As incredibly frustrating as this football season has been, let's take a step back and try to put all this into the proper perspective:

* First of all, with the huge wins this past weekend by A&M & Syracuse, 6 of the 12 teams on the MU Football schedule have either been ranked in the Top 10 in the country (5 teams) or have beaten a team ranked in the Top 10 (opponents have 9 wins total vs Top 10 teams). Those numbers are pretty staggering.

* Looking at the 6 computer rankings used by the BCS, MU's strength of schedule is consistently ranked 4th or 5th toughest at this point... and likely to pass at least Iowa St. & kU in the next two weeks because of the remaining opponents.

* Using the ranking system of those 6 BCS computer components, the average rank of MU is 35th. Throw out the best & worst ranking like the BCS does, and MU's average rank is 33rd. It's difficult to utilize the AP, Harris, & USA Today polls in this kind of analysis because they are based on ranking only the top 25.

What perspective am I taking out of all this? Simply this - as frustrating as this year has been, MU football is still performing in the top 35 of all college football teams. Yes, we had hopes and expectations for much more...but I believe the perception of where this team is has been underestimated. I believe this team has faced a combination of factors that no other team in the top 6 conferences has faced in terms of strength of schedule and key injuries. Many teams have experienced key injuries throughout this season, but outside of Maryland has anyone had injuries to the top QB, RB, and offensive line to the talent level and extent of MU's list? And certainly no one has had to overcome so much on the injury front while playing anything close to the incredible level of talent on the MU schedule this year.

I know we are all proud of how the team has battled the past two weeks against Florida & Tennessee on the road. But when you look at all the factors I've laid out in this analysis, I feel even better about what this group has done while facing so much.

What say you?