Illinois, Missouri schedule four-game football series

By Kevin Kelley -

The Illinois Fighting Illini and the Missouri Tigers have scheduled a four-game, home-and-home football series, both schools announced on Monday.

Illinois will host Missouri at Memorial Stadium in Champaign to kick off the series on Sept. 26, 2026 and then the two schools will meet again there on Sept. 16, 2028.

Missouri will play host to Illinois at Faurot Field in Columbia on Sept. 18, 2027 and Sept. 15, 2029.

Illinois and Missouri have met 24 times on the gridiron. In their last meeting in 2010, Mizzou defeated Illinois 23-13 in St. Louis to extend their lead in the series to 17-7.

“We are pleased to reestablish the football rivalry series against Missouri,” Illinois Director of Athletics Josh Whitman said. “As our football program advances, it is important that we build our nonconference schedule accordingly. The opportunity to compete against an opponent from the Southeastern Conference and to play a geographic rival like Missouri will be exciting for our players, coaches, and fans. I want to thank Missouri Director of Athletics Jim Sterk and his staff for their collaboration. We look forward to a spirited series.”

Illinois now has future home-and-home series scheduled against Virginia, Kansas, Duke, and Missouri. However, the Illini do not have a Power Five non-conference opponent scheduled for 2018 through 2020.

“We are pleased to announce a four-year home and home series with the University of Illinois,” said Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk. “This is another opportunity to renew a great football rivalry that we believe Tiger fans everywhere will be excited about.”

Illinois is the second Big Ten opponent on Missouri’s future schedules. The Tigers hosted Purdue this season and travel to take on the Boilermakers in 2018.

Other future Power Five opponents for Mizzou include West Virginia, Boston College, and Kansas State.

Missouri also announced on Monday that they have completed their 2020 non-conference schedule with the addition of a game vs. UL Lafayette on Nov. 21.

Football Schedules

Comments (3)

Illinois’s football program is a lot like an army in retreat-they are just advancing in the opposite direction.

Illinois now has two P5’s on their 2026 OOC schedule. Is this to make up for the four straight years (2017-20) without an OOC P5? Is this the new politics of ‘advancing’?