The 2012 Mizzou Football Thread

[JL21]

You're pretty familiar with Tennesse. How do you think Mizzou will do in that game?

Between pundits assuming Mizzou and A&M will suck in the SEC, and others picking West Virginia to win the Big XII, I'm surprised at how much that conference has been disrespected. Mind you, I don't care, because [expletive] the Big XII. Still... some Big East squad is going to come in and win it the first year? I'll believe it when I see it.

And for the record, I understand the A&M hesitation for obvious reasons- new coach, playing in the SEC West... They could have a really ugly year.

[ThatGuy]

You're pretty familiar with Tennessee. How do you think Mizzou will do in that game?

At this point it's very hard to judge. Last year UT opened up well and the wheels fell off starting with the Florida game. If everybody stays healthy, this team is going to be much better than the embarrassment we fielded last year. Part of the poor record can be chalked up to a horrendous schedule (we played Alabama, LSU and Arkansas from the West), but nevertheless, it was rough. We've had a lot of turmoil and we haven't had much depth in recent seasons, but I think this is the first year where we've got a good chance at regaining some of our pride. The offense can be scary with a great QB and some very talented receivers (our juco transfer Patterson is looking like a beast), but there's still a lot of room for improvement with the running game. The defense looks better, but I need to see them against a good/great offensive team before passing judgment.

Basically, I think it'll be a great game, but it's hard to make even an educated guess - I don't even know which team I'd pick at this point. Certainly both teams can feel like they've got a good shot. I'd say Missouri fans might be too confident if they're of the mindset that the Vols haven't improved since last year, and Tennessee fans will probably be too confident because of the "not an SEC team" perception. Missouri's got road games in Columbia, Gainesville, Knoxville and College Station, and if Tennessee is having a good year by the time November rolls around, it could be a very hostile environment. Not that you won't see that in the other stadiums, but our fans are salivating at the thought of being relevant again - kind of like an explosion waiting to happen.

With the Vols, I've developed a mindset where I don't try to make any kind of meaningful assessment of their chances until after they play Florida. This year will be interesting, however, because Florida usually opens with two cream puffs and keeps the full playbook hidden until week three, but being that they've got A&M next week they will likely have to reveal a bit more.

It may sound bizarre, but if we're going on what we know right now, Missouri and Tennessee could both factor into the East race this year in a big way. I think we'll know a lot more about both teams after the next two weeks.

[Socnorb11]

I haven't heard anyone selling Missouri short in the SEC, other than Missouri fans. As I mentioned earlier, I had a Missouri fan at work bet me that they wouldn't finish over .500 in the conference.

No offense, but I think that Missouri fans are playing the "no respect" card as a means to motivate themselves. I think most others are taking a "wait and see" approach. I'm sure there are exceptions to that, but this outside observer thinks that they'll do just fine in the SEC.

[ThatGuy]

No offense, but I think that Missouri fans are playing the "no respect" card as a means to motivate themselves. I think most others are taking a "wait and see" approach. I'm sure there are exceptions to that, but this outside observer thinks that they'll do just fine in the SEC.

I am around SEC fans constantly, and many of them do not give any respect to Missouri. Some do, but even my fellow Tennessee fans are not convinced of the program's worthiness despite the fact that Mizzou has had much more success recently.

[Socnorb11]

No offense, but I think that Missouri fans are playing the "no respect" card as a means to motivate themselves. I think most others are taking a "wait and see" approach. I'm sure there are exceptions to that, but this outside observer thinks that they'll do just fine in the SEC.

I am around SEC fans constantly, and many of them do not give any respect to Missouri. Some do, but even my fellow Tennessee fans are not convinced of the program's worthiness despite the fact that Mizzou has had much more success recently.

Yeah, I'm not around any SEC fans really, so maybe that's where it's coming from. Or maybe I'm on an island in believing that Missouri will do well in the SEC. Regardless, as others have pointed out, beating Georgia is the first step to taking care of that............ and I think Missouri will.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

It's really kinda fascinating how many SEC fans interpret "wait and see" to mean "let's see if they can beat Kentucky or Vanderbilt, then we'll talk". Even fans of teams like Arkansas, who got curb-stomped by Mizzou in a bowl game not too long ago. Funny how there was a lot of bluster about the "different caliber" of player Mizzou would be facing in that game too.

[ThatGuy]

They won't really have much choice but to show some respect if Missouri beats Georgia, but I know there will be holdouts talking about a fluke game, Georgia being overrated, etc. I'm more excited about that game than my own team's riveting game against Georgia State.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I haven't heard anyone selling Missouri short in the SEC, other than Missouri fans. As I mentioned earlier, I had a Missouri fan at work bet me that they wouldn't finish over .500 in the conference.

No offense, but I think that Missouri fans are playing the "no respect" card as a means to motivate themselves. I think most others are taking a "wait and see" approach. I'm sure there are exceptions to that, but this outside observer thinks that they'll do just fine in the SEC.

I don't know where you live, but if you tune into any of the SEC sports talk shows in the afternoon (via the internet if you are out of the market), you'd change your tune greatly.

[Socnorb11]

I haven't heard anyone selling Missouri short in the SEC, other than Missouri fans. As I mentioned earlier, I had a Missouri fan at work bet me that they wouldn't finish over .500 in the conference.

No offense, but I think that Missouri fans are playing the "no respect" card as a means to motivate themselves. I think most others are taking a "wait and see" approach. I'm sure there are exceptions to that, but this outside observer thinks that they'll do just fine in the SEC.

I don't know where you live, but if you tune into any of the SEC sports talk shows in the afternoon (via the internet if you are out of the market), you'd change your tune greatly.

Yeah, I acknowledged that........... ThatGuy mentioned the same thing. I live in Iowa, so it's mostly Big Ten talk. But I do live right on the border of Missouri, and I haven't heard much smack-talk about them here. The Missouri fans in this area do seem to think that they're going to struggle in the SEC, though.

[JL21]

As excited as I am for this weekend's game, I have to admit that I'm not as excited as I was for the KU game in 2007 or the OU game in 2010.