Missouri closes out its nonconference slate Saturday night at Memorial Stadium, and the Tigers will do it in a setting with a little extra weight attached: it’s the 100th anniversary game for the stadium. Troy comes to Columbia unbeaten, and Missouri is trying to keep rolling after a 38-21 win over Kansas on Sept. 11 in Lawrence.
The Tigers, ranked No. 22 in the USA TODAY US LBM coaches poll, are 2-0 and riding a fifth straight win in the Border War series. They’ll open SEC play on Sept. 26 at Mississippi State, but first comes Troy and one last tune-up before the conference grind begins.
Troy also enters at 2-0 after beating Sam Houston and Alabama State. The Trojans reached the Sun Belt Conference title game in 2025, and they’ll arrive in Columbia looking to stay perfect.
Saturday’s game does not have a traditional TV home. Missouri vs.
Troy will stream on SEC Network+/ESPN+, with no cable channel listed. Fans with ESPN+ can watch the game there, and those whose cable package includes SEC Network can access SEC Network+ at no extra cost.
Kevin Fitzpatrick will handle play-by-play, with Charles Arbuckle as the analyst.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 19, after the game was originally scheduled as a morning start before being moved shortly before the beginning of the 2026 season.
Missouri announced this past weekend that the game has sold out. As of Friday afternoon, secondary-market ticket prices started at $24 on StubHub.
For those listening in, Tiger Radio Network will carry the game live on 1580 AM and 105.1 FM, with Sirius XM 109 or 230 also available. Mike Kelly will call the action, Howard Richards will serve as analyst and Chris Gervino will report from the sideline.
Missouri’s full 2026 schedule already has the early storylines taking shape. The Tigers opened with a 54-14 win over UAPB on Sept. 3, followed by the victory at Kansas.
After Troy, they travel to Mississippi State on Sept. 26 before a stretch that includes Florida, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Texas, Georgia, Kentucky and Oklahoma, with an idle week on Oct. 24.
In Other News...
Missouri Escaped Troy With A Problem Tigers Fans Can't Ignore
Missouri got out of Troy with a win, but it did not look like the kind of afternoon that lets a team breathe easy. The Tigers leaned on a 27-17 result in a game full of mistakes and defensive breakdowns, while Eli Drinkwitz was left to acknowledge both the sloppy play on that side of the ball and the offenses own inefficiencies.
The good news is Missouri is still undefeated, and the schedule does not leave much time for self-scouting. SEC play is next, starting with Mississippi State, and the gap between surviving a game like this and being ready for what comes next is the part Tigers fans cannot ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Finally Got The Response It Needed In One Troubling Win
Missouri spent the lead-up to Troy trying to clean up special teams after earlier problems with blocked field goals, and the emphasis showed up in a much more meaningful way on Saturday. Blake Craig handled the kicking duties cleanly, and DaMarion Fowlkes turned a punt return into a touchdown as the Tigers got 13 points from a unit that had been a concern coming in.
For Eli Drinkwitz, it was the kind of response that mattered even in a win that still left plenty to sort through. The special teams play looked sharper and more reliable, but the bigger message from the sideline was that Missouri still has to keep improving across the board if it wants better results ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou's Win Over Troy Made One Trust Issue Hard To Ignore
Missouris 27-17 win over Troy did what it needed to do, but it also offered a pretty clear snapshot of how Eli Drinkwitz is viewing this roster right now. The Tigers used a concise lineup of 42 players, leaned on a handful of sophomores who brought energy to the game, and got just enough from Connor Bazelak, who finished 10 of 19 for 91 yards and a touchdown. Elijah Dotson and Daeden Hopkins were among the younger players who helped make the rotation feel more productive than decorative.
What stood out, though, was the trust issue underneath the result. Drinkwitz said the rotation came down to confidence in the players who gave Missouri the best chance to win, which is fine in theory and revealing in practice. When a coach keeps narrowing the circle that way, it usually says as much about who he still believes in as it does about who is merely getting reps, and that remains one of the more interesting threads to watch as the Tigers move forward. [Read more 🡒]