ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The game times and broadcasters for the first three weeks of the season were revealed Thursday for both the Missouri Tigers and the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Mizzou and Illinois will both begin their seasons on Thursday, Aug. 29 against Murray State and Eastern Illinois, respectively. The Tigers' game against Murray State will be on SEC Network and kick off at 7 p.m. Central Time, while the Fighting Illini will kick off an hour later at 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
In week two of college football action, both schools will have night games, with the Tigers hosting Buffalo at Faurot Field, while the Kansas Jayhawks will visit Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. Both games will start at 6 p.m. with the Tigers' game set to broadcasted on SEC Network Plus, while Illinois' game against the Jayhawks will be on Fox Sports 1.
In week three, both schools will have Saturday afternoon games, with the Tigers' week three game against Boston College kicking of at 11:45 a.m. on SEC Network. Illinois, meanwhile, will have their Homecoming game against Central Michigan that week, with the game kicking off at 11 a.m., but the game will be streamed on Peacock.
In addition to the kickoff for the first three weeks of the season, Illinois also saw game designations for it's games at Penn State and at Oregon, with both games starting either at 2:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. Illinois previously had their week four game at Nebraska already announced for a 7 p.m. kickoff time on Friday, Sept. 20 as part of FOX's new College Football Friday window.
Mizzou will look to continue their momentum from their surprise 2023 season, which saw them win 11 games for the first time since 2014, but will have to do in a SEC conference that will see the arrival of both Oklahoma and Texas this season from the Big 12 conference. Mizzou will play Oklahoma at Faurot Field in November, with game time yet to be revealed.
Illinois, meanwhile will look to rebound from a disappointing third year under Bret Bielma, which saw them regress from eight wins in 2022 to winning only five games in 2023. But they will face tough odds as their 2024 schedule has four schools who finished in the AP Top 25 last season, including two (Michigan and Oregon) finishing in the top seven.