The AP poll is known for its weekly head-scratchers throughout every college football season, and this week was no exception, as there are several teams that most agree should be ranked lower if not removed from the poll entirely. The biggest joker in that bunch? Missouri.
The factor that unquestionably sets Mizzou apart from everyone else is the stereotype that they are always kept in the rankings for as long as possible, and for what purpose? To better decorate the path for any contending SEC team. Not only that, but it’s not like the Tigers are 22nd or something, they’re 25th—the absolute lowest ranking they can receive while still keeping a glorious number next to their name. The joke just writes itself at this point.
Now, whether you feed into that conspiracy doesn’t really matter, and there are two simple reasons as to why. One is because the AP Top 25 ultimately holds no weight, at least since the CFP committee became a thing.
Sure, Mizzou (and the SEC as a whole) has been accused of getting similarly beneficial treatment from the committee, but those on it have proven that they’re not afraid to buck AP voters on certain placements, so if the Tigers remain as true-blue frauds, whatever persistent love they have floating around should die as the increasingly deep SEC eats them alive.
That brings me to my second reason, which is the fact that the Florida Gators are next up on Missouri’s agenda. That’s right, the 8th-ranked Gators that just broke 50 on Ole Miss will now be staring the Tigers dead in the eyes. If Mizzou looks half as lame as it has up to now, that pairing should make for a massacre so disastrous that 1) it shouldn’t even be televised, and 2) it should convince even the biggest Mizzou homer that a spot in the AP Poll has no business being tainted by the Tigers’ presence.
Only one Power 4 win, a heavy struggle against a Sun Belt squad, and a loss to the only good team you’ve faced. Yeah, I get why people aren’t fooled as Florida comes to town. So it sounds like you got a fork in the road, Missouri: you can stun the Gators and shoot up 10 spots or so, silencing much of your recent hate while also fighting your trend of flopping against ranked foes, or you can get ran off the field and lose what's left of your ranked status—quite possibly for the rest of the year. I don’t know which one you’ll choose, but based on how little America’s seen from you thus far, I know which one I’ll be bracing for.
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