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The Missouri Tigers are three wins away from their third consecutive bowl game appearance under head coach Eli Drinkwitz, but after a 30-27 win over then No. 15 Kansas State Wildcats last week – expectations are becoming just a little bit higher than just getting to that minimum six-win mark.
For the first time since the 2018 season, Mizzou is off to a 3-0 start and on the verge of an AP Top 25 ranking – sitting just two spots outside the poll. A breakthrough year for these Tigers could potentially be on the horizon in what seems to be a relatively wide-open SEC East in the early going. Missouri is currently one of five unbeaten SEC teams remaining (Georgia, Kentucky, Auburn, Ole Miss) and arguably boasts the league’s best non-conference win to this point.
BYU wins to continue the worst SEC non-conference performance in years.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) September 17, 2023
SEC 5-7 in P5 games:
-Utah over UF
-UNC over SC
-FSU over LSU
-Miami over A&M
-BYU over Ark
-Texas over Bama
-Wake over Vandy
—
-MSU over Arizona
-Mizzou over KSU
-Ole Miss over GT
-AU over Cal
-UT over UVA
After a promising start to this season, Mizzou’s bowl status has significantly improved in a lot of the latest projections as many have them pegged in an SEC Pool of Six bowl. Let’s take a look at where the Tigers currently stand heading into Week 4:
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm: Music City Bowl vs Minnesota (Dec. 30)
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: Texas Bowl vs UCF (Dec. 27)
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Liberty Bowl vs Kansas State (Dec. 29)
Action Network’s Brett McMurphy: Birmingham Bowl vs Illinois (Dec. 23)
247Sports: Music City Bowl vs Iowa (Dec. 30)
Saturday Down South: Music City Bowl vs Maryland (Dec. 30)
Athlon Sports: Music City Bowl vs Minnesota (Dec. 30)
USA Today: Music City Bowl vs Minnesota (Dec. 30)
College Football News: Texas Bowl vs TCU (Dec. 27)
College Football Network: Birmingham Bowl vs SMU (Dec. 23)
It’s early, there’s a long way to go, and there’s still plenty of work to do — but the chances of Missouri landing in some type of SEC Pool of Six bowl are looking fairly good (for now). Mizzou can only improve their bowl status with a win on Saturday in St. Louis vs Memphis to improve to 4-0 — which would be the program’s best start since the 2013 season.
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