Mizzou drops out of Music City Bowl game with the Hawkeyes
December 27th, 2020 by Ric Hanson
(Updated, A-P) The Music City Bowl between Missouri and Iowa that was scheduled for Wednesday has been canceled because COVID-19 issues left the Tigers unable to play. The Nashville, Tennessee-based game is the second bowl called off since the postseason lineup was set on Dec. 20, joining the Gasparilla Bowl. Missouri is the third Southeastern Conference team that has had to pull out of its bowl game, joining Tennessee and South Carolina. Army was able to replace Tennessee in the Liberty Bowl against West Virginia to salvage that game. South Carolina’s coronavirus issues left UAB without an opponent in the Gasparilla Bowl. Iowa was left in the same situation, with no short-notice replacement available. Overall, 18 bowl games scheduled to be played this season have been canceled.
Mizzou announced on Sunday their football program is pausing all team activities through January 2nd.
In a statement posted on Mizzou’s web site, Athletic Director Jim Sterk said “Since concluding our regular season and conducting four rounds of tests over the last eight days, we have seen a significant increase in positive COVID-19 tests among our student-athletes, coaches and staff, and after consulting with local health officials, our team physicians and MU Health’s Dr. Steve Whitt, who is our representative on the SEC Medical Task Force, we unfortunately must pause all football team-related activities until at least January 2 to help contain the virus’ spread and ensure the health and well-being of everyone within our program and the community.”
Sterk went on to say “Our student-athletes have been extremely diligent in following all of the SEC’s COVID-19 testing protocols since returning to campus back in the summer, and we are incredibly proud of their efforts to play every regular-season game this fall, as well as the success they have had on the field against a 10-game all-SEC schedule that included five games against nationally-ranked opponents, and in the classroom during the fall semester,” Sterk added. “However, this eight-day uptick within our program is significant and has made it impossible for us to play in the bowl game, which I know comes as a disappointment to our student-athletes, coaches and fans, who were excited about the opportunity to play a great Iowa team in Nashville.”