COLUMBIA, Mo. — The conference affiliation is brand new and the tailgaters no doubt will show up much earlier.A new era has dawned at Missouri, which makes its Southeastern Conference debut on tonight against No. 7 Georgia, and there’s no denying the excitement. Even coach Gary Pinkel failed to stick to his usual “it’s the next game” script for more than a sentence or two on media day before gushing about the historic relevance like a season-ticket holder about to affix a tiger tail to his SUV. “It’s an important game.