SEC · Eli Drinkwitz, year 7 (48-29) · Memorial Stadium · 71,168 · 63,609 avg in 2026
LastW 38–21 at Kansas · Fri Sep 11 · Austin Simmons 292 pass yds, 3 TD, 8 rush yds
Nextvs Troy · Sat Sep 19 · 7 pm ET · Memorial Stadium · Missouri by 26.5 · series 3-1, won the last 2 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 4 | #38 | #248 | -55.5✗ | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | W 54–14 131 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 12 | #42 | #85 | -4✓ | @Kansas | W 38–21 138 | 2-0 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Sep 19 | #39 | #122 | -26.5 | Troy | |||
| 4 | Sep 26 | #39 | #104 | @Mississippi State | ||||
| 5 | Oct 3 | Florida | ||||||
| 6 | Oct 10 | Texas A&M | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 17 | @Ole Miss | ||||||
| 9 | Oct 31 | @Arkansas | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 7 | Texas | ||||||
| 11 | Nov 14 | @Georgia | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 21 | Kentucky | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 28 | Oklahoma |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12 | @Kansas | W 38–21 | 469 | 1 | 31:21 | +0.189 | 36.5% | 152.1% | |
| Sep 4 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | W 54–14 | 562 | 1 | 33:58 | +0.378 | 57.0% | 118.9% | |
| Season average (2 games) | 516 | 1.0 | +0.284 | 46.7% | 135.5% | ||||
Missouri is the program that everyone said couldn't survive the SEC move and quietly made it look obvious — still waiting for the respect that a Show-Me state was never going to ask for twice.
Fans remember every analyst who called the SEC jump a mistake in 2012, and they note that even after two division titles and three top-15 finishes, the previews still treat Missouri as the league's af…
The season in chapters
What fans said
W 54–14 vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 8-5 · last season
✓ measured from 13 games · ranks are among SEC teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Mixed. 5-5 over the last 10, and won the last two.
It’s really going to be about guys who can get by acting as one, who can communicate, who can play through the nerves and go out and execute at a high level
Next Sep 19
vs Troy · at home
✓ fact on line · ~ our read on style
Market outlook
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-14
the open questionwhere does it go from here?
Eli Drinkwitz enters his 7th season with an 8-5 record, but the playoff path shifting raises questions about whether Missouri can sustain its SEC foothold.
our readdeveloping
Missouri has slipped from elite-tier consistency — the first time below the top-12% tier since 2025, and the gap from the #25 AP peak is structural, not just a roster rebuild.
our readfront page
Missouri: an outside ruling reshaping the program's season.
our readdeveloping
Ahmad Hardy does NOT see a usage spike in garbage time -- his workload holds steady regardless of score, and he's also efficient in competitive snaps -- the production isn't just garbage-time padding.
our readdeveloping
Joshua Manning produces at a notably LOWER rate when his team is an underdog than when favored -- he fades when the pressure is on, and his per-target value drops too.
our readdeveloping
Missouri: coordinator change reshaping a unit.
our readbackground
Ahmad Hardy converts 3rd/4th-and-short at an elite rate.
our readbackground
Donovan Olugbode is a real deep-ball threat -- a high share of his targets come on throws past the sticks.
our readbackground
Kevin Coleman Jr. is a real deep-ball threat -- a high share of his targets come on throws past the sticks.
our readbackground
Outcome band · Missouri · 2026
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
Missouri: the playoff path shifting.
The optimistic read: momentum, and the 'this is real' takes.
The analytical counter: rankings, results, and 'the hype is ahead of the tape' takes.
This event was in 179 of 3085 board posts (6%) over the last 60 days — engaged but not consumed. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
Missouri has slipped from dynasty-caliber territory — down to the top 21% of FBS by three-year power rating, from the top 14%. It is a 27-9 record over the last three regular seasons. Three-year power readings show a slip — the room is split on whether this is a dip or a trend.
The 'resurgence is real' read: the numbers are starting to back the hype.
The 'wait and see' counter -- power shifts often get overread before the season proves them.
Fan mood index · most recent r/cfb data
More in this tab
Missouri is the program that quietly moved from Big 12 doormat to SEC competitor and made the move look obvious in hindsight.
The program ledger
since 2025Judge upholds Webb's fifth year
Webb's fifth year stands — with six starters already drafted out and the safety room still under pressure, Drinkwitz needed this ruling more than a late portal add.
SEC approves 9-game conference schedule
Nine SEC games instead of eight means one fewer cupcake to hide behind — for a roster that lost 6 to the draft and is still patching safety depth, that's a real schedule tax Drinkwitz didn't ask for.
Naeshaun Montgomery named starter
Montgomery steps into a safety room bleeding from six draft exits — Drinkwitz isn't waiting on the development class to fix a starter vacancy that's been open since January.
Mizzou pre-fall depth chart released
Six drafted starters gone and the secondary still unresolved — this depth chart tells you exactly which holes Drinkwitz hasn't answered yet before fall camp opens.
EDGE Kamauryn Morgan transfer commits from Baylor
Big-12 pass-rusher to SEC — Morgan brings starts and the kind of length the league rewards.
DL Mark Hensley transfer commits from Northern Illinois
MAC interior body for the SEC — Hensley's run-stop tape was exactly the missing piece.
Top 3 commits
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
MO leads the 2026 class with 8 commits. National footprint reaching 13 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
85 signees across 23 states, 2023-2026. MO leads the pull.
That is 14.6% of every high-school FBS signee MO produced over those cycles — the biggest share any program takes — Kansas State is next. The full map →
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median Missouri player grew up 487 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to Memorial Stadium. Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 107 of 113 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Top community posts · last 12 months · r/cfb
Fan confidence lower than any point since 2021
8th percentile among FBS programs
60 of 68 AP voters have them ranked, AP ballot, week 3 (2026) — from #14, Andy Yamashita (The Seattle Times), to #25, Kirk Kenney (San Diego Union-Tribune). 8 voters left them off the ballot entirely.
Individual AP Top 25 ballots, AP ballot, week 3, 2026 — 68 voters tracked.
The bounces haven't gone their way on the fumbles they've forced: 17% recovered, vs. ~46% expected.
1 of 6 forced fumbles recovered, 2026 only.
The flags have favored them: 19 penalties drawn on opponents vs. 15 committed, 49 yards to the good.
111 penalty yards committed vs. 160 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
Outcome band · Missouri · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026