The College Football Playoff committee has spoken, and Missouri has landed at No. 18 in the first rankings of the 2026 season.
That puts the Tigers squarely in the mix, at least for now. Mizzou is 6-2 with four games left, and the road ahead is loaded: three of those final four opponents are currently ranked in the CFP Top 10. In other words, there’s plenty of room for movement.
The committee’s opening list also delivered plenty of eye-catching choices elsewhere. Florida came in at No.
24, South Carolina checked in at No. 21 and Oregon landed at No. 23.
Alabama, meanwhile, is sitting at No. 5.
For Missouri, though, the first ranking is more of a snapshot than a verdict. It may say something about how the committee views the Tigers’ blowout win over No.
24 Florida and their two road losses, including the one at No. 10 Ole Miss, but not much more than that.
What matters is where things stand when the final rankings arrive. Between now and then, Missouri gets a brutal closing stretch with No.
7 Texas, No. 6 Kentucky and No.
2 Georgia still on the schedule. If the Tigers win all three, the conversation shifts from the bubble to seeding.
If they win two of the three, they’ll need help and plenty of chaos.
Even then, there’s no guarantee the committee would break Missouri’s way. A three-loss Mizzou team going up against a three-loss blue blood? That’s a tough sell.
So the formula is simple: win out or start looking elsewhere.
As of today, FanDuel has Missouri at +6500 to win the national championship. That’s not exactly a dream number, but it’s still better than BYU, Wake Forest or USC. So there’s at least a little reason for optimism.
In Other News...
Missouri Wrestling Rolled Early But Brian Smith Saw One Clear Concern
Missouri opened its season in dominant fashion at the Missouri Duals inside the Hearnes Center, rolling to three wins and a combined 132-9 edge across the day. The Tigers got strong work from a mix of freshmen and transfers, a good early sign for a roster that is still settling in and figuring out where its best lineup combinations will land.
Brian Smith still left the event with one clear concern, though, even after the lopsided results. For a program that expects to contend, the early-season margin was encouraging, but the head coach pointed to an area that needs to tighten up before the schedule gets more demanding, making the next few weeks just as important as the opening sweep. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Will Test Whether Arch Manning's Turnaround Is Actually Real
Steve Sarkisian sounds convinced Arch Manning has started to settle in after an uneven opening stretch, and Texas has reason to feel better about where its quarterback room stands heading into the heart of the schedule. Manning has helped the Longhorns string together consecutive wins, and his recent play has looked more composed, with better accuracy and a steadier command of the offense than he showed earlier in the year.
Now comes the part that will tell everyone more. Texas is about to run into a tougher slate, with road games looming that will shape its College Football Playoff hopes and provide a clearer read on whether Mannings recent surge is a real turning point or just a short-lived spike against friendlier competition. For Missouri, and for the rest of the SEC, that means the Longhorns are about to be measured in the kind of games that tend to separate a promising stretch from a true breakthrough. [Read more 🡒]
Dennis Gates Faces A Personal Mizzou Opener Fans Will Want To See
Missouri opens its regular season Tuesday night at Mizzou Arena against Cleveland State, and the matchup carries a little extra meaning for Dennis Gates. The Tigers coach spent time leading the Vikings before arriving in Columbia, so this opener is more than just the first chance to see Missouris new-look roster in a game that counts.
Rob Summers will have Cleveland State ready for its first game of the season, even without a public exhibition to shake off the rust beforehand. For Missouri, it is an early look at a group that blends five-star freshman Jason Crowe Jr., four-star transfers and returning veterans, with Gates getting a familiar opponent right away in a game plenty of fans will have circled. [Read more 🡒]