1) We're going to start this week's thoughts in the most unpopular Internet place imaginable: Right down the middle, straddling the fence. It is possible to both be disappointed in Missouri's season so far and not be freaking out about the direction of the program. The worst case scenario for the Tigers at this point in the season was 3-3. The front half of the schedule was the easier half and it contained three of the four "gimme" wins on the schedule. Missouri won all those. The first half also did not include any of the games we started the season expecting to be losses (Texas A&M, Georgia, Florida). It featured three swing games. Missouri lost all three, including one in miserable blowout fashion. And that was the one that most of us would have given the Tigers the best chance to win in the preseason. If you had said seven weeks ago that Missouri was going to be sitting 3-3 and would be a 10-point underdog against the Aggies, there would have been a handful of the most pessimistic fans saying that seemed about right. But I'm going to guess 80 to 90% of the fanbase would have viewed that as disappointing. That's where they're at and they have looked inconsistent at best in getting there. It's fine to be disappointed about the way the season has started.
But none of that means you think the program is headed in the crapper or Eli Drinkwitz doesn't know what he's doing. There's still plenty of reason for optimism based on the recruiting and the season also has six games left and, you know, college football is weird and as much as we do it every Sunday and Monday it's absolutely impossible to know with certainty what's going to happen over the next two months. We'll address both of those points in the next two thoughts.
2) As much as everybody is already writing it off, it is not impossible that Missouri wins some games you don't expect it to. It could even happen this weekend. Texas A&M pulled off one of the biggest shockers of the season on Saturday when it beat Alabama. And if that A&M team comes into Columbia on Saturday, the Tigers are going to lose. But that's the first time we've seen that A&M team this season. They spent the first five weeks of the year looking entirely pedestrian and underwhelming. And who's to say Missouri won't play its best game of the year? Look, I'm not predicting a Missouri win. I'm just saying if we awarded wins and losses on point spreads and predictions, the season would probably look a whole lot different than it does. The beauty of this sport is that things happen every single week that nobody saw coming. It's why we watch and why we care. It's why we continue to invest our time and our passion. Say it with me for the 240,000th time: These are college kids. They don't play their best every weekend. What they did last Saturday often tells us almost nothing about what they will do next Saturday. It is Monday after an underwhelming effort and so you are all quite pessimistic. By Wednesday, you'll feel a little better. By Friday, you'll be saying "Why not us?" And Saturday morning at 11 a.m., a lot of you will believe Missouri is going to put it all together and pull the upset. There will also be some of you that predict the Tigers will lose 73-0 to A&M for the second time in program history to protect yourself from the disappointment of Saturday afternoon if they do lose.
3) The real words of wisdom for Missouri fans came from an 18-year-old this weekend.
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