Missouri’s 45-17 takedown of Florida didn’t just turn heads in Week 5 - it shoved the Tigers right back into the College Football Playoff conversation. Mizzou climbed 11 spots to No. 14 in the latest AP Top 25, and while the Tigers are still on the outside looking in, the path is there if they can keep stacking wins down the stretch.
That push starts Saturday against Texas A&M, a game Missouri is favored to win and, by the look of the race, needs to win. The Tigers still have work to do before they can be treated like a real CFP threat, but the second half of the season is where that case gets built.
At the top of the board, Texas remains the SEC favorite and still sits at No. 1 after a bye week. The Longhorns head into the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma on Saturday.
In the Big Ten, Indiana keeps making its own case. The Hoosiers handled business at Rutgers with a 47-15 win and are up to No. 7 in the AP poll. Next comes a huge one at Nebraska, a matchup of 5-0 teams.
BYU holds the Big 12 spot after a 17-10 road win at TCU, a game in which quarterback Bear Bachmeier was off but the defense carried the load. The Cougars are No. 8 and now get a rebuilding Iowa State team at home Friday night.
Miami looks every bit like a national title contender after blasting Clemson 41-13 on the road. Mario Cristobal’s team is No. 4 and on a bye this week.
Notre Dame stays in the automatic-bid slot after CJ Carr delivered a Heisman-like performance in a 37-26 road win at North Carolina. The Irish are No. 3 and host Stanford on Saturday.
Boise State remains the Group of Six automatic-bid pick. The Broncos are No. 23 after beating Utah State 37-18 and now face a road test at Fresno State on Saturday.
Among the at-large teams, Ohio State still has a strong argument as the best team in the country after a 31-14 road win over ranked Iowa. The Buckeyes host Maryland before a massive showdown at Indiana on October 17th.
Georgia is right there too. The No. 2 Bulldogs beat Vanderbilt 38-14, and now the spotlight shifts to Saturday night’s trip to Alabama.
Alabama picked up a big 56-23 road win over ranked Mississippi State and moved to No. 6 in the AP poll. That sets the stage for the matchup with Georgia.
Ole Miss enters its bye week after the loss at Florida, with a road trip to Vanderbilt coming up Saturday as the Rebels try to bounce back. The Rebels are ranked No. 9.
Oregon is back in the playoff picture after Iowa’s loss to Ohio State. The Ducks are No. 13, coming off a bye, and are double-digit favorites at home over No. 21 UCLA on Saturday.
Missouri sits at No. 10 in the AP poll and heads to Kentucky for an SEC road night game on Saturday.
The current top four seeds are Texas, Georgia, Notre Dame and Miami (FL).
The projected bracket has Boise State at Ohio State, Ole Miss at Indiana, Oregon at Alabama and BYU at LSU.
For the final four pick, the bracket has Texas facing Ohio State and Georgia meeting Notre Dame, with Texas beating Notre Dame.
In Other News...
Missouri Freshman DJ Jones Faces A Far Bigger Fight Than Football
Missouri freshman offensive lineman DJ Jones has spent this season dealing with something far bigger than the normal grind of a college football fall. Jones underwent a heart transplant and is recovering, coach Eli Drinkwitz said, after preseason evaluations uncovered a significant heart problem that sent him to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.
Jones has not played this season and remains away from the team while Missouri continues its games, a reminder that his journey is now measured in medical updates rather than reps or snap counts. For a freshman trying to begin his college career, the focus has shifted entirely to recovery, and the Tigers are left pulling for a much more important comeback than anything on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Fans Finally Got The Update They Needed On DJ Jones
Missouri fans got the update they had been hoping for on freshman offensive tackle Johnnie DJ Jones, who recently underwent a successful heart transplant and is now recovering. The need for the procedure was discovered during the Tigers freshmen intake, turning what should have been an ordinary start to college football into a deeply personal medical battle for one of the programs newest players.
Jones was treated at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., where the care team and donor family drew gratitude from coach Eli Drinkwitz and the Missouri community. For a team and fan base that had been following the situation closely, the news brings a measure of relief, even as Jones begins the long next stretch of recovery. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzous Front Seven Faces A Much Tougher Test This Week
Missouris front seven spent last week making life miserable for Florida on the ground, holding the Gators to 42 rushing yards on 25 carries and limiting running back Jadan Baugh to 13 yards on 12 attempts. Linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez was rewarded for his part in that effort, earning SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week after piling up 11 tackles, a strong sign that the Tigers are getting consistent play from the middle of their defense.
The challenge changes quickly now, with Texas A&M bringing a different kind of problem to the table in quarterback Marcel Reed. Eli Drinkwitz and Missouris players have been stressing sound tackling and clean execution as the week goes on, because the front seven will need to carry over the same urgency against a much more mobile threat and do it without any drop in focus. [Read more 🡒]