COLUMBIA — Most of the Big 12 Conference will be easing lightly into their seasons this week. There’s Iowa State taking on South Dakota State, Kansas facing Florida International, Nebraska playing Western Michigan, Texas Tech facing Eastern Washington and Texas A&M playing Arkansas State. The only Big 12 team playing an opponent comparable to Mizzou’s foe, No. 19 or 20 Illinois, is Baylor, which plays No. 23 Wake Forest. But Baylor was 3-9 last season, so that game is lacking a little luster.

Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel, being a coach, worries the same regardless of whether he’s playing a top 25 team or someone like his following opponent, SEMO.

No matter who you play, you’re concerned about first games,’’ he said Tuesday after practice. “It’s a great first start. It’s a great game. You’re always concerned about your first game.”

On Monday, Pinkel had spelled out the challenges of the first game.

“The first game with your new team, you don’t want to do things to beat yourself,’’ he said. “You don’t want to have a lot of turnovers. You want to have a kicking game that’s very sound. You don’t want mental errors, you don’t want penalties, all those things that supposedly happen in first games. If we allow those things to happen, we’re not going to have a chance.

“That being said, we’re in the same boat. Everyone in the country is the same way. Nobody has an advantage. So the teams that can mature, the teams that can do it best, those are the teams that will have the most success.”

Tuesday was the big practice day of the week, the only day with full pads. The team will go just in shoulder pads on Wednesday, though the work will be “very intense” and then just shells on Thursday. The team will have a walkthrough on Friday at the Dome, mostly to get the receivers and kicking units used to looking up in the lights. And then it’s game time on Saturday. Finally.