The Tigers will keep the home fans busy this November
Mizzou men’s hoops announced its 2025-26 nonconference schedule Wednesday, filling in a puzzle that was mostly complete after individual, official announcements and records requests by journalists.
For the first time in their history, Tigers welcome 10 NCAA Tournament teams to CoMo as Mizzou unveils 2025-26 non-conference slate & SEC opponents#MIZ pic.twitter.com/KyEzn0Wu6H
— Mizzou Hoops (@MizzouHoops) June 18, 2025
The Tigers face four high-major teams, all in the top 100 of Bart Torvik’s projections, but also have the usual assortment of buy games against low and mid-major squads. The team has eight games falling in that category, with only two teams – SEMO and Bethune-Cookman – cracking the top-250 of the Torvik projections.
Mizzou begins its season on the road out east, facing the Howard Bison of the MEAC Monday, Nov. 3, then return to Columbia for the home opener Friday, Nov. 7 against in-state foe SEMO. The Redhawks are coming off a season where they fell one game short of reaching March Madness, falling in the OVC championship game, and begin a long homestand for the black and gold.
That’s followed by another buy game against VMI Sunday, Nov. 9, then the Tigers get their first high-major test against Minnesota Nov. 12, a Wednesday. The Golden Gophers are beginning another rebuild under first-year head coach Niko Medved, who was highly successful in the Mountain West at Colorado State.
The schedule then eases until the beginning of December with buy games against Prairie View A&M (Nov. 17), South Dakota (Nov. 20), South Carolina State (Nov. 25) and a Nov. 28 matchup against Cleveland State.
Former Tigers assistant Rob Summers left Columbia this offseason to take the head coaching job with the Vikings, one of two games in November where the opposing staff has connections to Dennis Gates. VMI assistant Nick Korta was a staffer under Gates at Mizzou, and another former Tiger in Perin Foote recently left the Keydets to become Florida State’s director of operations.
Mizzou plays Notre Dame in the ACC/SEC Challenge Dec. 2 and travels to South Bend for the matchup (though not really, because Notre Dame is also its own town). The Fighting Irish went 15-18 in Micah Shrewsberry’s first year as head coach.
The Border War renews Dec. 7, this time at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, after the Tigers upset the Jayhawks in Columbia last season. The rivalry matchup is a neutral site contest the next two years, and a new contract will be needed to continue the game after 2026.
Gates and the crew return to Columbia for two final buy games, Alabama State (Dec. 11) and Bethune-Cookman (Dec. 14), before the annual Braggin’ Rights game in St. Louis. Mizzou faces Illinois Dec. 22 this year at the Enterprise Center with the hopes of taking the trophy back after consecutive Fighting Illini victories.
There are no nonconference game between Braggin’ Rights and SEC play this season, where the Tigers face Arkansas, Mississippi State and Oklahoma twice.
Mizzou also plays Florida, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Vanderbilt at home. Meanwhile, the Tigers face Alabama, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Texas A&M on the road.
Dates have not yet been announced for the conference schedule.