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One thing we aren’t talking enough about for 2026: Missouri Tigers

May 23, 2026 | 1:43 PM
Eli Drinkwitz

Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

By Chris Marler

We continue our positivity series by highlighting one thing that deserves more attention heading into the 2026 season. Today’s focus is on the Missouri Tigers football.

Missouri belongs in the SEC 

Every piece of this series has centered around one positive takeaway heading into this season. Not historically, and not years down the road. Just this season. But indulge me for a minute and let me combine my weekly rant with today’s “One Positive Thing” article.

Missouri belongs in the SEC, and it’s so incredibly dumb to hear anything in opposition to that. You can make the low-hanging fruit jokes about their geographic location, but outside of maps and atlas-core content, it’s pretty dumb. 

Missouri has been to the SEC Championship game twice since joining the conference in 2012. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s more than Tennessee, South Carolina, Ole MIss, Missouri, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M combined. They also haven’t had a losing season in the last nine years and have made a bowl game in each of the last five years. These are things that a ton of teams in this very conference have not been able to do.

It’s odd to me that people are so hellbent on continuing the cliche. Missouri is 29-10 over the last three years. This year, they go into the season with one of the highest ceiling quarterbacks in the league, and are returning the best running back in the country. 

They did lose the best EDGE rushing combo in the conference in Damon Wilson II and Zion Young. Replacing 15.5 sacks and 26 TFLs will be tough. But, Eli Drinkwitz is an offensive minded coach and has a ton of tools at his disposal to have another big season. 

Working even more in Missouri’s favor is that they are flying under the radar, which is where they usually are at their best. 

And, all of that is something we aren’t talking enough about with Missouri in 2026.

Chris Marler

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