COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Missouri Tigers have hit the 53-player SEC roster threshold, according to Mizzou coach Eliah Drinkwitz.
MU started the week with 56 available scholarship players on Tuesday. That number dwindled to 54 on Wednesday after former Raytown wide receiver Dominic Gicinto entered the transfer portal and a separate player had to go into quarantine because of contact tracing related to COVID-19.
Now Mizzou is right at the SEC's roster threshold of 53 players, Drinkwitz said. Even if SEC teams hit that number or even dip below, though, they can still choose to play the game. The league announced those game postponement or cancellation guidelines — relative to the COVID-19 pandemic — before the season.
"We're right at 53 (players)," Drinkwitz said Thursday on his weekly "Tiger Talk" radio show. "One of our players who's questionable has now been downgraded to out. We had a transfer, but we'll be right at that number."
MU was scheduled to take a COVID-19 test Thursday and results typically come early the next morning. Drinkwitz said they're still planning to travel to South Carolina for the 6:30 p.m. Saturday game.
It's not all completely negative news, though. Drinkwitz said left guard Xavier Delgado (ankle) and right tackle Larry Borom (lower leg) are set to travel for the game, but will see the field in an emergency-only basis.
Drinkwitz said defensive tackle Kobie Whiteside will also hopefully travel on the same emergency-only basis. Whiteside hasn't played since the Tennessee game as he's battled a right leg injury.
"We'll see," Drinkwitz said about their statuses. "They still have 48 hours, and we'll see how their body reacts to a plane trip, too."
South Carolina has dealt with its own roster issues. Gamecock interim coach Mike Bobo said on his radio show on Thursday that they're close to the 53-player mark, including one player testing positive for COVID-19 from their most recent round of testing.
Despite both programs grappling with roster numbers, they still plan to play the game. The Tigers (2-3) haven't played since Oct. 31, a blowout loss to Florida. The Gamecocks (2-5) fired coach Will Muschamp on Sunday as they're on a three-game losing streak.
"Open and honest transparency is always good, especially when dealing with things," Drinkwitz said. "The public, they just want to know. You're trying to do the very best you can. What makes it difficult is some of this stuff is medical privacy, so you're not trying to identify exactly who's going through issues because that's a personal thing."
