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SEC Announces 2012 Football Conference Schedule
Tigers Will Host Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Vanderbilt at Faurot
Columbia,
Mo. – The University of Missouri will begin athletic competition in the
Southeastern Conference in 2012, and today the Mizzou Football program,
fresh off its 41-24 win over North Carolina in the 2011 AdvoCare V100
Independence Bowl, learned its schedule for the upcoming historic first
year in its new conference home. The SEC league office released
the conference schedule today, and it shows in 2012 the Tigers will
play host to Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Vanderbilt, while they’ll
venture on the road to take on Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and
Texas A&M.
Mizzou’s historic first game as a member of
the celebrated league will come early in the season, as defending SEC
East Division champion Georgia will make its first-ever appearance at
Faurot Field on Sept. 8th. The schools will meet for only the
second time in history, as Georgia claimed a 14-0 win in the 1960
Orange Bowl in the only previous meeting. After a Sept. 15th
non-conference home game against Arizona State, the Tigers will play
their first-ever SEC road game Sept. 22nd at South Carolina. The
Tigers are 2-0 alltime against the Gamecocks, with both previous
meetings coming in bowl games (1979 Hall of Fame, 2005 Independence).
The
month of October will feature three SEC home games for the Columbia,
Mo. community, as Vanderbilt (Oct. 6th), Alabama (Oct. 13th) and
Kentucky (Oct. 27th) will all play at Faurot Field. Vanderbilt
has played in Columbia three times before, but not since 1958, when the
Commodores claimed a 12-8 win over MU Coach Dan Devine in his first
game ever on the Tiger sideline. Mizzou leads the series with
Alabama by a 2-1 margin, and the Crimson Tide last visited Columbia in
1978, when they came away with a 38-20 win in a season which ended with
their national championship under legendary coach Paul “Bear”
Bryant. Kentucky, who has won two of three games alltime with
Mizzou, will be making its first trip to Columbia since 1965, when the
Wildcats won via a 7-0 shutout.
The month of November
provides a stark contrast to October, as the Tigers will play solely on
the road in SEC action. The tough slate of road games begins with
a Nov. 3rd test at Florida. Mizzou has won the only previous
meeting between the schools, as it claimed a 20-18 win in the 1966
Sugar Bowl over then-quarterback and current South Carolina Head Coach
Steve Spurrier. The next week will see the Tigers venture into
102,455-seat Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., where they will face
the Tennessee Volunteers for the first time in program history.
November
closes with a game at Texas A&M on Nov. 24th. Mizzou and the
Aggies are joining the SEC together in 2012, and in a scheduling
oddity, they will square off for the third-straight season in College
Station. The Tigers have managed wins at venerable Kyle Field
each of the last two years, winning 30-9 in 2010 and 38-31 in overtime
in 2011. Mizzou has won five of its last six games overall with
A&M, dating back to 2002, while the Aggies hold a 7-5 overall edge
in the series.
Here’s a look at the 2012 Mizzou Football
schedule, with three non-conference dates yet to be determined (to be
slotted into four currently-open dates of Sept. 1st, Sept. 29th, Oct.
20th and Nov. 17th):
Date
Opponent
Site
Series History (Last Meeting)
Sept.
1
Open
Sept.
8
GEORGIA
Columbia,
Mo.
UGA leads, 1-0 (1960)
Sept.
15
ARIZONA
STATE
Columbia,
Mo.
Tied, 3-3 (2011)
Sept.
22
at South
Carolina
Columbia,
S.C.
MU leads, 2-0 (2005)
Sept.
29
Open
Oct.
6
VANDERBILT
Columbia,
Mo.
MU leads, 2-1-1 (1958)
Oct.
13
ALABAMA
Columbia,
Mo.
MU leads, 2-1 (1978)
Oct.
20
Open
Oct.
27
KENTUCKY
Columbia,
Mo.
UK leads, 2-1 (1968)
Nov.
3
at
Florida
Gainesville,
Fla.
MU leads, 1-0 (1966)
Nov.
10
at
Tennessee
Knoxville,
Tenn.
No previous meetings
Nov.
17
Open
Nov.
24
at Texas
A&M
College Station,
Texas A&M
leads, 7-5 (2011)
“It’s good to see the schedule lined out
on paper,” said Mizzou Head Coach Gary Pinkel, whose program is one of
only eight nationally to have won at least eight games each year for
the past six seasons. “Even though we just finished our season,
this gets everyone excited to start preparing for the move. We’re
very pleased and honored to be joining such a successful and
historically significant conference, and our program is looking forward
to the challenges that we’ll face,” Pinkel said.
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