11/24/2023 football Edit

What 10-win season means for Missouri's bowl berth opportunities

Jarod Hamilton • PowerMizzou

Staff Writer

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. 一 No. 9 Missouri defeated Arkansas 48-14 on Friday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in a very physical game that included a fight and a few ejections.

Nonetheless, the Battle Line Trophy will remain in Columbia and the Tigers clinched a 10-win season for the first time since 2014, as well as a New Year's Six bowl berth.

All that's left to determine is what the possibilities are.

The Tigers won't be in the College Football Playoff, which means they won't be in the Sugar Bowl or Rose Bowl, the two bowls hosting the CFP semifinals.

If the current rankings hold true, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and Washington will occupy those bowls.

After that, the remaining bowls are:

1. Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas on Dec. 29

2. Peach Bowl in Atlanta, on Dec. 30

3. Orange Bowl in Miami, on Dec. 30.

4. Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona on Jan. 1

The Tigers are unlikely to be in the Orange Bowl since the bowl tie-ins are an ACC team versus the highest-ranking Big Ten or SEC team. That will likely be the Ohio State-Michigan loser.

One of the bowl spots will be occupied by the Group of Five at large, which is currently Tulane. On Friday, the Green Wave scored a 29-16 win over UTSA.

No. 9 Louisville is 10-1 and has a game versus in-state rival Kentucky on Saturday. A win would give them 11 wins, and the Cardinals are already penciled in for an ACC Championship matchup versus No. 5 Florida State.

No. 11 Penn State has a date with 4-7 Michigan State on Friday night. A win would bring the Nittany Lions to a 10-win season as well.

No. 12 Ole Miss defeated Mississippi State 17-7 on Thanksgiving in the Egg Bowl to finish 10-2. So, that's another team that will have a chance to be in one of the bowls.

But those teams were already behind Mizzou before the Tigers' dominating performance on Black Friday. It's tough to see any of them leap-frogging the Tigers. Most of the teams in front of Mizzou have one or two games left and Missouri could actually see itself move up a little bit prior to the Dec. 3 bowl announcements.

The destination and the matchup will have to wait another week.

But don't ask head coach Eli Drinkwitz or his players what bowl they prefer to play in, they're just happy they'll be able to play in one of them on the national stage.

"As long as we're going, I don't care where we go. We'll show up," Drinkwitz said proudly with a smile.

"It's what we're meant to do, and I think this team is meant to play on big stages. I think we proved that all year and nothing's going to change no matter what bowl game we go to," running back Cody Schrader said after he rushed fr 217 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries. "It's not only great for us but great for the university, great for the city of Columbia because it gets them fired up. When's the last time they got to look forward to Mizzou playing past December into a New Year's Six bowl and stuff like that? So, I'm just really excited for our fans, and I know they're going to travel well."

PowerMizzou.com is a proud game day partner of Yuengling Traditional Lager the taste of game-time @yuenlingbeer #LagerUp.