Memphis football vs Mississippi State 2028 game canceled, 2029 game moved to 2034

Memphis football's scheduled 2028 game against Mississippi State has been canceled and a planned 2029 game in Starkville has been moved to 2034, according to a Mississippi State athletic department spokesperson.

The teams signed a home-and-home deal in 2020 for games in 2028 and 2029. According to the game contract, the team canceling the game (if it's not a mutual agreement) will have to pay $1 million per game to the other team. There is also a clause that would allow a team to cancel the game if its conference causes it to play more games than it did when the game was agreed to. It wasn't immediately clear why the games had been canceled and moved.

The SEC moved from eight to nine conference games starting in the 2026 season.

Memphis did not respond to a request for comment.

The Tigers still have 2028 nonconference games scheduled against Arkansas (road), Toledo (road) and Arkansas State (home).

Scheduling games against power conference opposition has become more and more of a struggle for Memphis , especially after the SEC's move to nine conference games. A planned game against Arkansas that had been scheduled for 2026 was moved to 2030.

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The road games at Arkansas in 2028 and 2030 are now the only power conference matchups on Memphis' current future schedules.

The Tigers kick off the 2026 season on the road at UNLV on Aug. 29 (9 p.m. CT, FOX).

Memphis football future nonconference schedules

2026: Arkansas State, at Boise State , at UNLV, UT Martin

2027: at Arkansas State, Southern Miss, at Middle Tennessee State, Toledo

2028: at Arkansas, Arkansas State, at Toledo (one open slot)

2029: at Arkansas State, UNLV (two open slots)

2030: Boise State , at Southern Miss, at Arkansas (one open slot)

2031: at Boise State , (three open slots)

2034: at Mississippi State (three open slots)

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.