Missouri’s latest step into ranked-on-ranked territory comes with plenty of questions still hanging over the Tigers.
After scraping past Troy in a game that left little room for style points, Mizzou actually climbed in the AP poll this week, moving from No. 20 to No. 19.
Mississippi State, meanwhile, landed at No. 24, turning Saturday’s road trip into a Top 25 matchup. For Missouri, it’s another chance to get back on the board against ranked opponents after not beating one since 2024, when it knocked off No.
24 Boston College.
That ranking bump came despite a performance that hardly screamed upward momentum. The Tigers looked shaky against Troy, but the AP still nudged them up, and now they head to Starkville with the kind of game that can tell you a lot about where this team really stands. Missouri has talked all along like a group with CFP ambitions, but those hopes only get louder if the Tigers can handle business in a spot like this.
The biggest challenge may be Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor, who has started the season scorching hot. Taylor has thrown for 354 yards and four touchdowns against Louisiana Monroe, 251 yards and four touchdowns at South Carolina, and 227 yards and three touchdowns against Minnesota. As the source material noted, South Carolina and its defense were ahead of Missouri in both defensive SP+ and the full SP+ rankings going into the weekend.
That kind of production makes Taylor the obvious problem to solve, and Missouri will need to be ready for a long night if he keeps rolling the way he has through three games.
There’s also a special teams angle worth watching. Missouri has built its identity under Drinkwitz around controlling pace, winning the field-position fight and stacking advantages in the small moments that decide tight games. Against Troy, the Tigers’ work in that area stood out, and that may matter more than people realize once they’re on the road in conference play.
Missouri was also listed as a 3.5-point road underdog to Mississippi State before the updated rankings, a number that felt low to at least one of the voices in the source material. Even with the concerns about how convincing the Tigers have looked so far, the road test still comes with the kind of stakes that matter for a team chasing a first CFP bid.
On the women’s golf side, Missouri is also heading into a familiar setting. The Tigers won this tournament last year with a 14-under team score after two rounds, with the third round canceled. The Club at Old Hawthorne serves as Mizzou golf’s home course, so the team has had plenty of chances to get comfortable there.
“We’ve played it multiple times, even for the incomers that just came in this year,” Westrup Gaeta said.
In Other News...
Dennis Gates Just Landed Another In-State Recruiting Win For Missouri
Missouris in-state recruiting momentum kept rolling with another important addition from the Kansas City area. Cameron Barnes, a four-star forward from Lees Summit West High School, committed to the Tigers after being pursued steadily by Dennis Gates and his staff, a relationship that clearly mattered as Barnes weighed his next step.
Barnes pointed to the consistent recruiting effort and the culture Gates has built as key reasons for choosing Missouri, a sign the staffs approach continues to resonate close to home. He joins fellow four-star recruit Scottie Adkinson in Missouris 2027 class, giving the Tigers another high-end piece as they keep building around familiar territory. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzous New Ranking Puts Even More Pressure On What Comes Next
Missouris climb in the Week 3 AP Top 25 Poll was modest, but it still mattered: the Tigers moved from No. 20 to No. 19 after handling Troy, while also nudging up from No. 22 to No. 21 in the Week 3 LBM Coaches Poll. The rise keeps them in view nationally and adds a little more weight to every snap from here on out, especially with the SEC schedule about to stiffen in a hurry.
What comes next is where this ranking really starts to bite. Missouri is staring at a run of ranked opponents that includes No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Ole Miss, with Oklahoma waiting in the regular-season finale after the Tigers edged past the Sooners in the coaches poll. For a team trying to prove its place in the upper tier, the margin for error is about to get very small. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Golf Has A Chance To Turn Its Home Event Into A Statement
Missouris womens golf team has given itself a real chance to make its home event count, opening the Johnie Imes Invitational by taking the lead after two rounds at 9-under par. The Tigers have been steady across the board, with senior Addie Dobson setting the pace for the group and other Missouri names, including Melanie Walker and Addie Surber, sitting near the top of the board as the tournament heads to its final day.
Dobson has separated herself from the field and put Missouri in position to turn a solid start into something more meaningful, especially with the final round still to play. Walker has also stayed in the mix after back-to-back 2-under 70s, giving the Tigers another contender to lean on as they try to finish off a strong showing in front of the home crowd. [Read more 🡒]