Reunited, at last.

Missouri football’s first game in November this season will match the Tigers back up against former Big 12 foe Oklahoma, as the Sooners head to Columbia in their first season as a member of the Southeastern Conference.

The Tigers open their 2024 campaign Thursday, Aug. 29, against Murray State on Faurot Field, part of a four-game homestand to start a season that appears to bring a prime opportunity to reach the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff.

MU coach Eli Drinkwitz’s team then visits Texas A&M and UMass, hosts Auburn and then goes on the road to Alabama in October, before Oklahoma kicks off the final third of the regular season.

Here’s what to know about Oklahoma’s offseason, including key additions, coaching changes and playmakers to keep an eye on when the Sooners come to CoMo for the first time in 14 years.

More: Missouri football gets 5th commit in a week, lands 4-star East St. Louis safety Charles Bass

Who are the opposing names to know when Missouri football hosts Oklahoma?

Quarterback: Jackson Arnold, after earning starting duties in the Alamo Bowl for OU, will lead the offense for the Sooners in 2024. He passed for 364 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in the bowl loss to Arizona. The former five-star prospect has a tall task replacing Oregon-bound dual-threat Dillon Gabriel, but has a big arm that could cause a lot of teams problems.

Offensive playmakers: OU returns its top rusher in Gavin Sawchuk, who took 120 carries for 764 yards and nine touchdowns while sharing the backfield last season. Oklahoma also landed the FCS’s fourth-leading rusher, UT Martin transfer Sam Franklin, out of the portal after a 1,500-yard all-purpose year for the Skyhawks.

In the passing game, the Sooners lost their top receiver in Drake Stoops as an undrafted free agent to the league, but returns 1,492 yards and 12 touchdowns of production between fellow wideouts Jalil Farooq and Nic Anderson.

Defensive playmakers: Danny Stutsman will almost certainly be a preseason All-SEC first-team nod at linebacker, as could senior safety Billy Bowman Jr.

Stutsman has a stout 268 tackles in his three seasons as a Sooner, and had 16 tackles for loss, three sacks, two forced fumbles and a pick six last season. Bowman picked six passes that he returned for a double-take-inducing 238 yards, including three touchdowns.

What did the offseason look like for Sooners?

Key additions: Caiden Woullard (EDGE); Deion Burks (WR); Damonic Williams (DT); Branson Hickman (IOL/C)

Key losses: Dillon Gabriel (QB); Cayden Green (OL); Tawee Walker (RB); Tyler Guyton (OT); Walter Rouse (OT)

Key coaching changes: Zac Alley (Co-DC, Jacksonville State); Seth Littrell (OC, internal)

Oklahoma mostly managed to keep its star players from leaving via the portal, except for a couple notable exceptions. Starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel left Oklahoma for Oregon, and … offensive lineman Cayden Green will suit up for Mizzou this season.

As if the November matchup between the old foes needed any more juice …

And, as it so happens, Oklahoma’s biggest area of change comes along its offensive line. The Sooners’ two offensive tackles heard their names called in the NFL Draft this year. Another starter was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Kansas City Chiefs.

That has left head coach Brent Venables and new offensive coordinator Seth Littrell to express order an O-Line in the transfer portal, with five of OU’s 15 total incoming transfers addressing that area. With a new starter at QB in Arnold and a tough schedule welcoming the Sooners to the league, keeping him clean is an absolute must.

The Sooners fired defensive coordinator Ted Roof after last season and hired Jacksonville State’s Zac Alley to the co-chair the role with linebackers coach Todd Bates, which is far and away the biggest shake up on that side of the ball.

OU avoided too much player turnover, with safety Key Lawrence leaving for Ole Miss likely the biggest loss. The Sooners made a big addition up front, beating Mizzou in a transfer portal tug of war for highly rated TCU defensive tackle Damonic Williams.

Early forecast for Mizzou vs. Oklahoma

This sets up to be the marquee matchup on Faurot Field this season.

Sure, the teams are rekindling an old flame. Absolutely, recent recruiting wars — See: Luther Burden III, Williams Nwaneri and Green — have doused gasoline on that particular flame.

But, maybe most importantly, if Mizzou is going to make the College Football Playoff, this is likely a must-win game. The Tigers have tough trips to Texas A&M and Alabama before the Nov. 9 matchup. An optimist will tell you both of those are winnable, and they’d be right. A realist will tell you the likelihood is that there will be a notch in Missouri’s loss column by that point.

Two losses is the absolute maximum Mizzou can have in the regular season and still have a shot at the 12-team CFP. As far as must-win games go for Missouri, this is probably top of the list.

More: Three transfers who could help define Missouri football’s success in 2024 season

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This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Here's what Missouri football faces in huge November game vs. Oklahoma