The University of Missouri 2008 football season opener against the University of Illinois has been chosen for national television, and will be shown on ESPN, as announced today by the Big 12 Conference. Kickoff for the game, which will take place at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Mo. on Saturday, Aug. 30th, has been set for 6:45 p.m. (central).
The Mizzou-Illinois game is setting up to be one of the premier games in the nation on that opening weekend, as both teams are expected to be included in the top-25 rankings that come out this summer. The Tigers are defending Big 12 Conference North Division champions, and are coming off a record-setting 12-2 season in 2007. Included in that win total was an exciting 40-34 victory against Illinois last year that was preserved in the final minute with Pig Brown's leaping interception near the Tiger goal line.
Illinois also went on to an outstanding season in 2007, as they ended with a record of 9-4 overall, and a second-place finish in the Big Ten Conference (6-2 league record). The Illini reached the Rose Bowl, where they were defeated by USC.
Mizzou finished the 2007 season with a final Associated Press Top-25 ranking of fourth, while Illinois ended 20th in the final poll.
A limited number of public tickets for the Arch Rivalry Game between Missouri and Illinois will go on sale July 22 through TicketMaster. For more information, please visit the official website of the St. Louis Sports Commission.
Start times for the remainder of Mizzou's non-conference schedule will be announced at a later date. Other non-conference home opponents in 2008 include Southeast Missouri State (Sept. 6), Nevada (Sept. 13) and Buffalo (Sept. 20). The Big 12 portion of the schedule will be subject to 12-day advance notice by league television partners, as part of the conference television agreement with ESPN, ABC and FSN.
