Welcome to the offseason version of Four Down Territory.
It will be a little different than it was during the season. I'll post one weekly during the season, which for me is from SEC Media Days through Missouri's final game.
During the offseason, I’ll post every other week.
1. Everything about this offseason is different.
When you're watching your favorite TV series, you usually may cross a couple of thoughts about the show once you're a few seasons in.
If it's good and there is still meat on the bone, you probably enter the season finale wanting to see what's happening next season. You're already waiting for the season premiere.
If the show is good but long in the tooth, you don't mind a series finale. Some shows are great but sometimes it lasts a season or two too long.
To compare this in Missouri football terms, the 2023 season had many people wondering what the team will do in 2024, which is akin to waiting for the season premiere of the next season.
Going 11-2 with the final win being over a top 10 blueblood in one of the bigger non-College Football Playoff games will build that intrigue (on top of the massive recruiting success).
With that being the cliffhanger for the season finale, the intrigue carries over and many non-Mizzou fans are interested to see if Mizzou can keep the momentum.
After Mizzou went 6-7 in 2022, many fans were probably okay with getting to the offseason for a minute and leaving that season in the past.
Again, to relate it to TV, the Gasparilla Bowl was like the series finale happening right on time.
Mizzou football fans obviously like watching it whether the team is good or bad but seeing the team dance on the line between being .500 or not was a good stopping point.
Because football happens every fall, fans are always going to look forward to the next season but the way most fans looked forward to the 2023 season was different than they probably look forward to this fall.
Last season was more about being hopeful that the season would be better, but after what the team did last year, there's an expectation for them to be better.
2. Briefly looking at next year's wide receiver room.
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