Each Wednesday, PowerMizzou.com publisher Gabe DeArmond and recruiting editor Pete Scantlebury will answer questions from subscribers in our Tiger Mailba. This feature will allow for longer, more in-depth answers than you may get on the message board on a daily basis. To have your question in next week's mailbag, send an email to Gabe at powermizzou@gmail.com. On to this week's inquiries:

mexicojoe asks: It is September 8th, 15 seconds left in the game, MU trails Georgia 20-17. 4th down goal to go from the 1 yd line. Are you kicking a field goal and playing for OT, or going for the inaugural SEC win? If you go for it, what is the play?

GD: From the one, I'd always go for the win. Always. As for the play, I'd put Sheldon Richardson in at fullback and hand it to him straight up the gut. That way, even if it doesn't work, I could say, "But Missouri fans on the Internet told me if I just had a fullback I'd always get a yard." In seriousness, though, I'd go with a fake to the guy up the middle and give Franklin a run-pass option on the corner.

the agency asks: Give us your opinion on what you think will happen with the BCS playoff? Just a few background facts that the BCS conferences agreed on a 4 team playoff, but not how they are selected. Delaney says he prefers the current system to the SEC proposal for 4 team selection. What do you think happens?

GD: The only thing I KNOW will happen is that immediately upon announcing a plan, I will read a million opinions on the Internet about how wrong it is. Ultimately, I think it will simply be the top four ranked teams in a three-game playoff, conference champs be damned. That's the only way to do it. The thing about a playoff is this: No matter how many teams are included, someone will complain they got screwed. We have 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament and the first hour after the bracket comes out is spent discussing which teams got screwed. Hell, if you're on the bubble, you blew your chance to be in for sure and probably aren't good enough to win it all anyway. Ideally, I'd like to see an eight-team playoff using lower-tier bowl games or home sites for the first round, the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Cotton (yes, forget you Fiesta Bowl) for the semifinals and a national title game at a rotating site every year. What I think will happen is whatever the SEC and Big Ten can come to an agreement on.
wcowherd asks: Having moved past the initial excitement of signing day, how big of a deal was it for Mizzou to land DGB, both short and long term?

GD: Short term it was huge. We have had other recruits tell us "If it's good enough for the No. 1 player in the country, why wouldn't it be good enough for me?" Big-time kids want to play with other big-time kids. I think it also made a statement about the program. If DGB is from any other state, Missouri isn't likely to get him. But because he was from Missouri, they had a shot and they closed. I think the message was sent that if you're from Missouri, there's no legitimate reason to have to go out of the state to play college football. As for the long-term impact, that's too tough to tell right now, but if in-state recruiting the next couple of years is as strong as it has been so far this year, it's a very big deal.
seventhchildfifthson asks: Football is religion in SEC. With that said, how much pressure will be on Pastor Pinkel if Mizzou goes .500 next 2 years? Some? A little? Lots? Even if our Tigers win 7 or 8 each of next two years, how much is left in his tank, especially considering the last 8 months,which have been difficult on a personal level.

GD: Back-to-back .500 seasons would bring some pressure, there's no doubt. Not, you're about to lose your job pressure, but pressure. Eight-win seasons won't bring any heat. Pretty much everyone thinks the SEC is a better league than the Big 12. So if they win the same number of games in a better league, they're a better team, right? No pressure there. The only scenario that would bring any real pressure from anyone that matters is a couple of disastrous 4-and-8 type seasons and I think the chances of that are pretty low.

As for how long Pinkel has left, I think probably five years, give or take a couple. And that's not because of the last few months. I'd have given you the same answer a year ago.


...More... To continue reading this article you must be a member. Sign Up Now for a FREE Trial