Those of you that read my recent Olympic Sports Catchup are aware of this, but I have been sleuthing out the Tigers’ schedule the past few weeks as other SEC teams released theirs and by using my best
deductive reasoning skills. Aren’t you proud of me, Mom?
In case you lived on another planet last year, let me remind you— your favoritest team in all the land finished the season ranked no. 3 (no. 7 in the regular season) after a most wonderful performance in their very first National Championships. The Tigers were undefeated at home (and let’s hope that continues this year as they have a whopping SIX home meets). They broke a 198 team score (198.10, to be exact). They had a .500 record in the vaunted Southeastern Conference which welcomed (?) Oklahoma in 2025. They finished the season ranked in the top four nationally in two events (bars, floor) and top 11 in two others (beam, vault). They had one national champion, three regional champions, two SEC champions, five All-SEC honorees, six WCGA regular season All-Americans, nine WCGA Postseason All-Americans, and five perfect tens from three different gymnasts. Wowsers.
Anyway…. now that that’s out of the way, more on the schedule.
The Tigers’ unofficial start to the season will be the annual Black & Gold meet, a pre-Christmas extravaganza where the Columbia Public Schools kiddos get to check out the team. The good news this time? Due to winter break starting so late this year (Stop Day is December 12), students will still be here and be able to catch the showcase!
To officially start the new season, the Tigers will ring in 2026 with an old Big 8/Big 12 matchup against the Iowa State Cyclones on Sunday, January 4. Interestingly enough, this is the only meet we’ve seen announced this early in the season so far, as most teams don’t seem to be starting official meets until the following week. #blessed
IOWA STATE ended the 2025 season ranked no. 39 nationally with a 195.740 NQS, 195.192 average, and 196.100 high score. Their best events were Vault (no. 33, 49.200 high) and Floor (no. 35, 49.325 high). Per the MU Tigers historical opponent database, the last time these two teams faced was in March 2022. No. 11 Mizzou was victorious, winning 197.675 to 197.275 and achieved a program-high score. While they will be visiting CoMo this time around, the Cyclones apparently hosted a meet last year against Simpson— I do not know who that is, sorry about that— that had 9,470 in attendance? That must be a typo, considering their other home meets averaged around 2,000-2,500 in attendance. Since this one is during winter break, I don’t expect a massive crowd, as much as I’d love to see it.
Then, the Tigers will head out to Lincoln to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Friday, January 9. SEC meets start a week later when the Tigers welcome in the defending national champ (and fellow Utah haters) Oklahoma Sooners to CoMo on Friday, January 16.
NEBRASKA ended its season ranked 28th (20th in regular season), with a 196.535 NQS, 196.108 average and 196.75 high score. Vault was the weakest link for the Huskers in 2025, while beam was the best (no. 18, 49.450 high). The Huskers and Tigers have not crossed paths since March 2020, when Mizzou outlasted Nebraska, 196.450 to 195.925. The teams were placed in the same regional (Washington) in 2025, but the Huskers were on the other side of the bracket, and did not advance.
OKLAHOMA, now in its second year in the SEC, finished the season (obviously) ranked no. 1 (no. 2 in regular season) with a 198.040 NQS and 197.908 average score. The Tigers came face-to-face with the Fightin’ KJ Kindlers in both the national semis and finals, in the SEC Championships, and during an early season dual to kick off SEC play in Week 3(?). Helen Hu earned her first of three perfect 10s in Norman, and the Sooners took the W, 197.775 to 196.750.
The following Friday, January 23, the team heads out on the road to Tuscaloosa to face the Crimson Tide before returning back home to host LSU (Friday, January 30) and Florida (Friday, February 6).
ALABAMA finished up last season ranked no. 8 in the final polls (no. 12 in the regular season) with a 197.205 NQS and 196.935 average. The Tigers & Tide last met in the National Semifinals, where Missouri advanced to its first National Championships, 197.300 to 196.825. Bama was also one of the four teams at last year’s Zou to the Lou and spent much of the meet leading the Tigers until a truly disastrous beam rotation and an absolutely phenomenal Missouri floor rotation — featuring a Ken Ten and a program-high 49.725 apparatus score — hurtled the Tigers in front, 197.150 t0 196.675. Noticeably, Zou to the Lou is not on the docket this year, and I’m super okay with it, though I did like having a podium meet.
LSU finished last season ranked no. 5 in the final polls (no. 1 in the regular season) with a 198.115 NQS and 197.729 average. The dueling striped cats faced each other in Baton Rouge during the regular season, with the Black & Gold earning their highest road score of the season at that point, and again in the SEC Championships, but the 2024 national champ Bayou Bengals didn’t make it out of their side of postseason bracket, meaning they missed facing one another again. OH DARN. Per my recap, Mizzou recorded no scores below 9.70 and only COUNTED one single score below a 9.80. Oh, and they debuted one of four new leos at this meet, Velvet Noir. The last time LSU came to town (in 2023), the crowds were insane, setting a Hearnes attendance record, if I remember correctly, and the athletic department wisely marketed this meet as the Fraternity & Sorority Life night, bringing out all the rabid Livvy Dunne fans. Alas, Livvy is retired, but there is a ton of excitement down in Baton Rouge, and this will be one to watch.
FLORIDA finished last season ranked no. 7 in the final polls (no. 3 in the regular season) with a 197.935 NQS and 197.573 average. The Gators will surely be out for revenge after the Tigers took them down to make the national finals (AKA Four on the Floor) last season, In their last regular season meeting, the Tigers registered a season-high TWELVE 9.90+ scores at The Swamp while tallying a 197.725, their second highest in history at the time. And, I noted, it should have been higher if not for some leo favoritism. This season’s contest has been included as one of Inside Gym’s Meets to Watch and I expect the crowds to be crazy for this one.
From there they’ll head to Lexington for Valentine’s Day weekend, where the Tiges will take on Big Blue Nation.
KENTUCKY finished last season ranked no. 10 in the final polls (no. 9 in regular season) with a 197.315 NQS and 197.155 average. Mizzou actually beat Kentucky this past year for the first time since 2019 when the two teams met in late January at Hearnes. Now, the Tigers must do it on the road, and hopefully it doesn’t result in me quoting sad Taylor Swift lyrics like last time.
Then it’s back home again for two meets, including a quad against Illinois (hey, Coach Abby!), Ball State, and Air Force on Friday, February 20, and Senior Night against Arkansas to wrap up the home slate on Sunday, March 1.
ILLINOIS ended its season ranked no. 31 in the final polls (no. 29 regular season) with a 196.235 NQS, 195.606 average and 196.675 high score. The Illini’s best events were Vault (no. 24, 49.200 high) and Floor (no. 24, 49.375 high). The Tigers and Illini faced two times in 2025, at the Zou to the Lou quad on Valentine’s Day and in a dual in Champaign on Super Bowl Sunday where the Tigers won, 197.200 (their highest score of the season at that point) to 196.675 (also a season-high). Abby Mueller, who had transferred to Missouri for her final season, is now back at Illinois as an assistant coach, and it will also be a reunion of sorts for Makayla Green, an Illini grad transfer spending her final season in the black & gold. While placed in the same Washington regional as Missouri, the teams did not meet.
BALL STATE ended season ranked no. 45 with a 195.470 NQS and 195.219 average. The team’s best event was bars, which they noticed a season high 49.35 in early March. The Cardinals were part of the return of the Beauty and the Beast meet at Hearnes. One individual Ball State athlete, sophomore Ashley Szymanski, qualified on bars for the Alabama regional, but the team was left out.
AIR FORCE ended season ranked no. 54 with a 194.870 NQS and 194.450 average. These two teams have a very limited history, having only faced off four times since 2005, with the last matchup being roughly a dozen years ago. While they didn’t qualify for the postseason as a team, one Air Force athlete, sophomore Maggie Slife, was an All-Around competitor. Barring transfer, it also looks like the team has one Missouri native on their roster, bars specialist Clara Wallace.
ARKANSAS ended season ranked no. 12 in final polls (no. 15 in regular season) with a 197.055 NQS and 196.816 average. They finished last in the SEC in 2025, meaning they did not get to compete at the 8-team SEC Championships (this has been resolved for the upcoming season). The GymBacks had a good season, though, knocking off both then-no. 2 Florida and then-no. 2 LSU at home… though they couldn’t beat the Tigers! Arkansas welcomed Mizzou to Fayetteville in the regular season finale where the Tigers earned their third highest score in program history while also breaking the beam record, getting win no. 100 for head coach Shannon Welker and solidifying their standing in the PM session of SECs. Not too shabby. Oh, and this was the meet that debuted the most perfect Mizzou leo I’ve ever seen in my life— it looked like Faurot Field on a leotard and was aptly called “MIZ.”
To close out the regular season, the Tigers head to Athens to face the Bulldogs on Friday, March 6 and then to Auburn to face the Tigers on Friday, March 13.
GEORGIA finished last season ranked no. 19 (no. 10 in regular season) with 197.210 NQS and 196.961 average. They were placed in the same Washington Regional as Mizzou, and critics famously (and incorrectly) predicted UGA to emerge out of its region. Yeah, about that… In last year’s regular season meeting at home, it came down to the last event before the Tigers took the W, 197.425 to 197.350. Technically, the Dawgs and Tigers also faced each other in the Denver Quad, but I’d rather forget about the existence of that meet.
AUBURN finished last season ranked no. 11 (no. 15 in regular season) with 197.170 NQS and 196.873 average. In their last regular season meeting, Missouri became the fifth team to break the elusive 198 mark when they outscored Auburn handedly, 198.100 to 197.150. They also matched up in the Regional Finals, where a Helen Hu masterpiece allowed the Black & Gold to overtake the Blue & Orange, 197.425 to 197.325.
The SEC Championship, as I mentioned earlier, will feature all nine SEC teams in 2026, with five teams in one session and four in the other. The meet will be held in Tulsa (exact location tbd), which is only about a 5.5 hour drive from CoMo, so I might have to make that trip!
