It is finally game week for the Sooners! First up for the 2020 season is the Missouri State Bears. This game was originally scheduled to take place last Saturday, on September 5th. It was then moved a week earlier to August 29th, then finally rescheduled for this Saturday, September 12th. Whew.
All this of course, was due to COVID. While other conferences have cancelled or postponed their entire seasons, the Big XII, among others, have rescheduled member games to just include 9 conference opponents, plus one non-conference game.
OU’s non-conference slate was pretty exciting this year pre-COVID, with Tennessee coming back to town, plus a visit to West Point for a rematch with Army. Both of these opponents took OU to overtime the last time the Sooners played them.
Army had bowed out of the matchup in early August, due to restrictions by various government levels, and Tennessee fell later after the SEC’s own schedule reshuffle. This left Missouri State, which has been extremely flexible with this game matchup. It is well known that these matchups provide a financial benefit to smaller schools, with athletic departments big and small feeling the pinch.
Also, the rest of the Missouri State schedule is currently pretty light. Outside of the game with OU, the Bears are currently scheduled to play Central Arkansas, and…Central Arkansas. That’s it. The home-and-home arrangement of sorts comes a few weeks apart in late September and October.
TV
When: Saturday, Sept 12th, 6:00PM Central
Where: PPV
Apparently the coronavirus shortened season couldn’t get us out of that one PPV game that Sooner fans have come to expect each year. If you are curious why this game doesn’t get picked up on a regular channel, in a season where there are 40% fewer P5 teams playing fall football, then see the article from last week on why OU vs Missouri State is on PPV.
If you are attending in person, don’t forget your OU face covering.
Notables
- This is OU and Missouri State’s first ever matchup
- OU (5th AP) is Missouri State’s highest ever ranked FBS opponent
- Spencer Rattler is OU’s 4th starting QB in 4 years. The previous 3 did pretty good.
- Bobby Petrino (Yes that Bobby Petrino) is making his Missouri State head coaching debut.
Prediction
OU will have 14 points before you finally give up trying to find a pirate streaming feed, and buy the pay-per-view. 3 score lead by the time you get your credit card to work. Avoid all that and just buy the package now on SoonerSports.tv.