The Missouri Tigers were supposed to struggle out of the blocks when they moved from the Big XII over to the SEC a few years ago. Instead, they have won consecutive SEC East titles, and could be poised for a third in a row in 2015.
2015 SCHEDULE
9/5: vs. Southeast Missouri State
9/12: at Arkansas State
9/19: vs. Connecticut
9/26: at Kentucky
10/3: vs. South Carolina
10/10: vs. Florida
10/17: at Georgia
10/24: at Vanderbilt
11/5: vs. Mississippi State
11/14: vs. BYU (at Arrowhead Stadium)
11/21: vs. Tennessee
11/28: at Arkansas
The non-conference schedule is effectively worthless for Mizzou this year, but that's nothing new for Gary Pinkel coached teams. The toughest game is a "neutral site" game against BYU, but clearly with the game being played in Kansas City, the Tigers will have a huge edge.
The SEC run will clearly be determined in the first three weeks of October with those games against South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Take two of the three, and the Tigers could again be roaring towards Atlanta.
SEASON WIN TOTAL
The Tigers have been lined at 7.5 wins this season, which almost feels a little light for a team which has really been successful these last couple of seasons. There are at least three slam dunks on the non-conference slate, and though no road game is a sure thing, Kentucky and Vanderbilt sure seem like safe bets along with a home game against Tennessee. If that's six wins, getting beyond this 7.5 shouldn't be hard.
OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK
Maty Mauk feels like he has been around forever in Columbia, but alas, he is still just a junior. He actually threw for 25 TDs last season, and scampered around incredibly effectively for a man who is more known for his arm than his legs.
Now the big problem: Mauk really has no receivers coming back from last year's team. The projected top target is Wesley Leftwich, who caught three passes for 36 yards all season long in 2014.
However, the ground game should still be quite good with Russell Hansbrough, a sneakily quick back who tends to just find holes to run through.
DEFENSIVE OUTLOOK
Shane Ray correctly decided to leave school a year early to go to the NFL, and though it was a great decision for him, it was a blow (albeit an expected one) to Mizzou.
Still, don't think that this defense doesn't have some talent on it. Michael Scherer and Kentrell Brothers will help form one of the best linebacking corps in the SEC, and when these men are flying all over the field, this can be an incredibly tough defense to score on.
Don't believe us? Arkansas, Kentucky, Vandy, Florida and UCF were all held to 14 points or fewer against this defense last season.
SEASON PREDICTION
Missouri should get to eight wins this year, and that will be good enough to contend for the SEC East title once again. The Tigers will need to find another superstar on defense; perhaps Charles Harris or Marcus Loud could evolve into stars at the defensive end position to continue a long line of great pass rushers.
If that turns out to be the case and this is once again a Top 25 defense in America, there's even a slight chance to run the table. It wouldn't be stunning in the least if the Tigers once again went on a huge run and started off at 6-0 going into that Georgia game.
Win that one, and all of a sudden, that 150 to 1 price to win the National Championship at least seems plausible.
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