The Illinois-Missouri football series is still supposed to come back in 2027, but the biggest question hanging over it is a basic one: where will the game actually be played?
Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman said on July 25 that the location has not been discussed yet and needs to be sorted out soon.
“Not today,” Whitman said when asked about the location of the 2027 game.
That leaves a handful of realistic possibilities on the table for the first game in the new series: Kansas City, Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, or even Champaign or Columbia. A neutral-site setup would seem to fit best for the opener, unless the schools decide to shift the whole arrangement up a year and make the 2029 game the neutral-site meeting instead.
St. Louis makes the most obvious case.
The rivalry was played there for six straight seasons, and the former Rams stadium is still standing. It sits roughly between the two campuses, and it would also line up with the annual basketball meeting that has been staged in the city for more than 50 years.
Still, the bigger issue is whether the games stay on track at all.
That concern has only grown since the series was cut down in the summer of 2025. Illinois and Missouri first announced plans to renew the rivalry in 2017, with the first game originally set for Sept.
26, 2026. Those plans changed in 2020 when the schools announced an eight-game series, and then changed again last summer when the agreement was reduced to six games.
The original schedule called for these matchups:
Illinois-Mizzou Future Football Dates:
Sept. 26, 2026 - Champaign, Ill.
Sept. 18, 2027 - Columbia, Mo.
Sept. 16, 2028 - Champaign, Ill.
Sept. 15, 2029 - Columbia, Mo.
Sept. 18, 2032 - Champaign, Ill.
Sept. 17, 2033 - Columbia, Mo.
Sept. 16, 2034 - Champaign, Ill.
Sept. 15, 2035 - Columbia, Mo.
Under the revised deal, the 2026 and 2032 games were dropped, leaving this version of the series:
Illinois-Mizzou Future Football Dates:
2027 (Date TBD) - Site TBD
Sept. 16, 2028 - Champaign, Ill.
Sept. 15, 2029 - Columbia, Mo.
2033 (Date TBD) - Site TBD
Sept. 16, 2034 - Champaign, Ill.
Sept. 15, 2035 - Columbia, Mo.
The two canceled games were removed by mutual agreement, largely because both schools already had power-conference opponents on those schedules. Illinois has Duke at home in 2026, while Missouri had Kansas scheduled for both 2026 and 2032.
For now, neither school has a Power Four opponent lined up in those six seasons, which only adds to the appeal of keeping this rivalry alive. Missouri leads the all-time series 17-7, though Illinois has improved significantly in recent years.
And from a broader college football standpoint, the series makes sense. The SEC now has to play a Power Four opponent in non-conference play every season, while the Big Ten still has not adopted a similar rule. With that in mind, there is no real reason for Missouri to step away from the matchup.
So the rivalry should still be there. The question is when the details get finalized - and whether Illinois and Missouri actually get the 2027 game across the finish line.
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