In exactly 100 days, Missouri football will return to the field.
An even ton separates the Tigers from their season-opener against Murray State on Thursday, Aug. 29, at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri and, with it, one of the most highly anticipated Mizzou campaigns in recent memory.
BetMGM has set the over-under on Missouri’s 2024 regular-season win total at 9.5. If the Tigers surpass that to reach double-digit wins, they’d be firmly in the running for a spot in the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff.
Missouri, which figures to carry a top-10 preseason ranking after an 11-2 campaign that culminated in a Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State, appears to have a favorable slate. In the upcoming season, the Tigers will either play a nonconference opponent, a team they beat in 2023, a team with a new head coach or at home on Faurot Field.
Here are Mizzou’s 2024 opponents, ranked in ascending order of difficulty. The game’s location and the quality of the opponent were used to compile these rankings:
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12: Murray State (Aug. 29)
The Racers went 2-9 last season. At home against an FCS opponent with a first-year head coach, this should be an easy Thursday night opener for Mizzou.
11: Buffalo (Sept. 7)
Buffalo won three games in the Mid-American Conference last season, which accounted for all of the Bulls’ victories during a 3-9 campaign. The Bulls enter the season under new head coach Pete Lembo. Mark this down as 2-0 for Mizzou.
10: At UMass (Oct. 12)
UMass was pummeled every time it faced a power-conference team last season, as the Minutemen gave up more than a point a minute between a 59-14 loss to Auburn and a 63-0 beatdown by Penn State in 2023. Road game or not, this should be a cakewalk for MU.
9: Vanderbilt (Sept. 21)
Vanderbilt, in Year 4 of the Clark Lea tenure in Nashville, Tennessee, does not appear to have the requisite talent to pull off a road, in-conference upset. The portal was not particularly kind on the Commodores this offseason. Missouri comfortably disposed of Vandy in Music City last year, and the Tigers ought to do the same this year.
8: Boston College (Sept. 14)
This is Missouri’s toughest nonconference opponent. Adding to the intrigue, the Eagles are now led by new head coach Bill O’Brien. After an up-and-down 2023 campaign in which Boston College underwhelmed more often than it impressed, the Eagles are unlikely to pose a serious threat to Missouri.
7: Arkansas (currently Nov. 30)
Missouri played one of its least competitive games of last season in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Tigers had their reserves on the field by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, eventually winning 48-14. There isn’t much to suggest the Hogs have improved a great deal in the interim. Quarterback KJ Jefferson is gone, as is standout running back Rocket Sanders. The Hogs don’t have a top-25 portal or recruiting class.
If the year goes as bad as last season, Sam Pittman might not be the Arkansas coach for this game, which will likely be flexed to its traditional spot on Friday, Nov. 29, for the Black Friday slate of games.
6: At Mississippi State (Nov. 23)
Mississippi State enters the 2024 campaign under new head coach Jeff Lebby. This only enters the top half in terms of difficulty on MU’s schedule because of the Starkville cowbells. BetMGM has the Bulldogs’ over/under for wins at 4.5.
MSU has lost starting quarterback Will Rogers to Washington and his backup Mike Wright to Northwestern. Only Arkansas and Vanderbilt had less productive offenses than the Bulldogs last season. No SEC team scored less points than Mississippi State. That looks like it’ll be a recurring issue in Starkville, even with the offensive-minded Lebby on board.
5: At South Carolina (Nov. 16)
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz has had the Gameco*cks’ number in his MU tenure, taking them down four times out of four. The lone bright spots on the South Carolina offense last season, quarterback Spencer Rattler and wide receiver Xavier Legette, have left for the NFL. This is a potential stumbling spot, but Missouri will in all likelihood be favored.
4: Auburn (Oct. 19)
Year 1 of the Huge Freeze reign at Auburn had plenty of blips, but there’s some promise on the plains for the encore. Penn State transfer wide receiver KeAndre Lambert Smith and five-star wide receiver Cam Coleman — the No. 5 overall player in his class — give quarterback Peyton Thorne some weapons to work with, a year removed from a 6-7 season in which the Tigers passed for the fewest yards per game in the SEC. This will be a good litmus test for whether Missouri has the mettle for a CFP run.
3: Oklahoma (Nov. 9)
The signature game at Faurot Field in the 2024 season will arrive Nov. 9, when the former Big 12 rivals meet for the first time in 13 years. There are storylines in abundance here.
Former OU left guard Cayden Green was among Missouri’s biggest portal gets. Luther Burden III, once upon a time, was committed to Oklahoma. The Tigers beat the Sooners to five-star prospect Williams Nwaneri’s signature. Oklahoma landed TCU transfer defensive tackle Damonic Williams ahead of a chase from Mizzou.
Buckle up. This, on paper and by tradition, should be a thrilling matchup. OU replaced Oregon-bound starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel with FAU transfer Casey Thompson. The Sooners went 10-3 in their final season as a Big 12 member.
2: At Texas A&M (Oct. 5)
Former Duke coach Mike Elko takes the reins for this season after the Aggies decided to pay Jimbo Fisher $76 million not to coach its football team anymore. If Elko’s Duke tenure is any indicator, the Aggies will be tough to beat. Whether that translates to Year 1 in College Station is for next season to show.
A&M gets quarterback Conner Weigman back after his 2023 season was cut short by a foot injury. He has the potential to be in the Heisman Trophy discussion. The Aggies lost 29 players to the portal, and are bringing in a 27-person portal class, which is a lot of turnover. If Missouri leaves Kyle Field with a win to open October, the Tigers’ playoff dreams are very much alive.
1: At Alabama (Oct. 26)
The upside for MU: The Tigers head to Tuscaloosa at the end of Nick Saban’s coaching dynasty and perhaps the most uncertain season in recent ’Bama memory, as Kalen DeBoer begins his Crimson Tide tenure.
Alabama also has lost SEC Newcomer of the Year Caleb Downs, wide receiver Isaiah Bond and center Seth McLaughlin, among several others, to the transfer portal. None of their top three pass-catchers or top two rushers return in 2024. Also gone are the Tide’s top three sacks and TFL producers and their leader in interceptions and pass breakups.
The downside: It’s still Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Bryant Denny Stadium.
Alabama returns quarterback Jalen Milroe and star linebacker Denotae Lawson and, as per usual, has an outstanding recruiting class. On paper, this is Missouri’s toughest game next season. But a win, if the new era doesn’t mesh immediately, doesn’t feel out of the realm of possibility.
More: Projecting Missouri football depth chart for 2024 season after spring transfer portal window
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football schedule: Ranking the Tigers' 2024 opponents
