Mizzou Football...

[ozark trout fisher]

I think I can agree with everyone on here that this is not the start to SEC play that we'd been hoping for. Sure, the Georgia and South Carolina losses hurt, but those were expected (even if agaist South Carolina we weren't quite as competitive as I'd hoped.) But now we've lost to Vanderbilt, a game we really needed, and more importantly we've lost our starting quarterback for "a few weeks" along with a whole host of other key players. Our backup QB (Berkstresser) has been put in a very difficult situation, and he's doing about as well as any redshirt freshman could against SEC defenses behind our banged up offensive line. Honestly. But that said, it clearly just isn't enough right now.

So can Missouri get into a bowl this year of any sort? It doesn't look great. Alabama is up next, which (barring the same kind of inspired performance that lifts Louisiana Monroe over Arkansas or Youngstown State over Pittsburgh) will be a loss, and very likely a blow-out loss. Next we have a bye week, which is fortunate. Maybe Franklin will be back for Kentucky. If so, Missouri would probably roll. If not, they will likely struggle, but Vandy is a much stronger team than Kentucky. I think Missouri wins that game regardless of who is under center. Syracuse, our final home game, is much the same. Franklin will likely be back then, and if so, Missouri is the better team and should probably win. But few things have gone easily this year.

So that would be five wins. With Florida almost a certain loss, that leaves Tennessee and Texas A&M, both on the road, for Missouri to get that sixth win and a most likely, a bowl game. Can they beat either one of those teams? Honestly, I don't have the slightest idea. But for the short time he was in the game before being injured, Franklin looked like his old self Saturday, the guy that led us on the win streak to end last season on a high note. Remember last year when we were equally worried about even getting to six wins? If Franklin can get healthy, I say Missouri snags one upset to reach bowl eligibility.

Am I too optimistic?

[Justin Spencer]

Am I too optimistic?

Si'

[moguy1973]

I don't think that 2 wins in conference will give them a bowl berth...Unless it's one of those Uncle Jack's Backwoods held in a high school football stadium kind of bowls...And then really, who cares?

[ozark trout fisher]

Two conference wins should get them into a bowl. Our final non-conference opponent, Syracuse, is no cupcake, but they're not a good team either. At worst its a toss up.

I think a lot of people would care if they could get into a bowl...Even if it's a low end affair like last years Independence Bowl, which at this point is the best case scenario. It would give them some momentum going into next year at least. This is never going to be a season worth bragging about but it doesn't have to be disaster either. The DGB Franklin combo was just starting to get some of the explosiveness back in that offense vs. UCF. For completely different reasons, neither was in the line-up last week. But when/if they're both back things could probably only go up from here.

[joeD]

Sorry Ozark. Mizzou went for the money grab. Which is fine, I guess, for the university as a whole. As far as football, forget about it. We'll be a spear carrier in an elite conference. Any thoughts of gridiron success are delusional. We have neither the player talent nor the coaching prowess to be anything but a nuisance for the elite of the SEC.

Basketball will be different.

[rps]

Missouri made its choice. It decided to be a middle road football team in a different elite football conference so it could make more money in basketball. Unfortunately, they decided to do this in a year that they were not at their football best. Ugly, nasty people would say things like, "Sucks, don't it?" I hope their basketball revenue plan pays off. Go Big 12.

[rps]

The above is meant with love and laughter.