Missouri enters the new season with a clear message from the league office: the Tigers have work to do.
In the SEC’s preseason poll released Monday, voted on by select league and national media members, Mizzou was slotted to finish eighth. The Tigers also came away empty in the preseason All-SEC honors, with none of their players landing on the conference’s first, second or third teams.
That lack of individual recognition comes as Dennis Gates prepares to lead a roster still finding its footing. Gates said Monday that his focus is on getting the group aligned quickly and cutting down on the kind of early-season mistakes that can get exposed in tough games.
"My job is to get a corps of guys, a corps of talent, into the right spots, making sure that our inexperience together doesn't show up because we'll be in some tough battles early in our season, and that's the part that has to be and will be attacked and exposed," Tigers head coach Dennis Gates said of Mizzou on Monday. "So my job is to get these guys in a situation where they are playing gap-free basketball, minimizing mistakes, but more importantly, defending."
Gates is set to speak at SEC Media Days in Birmingham, Ala., this week. He’ll be joined by Kansas transfer Bryson Tiller and five-star freshmen Jason Crowe Jr. and Toni Bryant.
At the top of the poll, Texas was picked second, followed by Arkansas at third, Tennessee at fourth, Alabama at fifth, Vanderbilt at sixth and Kentucky at seventh, with Missouri next at eighth. Auburn came in ninth, Texas A&M 10th, Georgia 11th, Oklahoma 12th, Ole Miss 13th, LSU 14th, Mississippi State 15th and South Carolina 16th.
The league’s preseason All-SEC teams featured Florida, Kentucky, Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Auburn. Florida’s Thomas Haugh was named SEC Player of the Year after landing on the first team along with teammates Rueben Chinyelu and Thomas Haugh, while Tennessee’s Juke Harris, Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard and Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner rounded out the first team.
The second team included Alabama’s Amari Allen, Florida’s Alex Condon, Kentucky’s Milan Momcilovic and Malachi Moreno, Arkansas’ Jordan Smith Jr., and Texas’ Matas Vokietaitis. The third team was made up of Texas A&M’s PJ Haggerty, Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford, Texas’ David Punch, Kentucky’s Malachi Moreno and Arkansas’ Billy Richmond III.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Heads Into A Playoff-Shaping SEC Test With Extra Heat
Week 7 brings a big one to Columbia, with Missouri and Ole Miss meeting in a game that carries real weight for the SEC race and the College Football Playoff picture. Both teams have just one loss, and both are staring at a demanding stretch ahead, which only adds to the pressure on a matchup that already feels like more than a midseason test.
Austin Simmons brings an extra layer to it for Missouri after transferring from Ole Miss, and he has settled in nicely alongside running back Jamal Roberts. On the other side, Ole Miss arrives off a win over Vanderbilt with quarterback Trinidad Chambliss keeping the Rebels on track, setting up a meeting that has plenty of football stakes and a little added edge. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou May Have Found Its Third-Down Answer In SEC Play
For Missouri, the difference on offense in the win over Texas A&M came on the downs that usually decide whether drives survive or stall. Austin Simmons and Cayden Lee were central to the Tigers pivotal touchdown march, helping turn third-down snaps into momentum at a point in the game when Mizzou was putting distance between itself and the Aggies in a 27-6 victory.
Simmons and Lee have become the SECs most reliable third-down tandem this season, and that matters because Missouri has not been consistently explosive enough to live comfortably without extending possessions. The Tigers have converted 35 of 82 third-down attempts overall, and with conference play underway, their ability to keep finding answers in those spots may be the cleanest path to steady offensive production. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Took Another Shot At Ole Miss Territory
Lane Kiffin had Missouri and Ole Miss on the same sentence line this week, and it came with his usual mix of praise and provocation. Now at LSU, Kiffin was asked about former Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons, who moved on to Missouri and is set to face his old school in an upcoming SEC game, and he offered a complimentary view of the quarterback he once coached in Oxford.
Kiffin also leaned into the tampering chatter that always seems to follow a transfer with this kind of matchup, brushing it off with a light touch rather than a heavy explanation. For Missouri, Simmons return to the other side of this rivalry gives the Tigers another layer to a game that already carries plenty of SEC weight, and it ensures Kiffins old territory will keep hearing his name a little longer. [Read more 🡒]