“The girl at the end of the bar that nobody wants to take home,” is what SEC Network commentator Paul Finebaum labeled the Missouri Tigers when it was announced that they would be leaving the Big 12 Conference for the Southeastern Conference.
After an injury battered 2012 first season in the SEC in which they finished 5-7 the pundits piled on Mizzou and said that they had no business in the best league of them all. But for the second consecutive season the Tigers will be playing in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday as champions of the East Division. Mizzou will face the top ranked Alabama Crimson Tide as a 14 point dog.
At their Best when Given No Shot
Mizzou is 10-2 entering Saturday’s game against Alabama. The Tigers were able to overcome an offense that ranked 98th overall in the nation to win the SEC East Division. Their success was based in large part to a defense that ranked 16th overall nationally and 13th for points allowed. Although the offense was an eyesore for much of the season it did improve down the stretch drive for the title. The low point was reached in a 34-0 home loss to Georgia. Since that time Missouri has won six games in a row, all of them must win matchups, for their second straight SEC Championship Game appearance.
Two Ugly Defeats
That shutout loss to Georgia and a 31-27 home loss to Indiana remain frozen in the minds of fans and commentators. What that fixation fails to see is the clutch performance and methodical improvement of the Tigers in the final half of the season. A major factor that is often overlooked is that Mizzou lost nearly all of their key offensive weapons from last year due to graduation and needed time to get the new lineup set and in sync.
Mizzou Made
Head coach Gary Pinkel often gets ignored during discussions about the nation’s top program builders. Pinkel took over a program that was a Big 12 bottom feeder and made it good enough to get an invite to the SEC where it is now competing for championships. Mizzou does not get a lot of five star recruits but instead develops the talent that it does attract far more effectively than most other programs.
The player development is a process known as “Mizzou Made.” The way the Tigers came together and rallied for the East Division title is evidence of that superior player development. It would be a mistake to write off the Tigers against the Tide but it’s a mistake many seem ready to make.
