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Missouri football bowl projections: Where prognosticators have Tigers in postseason
- Story byColumbia Daily Tribune
- Missouri football bowl projections: Where prognosticators have Tigers in postseason
Bowl projections? Already?
Sure.
Missouri football has a 5-1 record with a 1-1 mark in SEC play heading into a home matchup with Auburn on Saturday in Columbia. Mizzou has a win over Vanderbilt that is looking better and better with each subsequent Commodores victory, a one-score win over Boston College and a blowout loss at Texas A&M.
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That run has the national media and bowl prognosticators — like most — skeptical about the potential for MU to mount a late-season run toward the 12-team College Football Playoff. Time will tell, perhaps as soon as Saturday, whether that's still a possible goal.
Here is where Missouri has landed in bowl projections from major national media outlets:
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Action Network: Music City Bowl vs. Michigan
A game against the reigning national champion?
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Brett McMurphy of Action Network has Missouri, a year after beating Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, heading to face the other half of The Game with a matchup against Michigan in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The matchup would take place at Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans .
The Wolverines currently are 4-2 with losses to Texas and Washington. Mizzou hasn't played Michigan since 1975, and the two teams have never faced off in a bowl.
Dec 29, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz hoists the Field Scovell Trophy following their 14-3 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium.
ESPN: Music City Bowl vs. Michigan or Liberty Bowl vs. West Virginia
Mark Schlabach of ESPN agrees with McMurphy, sending Mizzou to face Michigan in the Music City Bowl for a battle of the Block Ms.
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Kyle Bonagura is also projecting the Tigers go bowling in Tennessee but with a trip three hours west to Memphis for a game in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 27 against West Virginia.
The Mountaineers are 3-3 on the season but 2-1 in Big 12 play, with wins over Kansas and Oklahoma State and a loss to undefeated Iowa State. Mizzou and West Virginia played a home-and-home series in 2016 and 2019, with the Mountaineers winning the game in Morgantown, 26-11, and the Tigers taking the return leg in Columbia, 38-7.
Missouri beat West Virginia in the 1998 Insight Bowl in Tucson, Arizona.
CBS: Citrus Bowl vs. Michigan
Popular choice … Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has Mizzou and Michigan play each other in a bowl, too, but has the Citrus Bowl as the destination.
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That game would take place Dec. 31 in Orlando, Florida. The Tigers last played in the Citrus Bowl in 2015, defeating Minnesota 33-17.
The Citrus Bowl has the first selection this season after the College Football Playoff teams are announced.
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USA Today: Las Vegas Bowl vs. USC
Viva, Las Vegas?
Erick Smith of USA Today says yes, sending Mizzou to Sin City for a game against Southern California in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 27.
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USC beat LSU to open the season but has since fallen to 3-3, dropping games against Michigan, Minnesota and Penn State. The Tigers last played the Trojans in 1977. Missouri has never played a bowl game in Las Vegas.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football bowl game: Where Mizzou is predicted to land
