Missouri’s season outlook might’ve gotten better without them even playing a down yesterday.

Bye weeks have a tendency to be boring for most involved with having to sit it out. Fans especially, but this week may have helped us get a greater idea on what kind of season Missouri can have. Since the Wyoming loss, more casual fans have been looking for a reason to hop on the bandwagon. They’ve been slow to do so, but I think I’ve got a solid case to make. And it’s because the transitive properties in College Football are 100% infallible.

Who’s left on the Tigers schedule? Troy, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas.

If you watched any of the action yesterday, you may have seen the Tigers most recent opponent, the South Carolina Gamecocks, blitzed a future opponent the Kentucky Wildcats. Mizzou beat SC 34-14. SC beat Kentucky 24-7. Transitive property says Mizzou should beat Kentucky by 37.

If Missouri is supposed to beat UK by 37, they lost to Florida by 8. So Missouri should win that game by 29 points. Right?

The Kentucky loss to the Gamecocks exposed some issues within the SEC East. The Wildcats offense without Terry Wilson at Quarterback is one in shambles. Sawyer Smith helped put up 21 points against Florida, but since only put up 13 against Mississippi State (who gave up 56 to Auburn btw), and 7 against South Carolina. With Smith looking rattled and banged up against SC, the Wildcats became increasingly one dimensional.

If Missouri beats Troy and Ole Miss at home (and they should), they’ll head out to play against Vanderbilt, who is now 1-3 with their only win against Northern Illinois, by 6 points. They’ve also been blown out by Georgia (30-6), Purdue (42-24), and LSU (66-38). After Vanderbilt, then the Wildcats are up.

Before the season there were several games earmarked on the schedule. South Carolina was one and Missouri passed that game with flying colors. The next game was Kentucky. The Wildcats were a team who’ve thwarted Barry Odom over the years and he needs to climb that mountain. Beat Kentucky after Troy, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt... now you’re 7-1 and heading to Athens, which was the other ear marked game on the schedule.

College Football is an inherently messy game and all sorts of weird outcomes are possible and happen quite often. It’s what makes us both love and hate being College Football fans.

Despite an early season bump, Mizzou still has everything still on the table for a special season. Following the bye week it looks like a LOT of the potential for that season opened up and all the Tigers have to do is take advantage. There might just be one more game the rest of the year for which the Tigers aren’t favored and that’s at Georgia. Simply win the games you’re supposed to and its a 10 win season.

Expectations just got really real. Like really really real.

Scores around the SEC:

• Alabama 59, Ole Miss 31
• Auburn 56, Mississippi State 23
• Florida 38, Towson 0
• Texas A&M 31, Arkansas 27
• Vanderbilt 24, Northern Illinois 18
• South Carolina 24, Kentucky 7

YESTERDAY at ROCK M NATION

• Missouri vs Bye — :( — GameDay: info, what to watch, predictions
• BREAKING: Jordan Wilmore commits to Mizzou

A lot of people took the day off yesterday, but Dave Matter published a really great story about Maty Mauk and his fall from grace, and him finding solace in Springfield coaching football at Glendale. I recommend the read.