Missouri doesn’t have the reputation of being a hostile environment, especially in comparison with teams across the SEC. An exemption from the SEC office for this season may change that.

The school announced on Tuesday that construction at Memorial Stadium has forced the team to switch sidelines, and for the first time since 2000, the Tigers will be stationed on the West sideline, while opponents will be on the East side.

To be in compliance, Missouri asked for, and received, a waiver from the SEC, which otherwise does not permit the visiting team bench to be directly in front of the student section. The school said the waiver was granted because of “unique circumstances” associated with on-going construction. Those include a lack of alternate routes available to prevent teams from crossing paths entering and exiting the field.

There will be some changes to the locker rooms setup this season, and procedures for how they enter the field. Mizzou’s locker room has been relocated to portable trailers that will be outside of the construction site, while the visiting team locker room will remain in the stadium’s Southeast corner. Both teams will enter and exit Faurot Field from the same tunnel, which will divided by a seven-foot tall fence with a windscreen cover.

In 2019, the Tigers will reset its seating sections to be in compliance with the SEC office.

“It was our intent to switch sidelines and make the necessary seating changes at the same time the South End Zone facility came on-line in 2019, however, as we’ve game-planned for 2018 with our staff, construction team and the Southeastern Conference, we believe that this move must be made in 2018 to avoid logistical challenges that would be problematic for both teams and the game officials,” said Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk. “This move also ensures that the heart of the construction site will not have to shut down for our home games which will help the project stay on track.”

Mizzou opens its season on Sept. 1 against UT Martin at Memorial Stadium. The Tigers then play Wyoming on Sept. 8, and travel to Purdue before their home SEC opener against Georgia on Sept. 22.