”

In the running: Golfer Jack Lundin finished his season ranked No. 18 in the nation, winning two individual titles and all-region honors. ... Defensive end Darius Robinson became Mizzou’s first first-round NFL draft pick since 2017 after recording 8½ sacks while switching from the interior to the edge. ... Point guard Sean East II drove the men’s basketball offense, averaging 17.6 points and four assists per game in a greatly expanded role — an effort that could land him a shot at a professional career. ... After winning the quarterback job for good, Brady Cook took key strides forward as a passer, finishing with 3,317 yards and 21 touchdowns to go with 319 yards and eight scores on the ground.

Female Athlete of the Year: Laurin Krings, softball

Missouri’s ace assembled a remarkable career in the circle for the Tigers, steadily improving across her four years in Columbia. She threw 604.2 innings in that span, striking out 603 batters.

Krings was a force during the 2024 season, remaining controlled in her workload through the regular season to push her arm through the postseason.

She did just that during an NCAA Tournament regional weekend that produced one of the most memorable individual performances of the year for any Mizzou athlete: Krings started four consecutive elimination games, throwing 364 pitches in 25 innings of work across just two days.

Her arm was frequently enough to buoy the Tigers when their bats weren’t producing enough runs, and her pitching was the difference in a few close wins. While MU softball’s postseason run ended short of a trip to the Women’s College World Series, the push that Krings provided stands out.

“We couldn’t be here at this game right now if it weren’t for her,” shortstop Jenna Laird said after the postseason finale. “Just knowing that I’m behind her watching her pitch her butt off every single day, that’s just something that I would live and die for. ... She did everything for us. She’s Mizzou. You look at her and I’m going to always think of her as one of my best teammates, my pitcher.”

In the running: Gymnast Mara Titarsolej qualified for the NCAA Championships on bars after recording Missouri’s first perfect 10 in that event in the Mizzou to the Lou meet on Feb. 16. ... Volleyball’s Maya Sands was named the SEC’s libero of the year after leading the conference in digs, also finishing second on the team in aces. ... Diver Kamryn Wong qualified for the NCAA Tournament after wins in both the 1-meter and 3-meter disciplines. ... Track and field’s Euphenie Andre was the SEC triple jump champion.

Coach of the Year: Eli Drinkwitz, football

Taking himself out of play-calling duties netted big gains for Drinkwitz, who earned his first winning season in splashy fashion after choosing to hire offensive coordinator Kirby Moore in the offseason. Drinkwitz was named the SEC’s coach of the year as the Tigers racked up 11 wins, including a Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State. Perhaps helped by his new CEO-esque role, Drinkwitz also won on the recruiting trail, securing the services of five-star edge rusher Williams Nwaneri, the nation’s top defensive prospect.

In the running: Dawn Sullivan, volleyball; Shannon Welker, gymnastics; Larissa Anderson, softball.

Male Newcomer of the Year: Tamar Bates, basketball

Transferring closer to home and family paid dividends for Bates, who took a spot in coach Dennis Gates’ rotation and became a primary starter who will play a leading role next season. Bates finished just a couple of percentage points short of a 50-40-90 season, demonstrating efficiency and prowess as a scorer. His 36 points against Florida on Jan. 10 were the most ever by a Missouri player in an SEC game and the most in any regulation game since 2004.

In the running: Theo Wease Jr., football; Brock Snyder, golf.

Female Newcomer of the Year: Grace Slaughter, basketball

Missouri’s top in-state recruit debuted with a double-double — the first freshman to do so since Sophie Cunningham — before leading the Tigers in minutes played during her freshman season. Slaughter landed on the SEC all-freshman team after finishing fourth among the conference’s first-year players with 11.5 points per game. She showed a capacity to score consistently at all three levels and looks to be a core piece of the Tigers’ eventual rebuild.

In the running: Abby Hay, softball; Kennedy Griffin, gymnastics.