We were on the big stage today. Probably at least 7 or 8 million people were watching. And we looked like we belonged. We kept the game close throughout. Both our offense and our defense looked at least not that much worse than the #1 ranked two-time defending national champs. Would it have been great to win? Of course. But there's no shame in losing to a team that's won 26 straight games. We beat the spread by 7 points and kept it to single digits in the end. The 7 or 8 million people who watched that game could only come away impressed and think that Mizzou has a pretty good football team. There's been a lot of jokes about how Mizzou doesn't belong in the SEC. Actually showing up in big games like this and playing respectably is how you change that. There's still a lot to play for. We *shoud* win our last 3 games. If we do, we finish 10-2. Here's probably how the SEC teams look at the end of the year:
1. Georgia 13-0
2. LSU 10-3
3. Alabama 10-2
4. Ole Miss 10-2
5. Mizzou 10-2
Everybody else is 8-4 or worse.
Here's the available good bowl games:
1. Playoffs
2. Peach/Cotton/Fiesta (at least one maybe two)
3. Citrus
4. Outback (Reliaquest)
5. Gator
That means absolute worst case at 10-2 we go to the Gator Bowl, with Peach/Cotton/Fiesta, Citrus, and Outback distinctly possible.
Rankings will play a lot into this. A lot of teams are losing. Oklahoma just lost again today. Teams are going to move down. There won't be *that* many P5 10-win teams total. If we go 10-2, we're almost certainly ranked in the top 12, and possibly in the top 8. Obviously, the higher we're ranked the more likely we are to get a better bowl.
Possible opponents:
Cotton vs Oregon
Peach vs Oklahoma
Citrus vs Wisconsin
Outback vs Miami
Gator vs Clemson
Again, beating Georgia and making the playoffs would have been great, but it was always statistically unlikely, and we're still in contention for one of our best seasons in school history.
1. Georgia 13-0
2. LSU 10-3
3. Alabama 10-2
4. Ole Miss 10-2
5. Mizzou 10-2
Everybody else is 8-4 or worse.
Here's the available good bowl games:
1. Playoffs
2. Peach/Cotton/Fiesta (at least one maybe two)
3. Citrus
4. Outback (Reliaquest)
5. Gator
That means absolute worst case at 10-2 we go to the Gator Bowl, with Peach/Cotton/Fiesta, Citrus, and Outback distinctly possible.
Rankings will play a lot into this. A lot of teams are losing. Oklahoma just lost again today. Teams are going to move down. There won't be *that* many P5 10-win teams total. If we go 10-2, we're almost certainly ranked in the top 12, and possibly in the top 8. Obviously, the higher we're ranked the more likely we are to get a better bowl.
Possible opponents:
Cotton vs Oregon
Peach vs Oklahoma
Citrus vs Wisconsin
Outback vs Miami
Gator vs Clemson
Again, beating Georgia and making the playoffs would have been great, but it was always statistically unlikely, and we're still in contention for one of our best seasons in school history.
