Why the Missouri Tigers won’t see a breakthrough anytime soon

While the Missouri Tigers could certainly be worse off today, the strength of their upcoming schedules will keep them from making any strides.

Managing to make a bowl when sharing a conference with 12 others who did the same—two of which played in the national championship last season—is no small feat, especially when you’re the Missouri Tigers.

Sure, Missouri football may have been a rather average team in 2021, but to see any shred of the postseason after enduring a schedule that included Kentucky, Texas A&M, Georgia, and Arkansas (each of which had eight or more wins last year) nonetheless leaves behind some silver lining.

However, most of those aforementioned opponents managed to down the Tigers by rather convincing margins, and the only SEC team to suffer a loss to Missouri football by more than a field goal was—surprise, surprise—Vanderbilt.

Things are getting tougher for Missouri football

Combining all of that with the fact that fellow SEC East powers Tennessee and South Carolina are on noticeable rises, while menacing foes from the league’s West half are on the horizon, it’s hard to imagine the Missouri Tigers making any spectacular runs in the foreseeable future.

This season, Mizzou will have to visit Auburn, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee, most if not all of which are better than the Tigers today. They will also be hosting Georgia, Kentucky, and Arkansas, with the first of that trio entering September as the defending national champs.

Without a doubt, that is one of the most brutal conference slates in the country for 2022. And that doesn’t even address how menaces like Alabama, LSU, and Ole Miss will be joining that list in the coming years.

And as for out-of-conference competition, that most likely won’t be much of a comforting caress, either.

Between now and 2036, Missouri is currently set to face several respectable football programs, including Kansas, Kansas State, Boston College, Illinois, Northern Illinois, San Diego State, Colorado, Army, and BYU. The majority of those names have proven that they are capable of obtaining a level of formidability that is high enough to at least compete with the Tigers.

Lastly, having to prepare for encounters with former Big 12 rivals Oklahoma and Texas following their admission to the SEC will only make things harder, especially once the two gain footing in their new environment.

Whether it be league play or out-of-conference matchups, weeks away or years away, the Missouri Tigers football program does not appear to have many breaks awaiting them throughout the upcoming seasons, and they are unlikely to see any steep climbs in relevance as a result.