The latest local news, weather and high school sports in and around Columbia and Jefferson City

UPDATE: Wednesday 8:00pm

Hotels in Columbia started getting calls soon after the new football schedule was released. the Holiday Inn Executive Center reports a "flood" of calls this morning. In a four hour period this afternoon manager JoAnna Chandler tells KRCG she took ten reservations herself, and workers are still taking calls.

She says the homecoming game October 27th against Kentucky seems to be a favorite and rooms are going fast.

At the nearby Drury Inn several weekend dates are already booked although workers on duty Wednesday night could not specify which ones. They too have received dozens of calls from Mizzou fans and out of towners eager to see the start of the Mizzou seasons vs SEC opponent.

According to Steve Duncan with the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau, hotels there also expect a boost in business because of the SEC schedule.

You can see the schedule below.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The Southeastern Athletic Conference released the 2012 conference football schedule.

The University of Missouri-Columbia, the SEC's newest member, has a line-up that includes Alabama, Georgia and Vanderbilt at Missouri.

“It’s good to see the schedule lined out on paper,” said Mizzou Head Coach Gary Pinkel, whose program is one of only eight nationally to have won at least eight games each year for the past six seasons.  “Even though we just finished our season, this gets everyone excited to start preparing for the move.  We’re very pleased and honored to be joining such a successful and historically significant conference, and our program is looking forward to the challenges that we’ll face,” Pinkel said.

The season begins August 30th and ends November 24th.

Here's a complete schedule:

Date                           Opponent                              Site                                         Series History (Last Meeting)

Sept. 1                        Open

Sept. 8                       GEORGIA                              Columbia, Mo.                      UGA leads, 1-0 (1960)

Sept. 15                     ARIZONA STATE                 Columbia, Mo.                      Tied, 3-3 (2011)

Sept. 22                      at South Carolina                   Columbia, S.C.                       MU leads, 2-0 (2005)

Sept. 29                      Open

Oct. 6                         VANDERBILT                        Columbia, Mo.                      MU leads, 2-1-1 (1958)

Oct. 13                       ALABAMA                             Columbia, Mo.                      MU leads, 2-1 (1978)

Oct. 20                       Open

Oct. 27                       KENTUCKY                           Columbia, Mo.                      UK leads, 2-1 (1968)

Nov. 3                         at Florida                                Gainesville, Fla.                     MU leads, 1-0 (1966)

Nov. 10                       at Tennessee                          Knoxville, Tenn.                     No previous meetings

Nov. 17                       Open

Nov. 24                       at Texas A&M                        College Station, Texas          A&M leads, 7-5 (2011)

Season ticket information for the 2012 season has not yet been finalized.  Fans who would like to receive information on how to donate to the Tiger Scholarship Fund and become eligible to purchase next year’s season tickets, can click on the link below to register for more information: http://www.mutigers.com/genrel/12-master-request.html or visit the Tiger Scholarship Fund at tsf-mizzou.com to learn about priority football seating. The only way to guarantee a seat at the home football contests is to purchase season tickets.

There is no timetable on when the remaining non-conference games will be finalized, and details will be released when available.  For a look at the league-wide 2012 SEC conference schedules, please visit the online home of the SEC at www.secdigitalnetwork.com.