Arkansas, Missouri assigned time slot

FAYETTEVILLE — The rescheduled Battle Line Rivalry football game between the University of Arkansas and Missouri will kick off at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Columbia, Mo., the SEC office announced Sunday.

The Razorbacks (3-5) and Missouri (4-3) were scheduled to play last Saturday, but coronavirus issues and injuries within the Arkansas program forced a postponement when the team’s number of healthy scholarship players dropped below 53 last Monday.

Coach Sam Pittman, who missed the Razorbacks’ 63-35 loss at No. 6 Florida on Nov. 14 due to a positive covid-19 diagnosis, said late last week he was “very positive” his team’s numbers would be sufficient to play a game Dec. 5.

The kickoff time at Faurot Field on the Missouri campus remained the same as originally scheduled in the Battle Line game, in which Missouri holds a 5-1 lead since joining the SEC for the 2012 season. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

The Arkansas men’s basketball team (2-0) was given a 5 p.m. tipoff time for Saturday’s home game against Lipscomb so as not to overlap with the football game.

Arkansas is scheduled to host No. 1 Alabama for its regular- season finale. The game was originally scheduled for Dec. 5, but it was moved to accommodate the Crimson Tide’s makeup game against LSU, now set for Saturday at 7 p.m. on CBS.

If Alabama ( 8- 0) wins that game, it will clinch a spot in the SEC Championship Game, scheduled for Dec. 19 in Atlanta. That would mean the Crimson Tide at Arkansas game would be rescheduled for Dec. 12 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Missouri, which has had six changes to its schedule, has won three of its past four games under firstyear Coach Eli Drinkwitz, an Alma native. The Tigers shut out Vanderbilt 41-0 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.