Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman says Illini and the University of Missouri need to work out a location for the 2027 non-conference game to restart the rivalry football series.

August 1, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHICAGO — The location of the 2027 game scheduled between Illinois and Missouri is still very much a to be determined situation.

When asked at the 2026 Big Ten Football Media Days if he wished to share any progress about possible locations for the restarting of a non-conference series between the two rival programs, the answer from Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman at the Hilton Chicago was simple and direct.

“Not today,” Whitman said.

When asked to clarify if it is still Illinois’ intention to honor the six-game game contract with the border rival from the Southeastern Conference, Whitman affirmed they intend to restart the series in 2027 but the neutral site location for that game has not been discussed.

Both universities have seen significant personnel turnover in its athletics department with Whitman seeing one of his top lieutenants Roger Denny, who was a primary liaison for the football program at Illinois, being announced as the new athletics director at the University of Oklahoma on Jan. 23, 2026. Denny’s role was filled by former Eastern Illinois University athletics director Tom Michael, who spent 18 years in various athletics administration roles at Illinois from 1996-2014. Missouri saw a change at its athletics director position when former University of Memphis athletics director Laird Veatch was officially hired on May 1, 2024.

Recently complicating the matter has been Whitman undergoing an unplanned surgery in April on his right eye to repair a detached retina and then having a similar procedure on his left eye the following week. The rehabilitation in the spring was a six week period where he was completely blind and had to stay face-down for at least 50 minutes every hour during part of the immediate recovery. Whitman confirmed in June during his annual roundtable discussion with local media that he’d been given a clean bill of health and full medical clearance to return to work.

The contract between the two programs currently states a neutral site game will be played in 2027 and Illinois will host the 2028 game with the 2029 game will be played at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. The two programs have not played since Missouri won 23-13 at The Dome at America’s Center on Sept. 4, 2010, capping a six-game win streak for the Tigers in the series. The game was played at the dome stadium in St. Louis, the home of the then-St. Louis Rams of the National Football League before they moved to Los Angeles, for the last eight games (2002-03, 2007-10). Both programs haven’t played an on-campus game since Sept. 10, 1994 when Illinois won 42-0 in Champaign. The last game in Columbia between the two programs was a 31-3 win by Missouri on Sept. 11, 1993.

Both universities jointly announced in Nov. 2017 a renewing of an eight-game series slated to start in 2026. However, after the Southeastern Conference announced its intention to play a nine-game league schedule and Illinois administration not wanting to play 11 games against power conference opponents, both programs jointly announced a cancellation of the game originally slated for Gies Memorial Stadium in Champaign for this upcoming season along with a cancellation of the 2032 contest as well.

After the games from 2027-29 are played, both programs will have another three-game series from 2033-35. Further complicating the scheduling of the neutral site games for this pair of three-game series is the idea that the logical regional stadiums to schedule these games including St. Louis’ The Dome at America’s Center (owned by St. Louis Regional Sports Authority), Chicago’s Soldier Field (owned by the Chicago Park District) and Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City (owned by the Jackson County, Missouri Sports Complex Authority) are all owned by three-party public entities instead of private franchises/businesses.

Illinois-Missouri Non-Conference Future Football Series Sites
2027 - Location TBD
2028 - at Gies Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.
2029 - at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo.
2033 - Location TBD
2034 - at Gies Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.
2035 - at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo.