COLUMBIA, Mo. — The largest and smallest football classes in Missouri will decide their championship in Columbia this season.
The 2016 Missouri State High School Football Championship Games for Class 6 and 8-Man will be played at Faurot Field at the University of Missouri on Friday, Nov. 18, MSHSAA Communications Director Jason West confirmed on Thursday.
Missouri State will still host the Show-Me Bowl for Classes 1-5 on Nov. 25-26 at Plaster Stadium
Springfield was originally selected to host the championship games for Classes 1-6, but the MSHSAA Board of Directors voted in June to hold the Class 6 and 8-Man championship games at the same location. That eliminated bids from Chillicothe and Cameron High School to host the 8-Man game by itself and opened the event to Missouri State and Mizzou.
Class 6 and 8-Man teams traditionally have a bye week between the semifinals and the Show-Me Bowl, and several coaches had voiced a desire to eliminate this. The MSHSAA Board of Directors complied, moving those championship games to the Friday before Thanksgiving.
The Missouri Tigers are on the road on Saturday, Nov. 19, at Tennessee, while MSU will play their regular season finale at home that day.
The Class 1-5 Championship games are still scheduled to be held at Faurot Field in 2017. MSHAA is waiting for confirmation on the Class 6 and 8-Man championship sites for that season.
