I think it’s time we organize a protest.
Nothing complicated. A few signs. Some comfortable shoes. Maybe somebody brings snacks or a bottle of bourbon.
Our demand?
Respect for Mizzou.
Because holy hell, did you see the Florida game Saturday?
Just a week ago, we were falling all over ourselves talking about the Gators. Jon Sumrall was hotter than Texas chili. Jadan Baugh was a man-beast from hell, running like he was possessed against Ole Miss. Florida looked dangerous, exciting and ready to climb. I was hearing people wonder whether the Gators might be a top-five team.
Then the Gators went to Columbia.
Missouri smoked them, 45–17.
Baugh ran for 13 yards on 12 carries. Meanwhile, Mizzou’s Jamal Roberts ran for 211 yards and three touchdowns. Austin Simmons threw for 340 yards and two scores. The Tigers took the afternoon’s most anticipated conversation and rewrote it.
We had Roberts on Full Ride a few weeks back, and you could tell the kid had a great work ethic and character. Clearly, he has the football skills to match.
We arrived ready to talk about Florida.
We left needing to talk about Missouri.
Funny how that keeps happening.
Mizzou is the Rodney Dangerfield of the SEC. It gets no respect.
And Rodney is probably my favorite comedian not named Andrew Dice Clay, so understand that I say this with affection.
But the football part?
That’s bullshit.
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Missouri has receipts
Let’s start with Gary Pinkel.
Missouri joined the SEC in 2012. By its second season, it had won the East. The Tigers finished 12–2 in 2013 and beat Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl.
Then they won the East again in 2014 and finished 11–3.
Back-to-back division championships. In years two and three of SEC membership.
That ought to buy you a little credibility.
Pinkel had already demonstrated what Missouri could become before the move. His 2007 team went 12–2, reached the top of the national conversation and finished fourth in the final polls. Chase Daniel finished fourth in the Heisman voting. Missouri followed with another Big 12 North championship and 10 wins in 2008. So yeah, they have legit accomplishments to back this up. This a good football program.
Those teams were loaded with players worth remembering.
Just look at the talent Mizzou has produced over the last decade: Drew Lock, Nick Bolton, Tyler Badie, Cody Schrader, Luther Burden III, Darius Robinson, the list keeps going. Legit dudes.
Drinkwitz doesn’t fit the costume
Now look at Eli Drinkwitz.
Eleven wins in 2023. Ten in 2024. Eight in 2025. The 2023 team beat Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Yes, Ohio State.
Yet I still feel like we approach Missouri by making a list of everything that might go wrong.
This year, Ahmad Hardy’s absence understandably raised concerns. He is an outstanding player recovering from an offseason shooting, and his health matters far more than any football argument. But there was still a team around him, and that team deserved consideration.
Roberts just gave Florida 211 reasons to reconsider the idea that Missouri couldn’t run the ball without Hardy.
And Simmons is finding new life.
Ole Miss started him last season for a reason. An ankle injury opened the door for Trinidad Chambliss, who took advantage of his opportunity. That sequence didn’t erase Simmons’ ability.
Now we’re watching that ability in Columbia.
Drinkwitz deserves credit for what he is building, even if he doesn’t look like everybody’s preferred version of Joe Football Coach.
He’s a dork with glasses.
So am I.
I find this representation deeply encouraging.
He doesn’t give me the same sideline impression as Nick Saban or Curt Cignetti. There is something a little more unexpected about him. He can look like the guy who has strong opinions about your fantasy league’s scoring system, then turn around and coach a team that kicks your ass.
I love it.
Smart counts. Knowing football counts. Getting players to respond counts. I SAY TO HELL WITH THE MEAT HEADS! REVENGE OF THE NERDS, BABY!
And Missouri responded beautifully after the close loss to Mississippi State. The Tigers came back and dismantled a top-10 opponent.
That takes character, fight and gumption.
It also deserves attention.
I think geography works against them
Here is my theory: Mizzou suffers from geographic prejudice in its own conference.
I can’t put that in a box score. It’s my read of how we talk about the program.
Missouri doesn’t feel quite Southern enough to receive the automatic cultural embrace we give some other SEC schools. Columbia feels more Midwestern to me. Put Mizzou on a schedule with Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa, and the geography makes immediate sense.
Its old conference relationships make sense, too. Kansas. Kansas State. The familiar schools and rivalries from its Big Eight and Big 12 life.
Then there’s the university itself. Missouri has a renowned journalism school. Its identity extends beyond football in a way that stands out to me when I think about its place in the SEC.
That is part of what makes Mizzou interesting.
But sometimes I wonder whether we subconsciously treat it as a Big Ten school visiting an SEC party.
Texas A&M joined the same year. Yet, to my ear, the Aggies get a more generous hearing when people discuss their potential.
Texas football. Texas resources. Texas recruiting.
We can picture it.
Missouri has to make us picture it all over again.
That’s the prejudice I’m talking about: the familiar image getting the benefit of the doubt while the less familiar one keeps having to produce identification at the door.
The Wisconsin of the SEC
The comparison I keep coming back to is Wisconsin under Barry Alvarez, as both coach and athletic director.
They built something recognizable and durable.
That’s the opportunity I see for Missouri.
The comparison is about building a place in the conference hierarchy. Missouri can become the program that keeps reminding the league how much identity, development and good coaching matter.
There are different ways to assemble a great team.
Mizzou has shown it can find them.
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Respect comes with responsibility
Now, I’m not asking anyone to pretend Missouri has been Alabama.
The Tigers have had uneven seasons. Saturday’s victory ended a nine-game losing streak against ranked opponents. That matters, and it gives people a legitimate reason to ask how consistently Missouri can beat the best teams on its schedule.
My argument is that we should judge Missouri with the same openness we bring to more familiar names.
Remember the peaks alongside the valleys. Recognize what good coaching has produced there. Give the players credit for what they do on the field.
And when the Tigers kick the hell out of Florida, spend some time talking about what Missouri did right.
I don’t want Sunday’s conversation to become exclusively an investigation into what went wrong with the Gators.
Roberts happened. Simmons happened. Missouri’s defense happened.
A team with something to prove lined up against a celebrated opponent and proved it.
That ought to be the story.
So yes, I’m calling for a protest.
Respect for Mizzou.
Rodney Dangerfield made a career out of getting no respect.
Missouri has spent enough Saturdays making the rest of us look like the punch line.
I wish Delaney had picked Missouri for the B1G instead of Nebraska. Or instead of MD and Rutgers. Or would Mizzou already have been in the SEC? If they were B1G they would have great rivalries with Illinois and Iowa.
I first noticed Drink at App State. He’s fantastic and finally, people other than Miz fans are taking notice. There’s a reason he’s never on the hot seat.