Looks Like No Bowl Game For Mizzou

[Al Agnew]

Bad seasons happen at just about every program, for just about every coach. This was definitely one of those.

But if you are deciding whether to retain a coach, you have to look at the overall resume...Gary Pinkel (and his staff, which has stayed very constant throughout his time here) built this program from the ground up and has been about as consistently successful as anyone in the business. This was a painful and frustrating aberration, but until we see more evidence, that's about all I'm willing to call it. He deserves another shot, and despite all the rumors that say otherwise I'm very confident he will get it.

I agree. All you have to do is look at Auburn. Two years ago they won the national championship, and this year they were winless in the SEC...and their coach got fired. I'm willing to give Pinkel the benefit of the doubt this year because of all the injuries, but it does seem like his program has plateaued. Still, Mizzou was a healthy quarterback and a couple of good offensive linemen from being very respectable in their first year in the SEC. The margin between a winning program and a losing one is pretty thin, and even the top programs have a losing year now and then. If it was easy to put together a program that challenged for national championships every year, everybody would be doing it. Even putting together a consistent top 25 program isn't easy, and there are maybe 10-15 teams in the whole country that are going to be in the top 25 every year. So to expect Mizzou to be one of them, let alone one that regularly challenges for the national championship, is expecting a LOT.

The recruiting will determine Mizzou's standing, though. The best programs can pick and choose the best recruits to fill each position, and have their choice of multiple back-ups. And it's a self-replicating program...if you're really good, then all the best players want to play for you, and everybody else is getting your leavings. It's exceedingly tough to break into that elite little group of schools. The best you can hope for is to develop a consistently good program, and then catch lightning in a bottle once or twice and win the NC or get very close, and then the recruiting steps up another notch.

[tjulianc]

Not a good year for football in the midwest

MU stinks, KU stinks, Arkansas stinks, Chief's stink, Rams stink.

That's a hole lotta stink for one region.

Arkansas isn't in the midwest, but Notre Dame is and they are going to the NCG. Ohio State is undefeated, albeit they are on probation. KSU was in the national title hunt till they choked at Baylor. Overall the midwest is doing pretty good and better than they did last year.

[ness]

Arkansas isn't in the midwest, but Notre Dame is and they are going to the NCG. Ohio State is undefeated, albeit they are on probation. KSU was in the national title hunt till they choked at Baylor. Overall the midwest is doing pretty good and better than they did last year.

Yeah -- don't forget about K-State. National title hunt and Heisman frontrunner. They sure lost a ton of momentum after that pitiful performance, but there's a biggun coming Saturday.

The Chiefs are beyond embarrassing. When they did that end zone dance a couple weeks ago and drew a penalty, I about puked.

But heck -- I don't want to hijack a thread about the Tigers woes. Carry on.

[joeD]

Gary Pinkel is in trouble. Look at his news conferences. Notice his eyes. They are almost always downcast now, when he is talking. He rarely looks up. It is a tell. He talks to a spot at the reporters' feet, instead of straight ahead with confidence. Just an observation.

Switch James Franklin and Johnny Manziel of A&M, and Mizzou would be 9-2 and Texas A&M would be 4 and whatever like Mizzou.. Simple as that. Quarterback play in college football is the single most determining factor in a team's success.

Therefore, looking at Mizzou's quarterback situation, well, now you know why Gary Pinkel's eyes tell no lies. Mizzou cannot compete in football, in the SEC, as long as our quarterbacks are so ineffective.

Then again, it's not about football is it? It's about the university as a whole getting a piece of the money pie that is the SEC conference. Kill or be killed. Don't get left behind. Unfortunately, college is about business, about making money, in other words, behaving like a corporate behemoth. Educating our children is secondary.

Sorry. Off the soapbox now. Anyway...Good luck to Mizzou football, they'll need it.

[Justin Spencer]

They weren't bad this year because they went to the SEC, they were bad because they played bad defense and worse offense. I don't neccesarily agree that universities are trying to get rich, I think they are trying to survive while growing and paying employees. The bigger universities seem to have a tougher time than the smaller ones, and as one who went to a smaller D2 school I wouldn't trade it for anything. Most of the professors were there to educate first and research second, and class sizes were such that there was individual attention paid to students.

[stlfisher]

Arkansas isn't in the midwest, but Notre Dame is and they are going to the NCG. Ohio State is undefeated, albeit they are on probation. KSU was in the national title hunt till they choked at Baylor. Overall the midwest is doing pretty good and better than they did last year.

I was talking about our region mostly since most posters live in the Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri area.

[Ham]

OSU and Notre Dame would NOT be undeated in the SEC this year. ND may win the National Championship, but IF they played a full SEC schedule, they would NOT have a win loss record that would allow them to be in that game.

[ozark trout fisher]

I don't know. Notre Dame plays great defense, I'd say easily on par with Bama or Georgia or LSU. There offense is greatly improved. If they were in the SEC would they be undefeated? Maybe, maybe not. But they would be right near the top of the league. Notre Dame played a very difficult schedule. I realize that Michigan and USC not being quite what was expected hurt their strength of schedule, but unlike just about every conference-bound team, they played no cupcakes. Sure, games against Boston College or Wake Forest shouldn't be all that demanding for a top team, but it's still a whole lot tougher than playing an FCS school, like pretty much every school in the SEC or Big 12 does. And Oklahoma is one of the 8-12 best teams in the country and Notre Dame won that game pretty easily.

Really, Notre Dame is an SEC team, or at least they follow the same blueprint as the top schools in that league. They have the offensive and defensive line to match up with anyone. Their run defense is frightening, and that will slow down a lot of SEC offenses who often rely on the run as their bread and butter. I think they would be the most ready for that conference out of the top teams this year. Everyone wanted to see Oregon-Alabama, but I suspect that the Ducks would get pushed around. Notre Dame-Alabama would probably be a great game if it happens.

I agree with you about OSU. You have to be a great team to go 12-0. That said, Ohio State won a lot of close games against teams that it probably should have dominated. In other words, they're a bit lucky to be 12-0. I'm not sure they'd really be in the title mix even if they were eligible.

[ness]

They weren't bad this year because they went to the SEC, they were bad because they played bad defense and worse offense. I don't neccesarily agree that universities are trying to get rich, I think they are trying to survive while growing and paying employees. The bigger universities seem to have a tougher time than the smaller ones, and as one who went to a smaller D2 school I wouldn't trade it for anything. Most of the professors were there to educate first and research second, and class sizes were such that there was individual attention paid to students.

I went to a Division II school too, but it was NAIA Same thing there though -- classes taught by real live teachers that were always accessible. If there was any research going on, it was mostly behind the scenes. I did help on some prairie research and restoration, bird banding, etc -- so I guess I was part of it in a small way. Wouldn't trade any of that for anything either. They were and are still very smart financially, and have kept a 150 year old campus pristine without public help. Some of the stuff I see go on at the big schools just looks wasteful or over the top.

[Quillback]

Yeah Les Miles getting an offer from U of A for $27 million for 5 years was a little over the top. The bidding war for coaches at the top schools is getting out of hand. Yesterday's paper was going on about possible candidates for the UA coaching job, Gus Malzahn's name is being mentioned. The reason I being that up is they had a little of Malzahn's salary history, as the Offence Coordinator at Auburn (I think it was AUburn), he was getting $1.1 million/year. For crying out loud, now coordinators are getting over a $million per year!!??