The Missouri Tigers are three weeks away from opening the 2024 season, when they’ll host Murray State on August 29. (Photo: Terrance Williams)

COLUMBIA, MO — The University of Missouri football program had made a scheduling change for the 2025 season.

Missouri was scheduled to play Miami of Ohio, in a road game on August 30, 2025. But the Tigers have instead made a change and will no longer play Miami. Mizzou will instead play Central Arkansas in home game at Faurot Field.

It was reported by another outlet that Missouri will pay Central Arkansas $500,000 to play the game next season.

The Tigers and Bears have never played each other in football. Central Arkansas is an FCS team (formerly known as NCAA Division I-AA), and are longstanding members of the United Athletic Conference.

Last year, the Bears went 7-4, which included a tight loss to Oklahoma State in the season opener. This year, Central Arkansas isn’t scheduled to play any Power 5 conference teams, but they will play local area school, Lindenwood, in that team’s home opener on August 7.

Though the cancellation of the 2025 Mizzou-Miami game didn’t become known until recently, Missouri bought out the game in 2023 under then athletics director Desiree Reed-Francois.

Prior to the cancellation, Mizzou had five nonconference games on the books for 2025, requiring one to be removed from the schedule at some point.

Replacing a road game with a home game can allow Missouri to capture more revenue from its 2025 football season, which will now include eight games held within Memorial Stadium. That is likely to be more valuable for the school as it enters the revenue-sharing era.

Mizzou’s 2025 four-game nonconference schedule is now:
August 30 vs. Central Arkansas
September 6 vs. Kansas
October 4 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
October 18 vs. UMass

MISSOURI TIGERS 2024 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

DateTimeAtOpponentLocationTVRadio
August 29, 2024 (Thursday)7 PMHomeMurray StateColumbia, Mo. / Faurot FieldSEC NetworkTiger Radio Network
September 7, 2024 (Saturday)6 PMHomeBuffaloColumbia, Mo. / Faurot FieldSECN+ / ESPN+Tiger Radio Network
September 14, 2024 (Saturday)11:45 AMHomeBoston CollegeColumbia, Mo. / Faurot FieldSEC NetworkTiger Radio Network
September 21, 2024 (Saturday)TBAHomeVanderbiltColumbia, Mo. / Faurot FieldTiger Radio Network
October 5, 2024 (Saturday)11 AMAwayTexas A&MCollege Station, TexasTiger Radio Network
October 12, 2024 (Saturday)TBAAwayUMassAmherst, Mass.Tiger Radio Network
October 19, 2024 (Saturday)TBAHomeAuburnColumbia, Mo. / Faurot FieldTiger Radio Network
October 26, 2024 (Saturday)TBAAwayAlabamaTuscaloosa, Ala.Tiger Radio Network
November 9, 2024 (Saturday)TBAHomeOklahomaColumbia, Mo. / Faurot FieldTiger Radio Network
November 16, 2024 (Saturday)TBAAwaySouth CarolinaColumbia, S.C.Tiger Radio Network
November 23, 2024 (Saturday)TBAAwayMississippi StateStarkville, Miss.Tiger Radio Network
November 30, 2024 (Saturday)TBAHomeArkansasColumbia, Mo. / Faurot FieldTiger Radio Network