Mizzou Softball to Open Season at NFCA Leadoff Classic

Tigers Open Season at NFCA Leadoff Classic
Opponent	Location	Day	Time (CT)	Watch	Stats
Notre Dame (RV)	Clearwater, Fla.	Feb. 7	11 a.m. CT	YouTube	TBA
South Alabama	Clearwater, Fla.	Feb. 7	4 p.m.	YouTube	StatBroadcast
Baylor (RV)	Clearwater, Fla.	Feb. 8	9 a.m.	YouTube	StatBroadcast
No. 8/7 Minnesota	Clearwater, Fla.	Feb. 8	11:30 a.m.	YouTube	Sidearm Stats
Louisville (RV)	Clearwater, Fla.	Feb. 9	9 a.m.	YouTube	StatBroadcast

TOUGH SCHEDULE ON TAP THIS YEAR

Head coach Larissa Anderson set up a competitive schedule that will test the Tigers early and often in 2020.
36 of Mizzou's 54 games on the schedule will be against programs coming off an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2019.
The Tigers will face five teams that reached the Women's College World Series last season.
Mizzou received invitations to two elite tournaments to open the season — the NFCA Leadoff Classic (Feb. 7-9) and the ESPN St. Pete/Clearwater Invite (Feb. 13-16).

TIGERS SNUBBED BY THE SEC.....AGAIN

Mizzou was predicted to finish 10th in the hyper-competitive Southeastern Conference in a preseason vote among the league's coaches.
The Tigers are sandwiched between preseason No. 9 South Carolina (56 points) and preseason No. 11 Auburn (52 points). Mizzou garnered 54 points in the preseason poll.
Alabama was picked as the preseason favorite to win the SEC, garnering 11 of the 13 first place. Tennessee claimed the other two first place votes.
Mizzou is no stranger to outperforming its predicted finish in the preseason coaches' poll.
In 2019, the Tigers were predicted to finish last in the conference, but rallied to finish tied for sixth in the conference with a 12-12 record — reaching the NCAA Tournament.

OPENING TEST AGAINST A TOP 10 TEAM

With Minnesota ranking in the top 10 in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches' Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Polls, the Tigers will face an early test against a top 10 team right out of the gate.
Since 2007, Mizzou is 42-80 against Top 10 teams.
Last season under Anderson, the Tigers went 6-11 against programs in the top 10, but two of those wins came against top 5 foes.

LOOKING TO START ON THE RIGHT NOTE

Over the last 20 years, as far back as gameday information is available, Mizzou has excelled the opening weekend of a season.
The Tigers have started the season with a losing record at the conclusion of the first weekend of play only five times during that span.
Mizzou has opened the season undefeated on four occasions: 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2016.
Last season under Anderson, Mizzou went 3-2 the opening weekend of play at the Kajikawa Classic, with all five games being against Power 5 opponents. Mizzou notched wins over Utah and Kansas, as well as No. 12 Arizona State at the Sun Devils' Farrington Stadium.

TIGERS ON TV

Mizzou was selected for 10 national TV games in the 2020 season.
The Tigers will appear on ESPNU against Kansas (Feb.13) at the ESPN St. Pete/Clearwater Invite, and again on the road at LSU (April 25).
Mizzou was also selected for games on the SEC Network against Ole Miss (March 8), at Auburn (March 15-16), at Texas A&M (March 27-28), at Florida (April 11), against Kentucky (April 18) and the season finale against Alabama (May 3) as part of the network's Bases Loaded coverage.

Schedule