Missouri Tigers: First Loss Not the End of World for 7-1 Team

With their first loss of the season on Saturday to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the hopes of another run at No. 1 and a national title probably ended in Lincoln. But for a team that is 7-1, when many thought even that was a stretch, the season is far from over for the Missouri Tigers.

It all starts this Saturday night in Lubbock when Mizzou will take on 4-4 Texas Tech. This should be, and I stress, should be an easy win. Tech has problems on both sides of the ball, especially with a defense that is very susceptible to the pass and not much better against the run.

So far this season, the Red Raiders are giving up more than 300 yards through the air, and more than 130 yards per game on the ground.

This could be a big game for Blaine Gabbert, Micheal Egnew, T.J. Moe, Jerrell Jackson and Devon Moore, among others.

After that, the Tigers will come back to Memorial Stadium for their last home game of the season against Kansas State. After a strong start, which included a defeat of UCLA in Manhattan, the Wildcats have struggled.

Mizzou will then hit the road for Ames, which can always be a tricky place to play, to take on Iowa State. Second-year coach Paul Rhoads has the Cyclones headed in the right direction, but a lot more will be known about them after they take on Nebraska this weekend.

The Tigers finish up the season, as they have for the past few years, at the end of this month with a trip to Arrowhead Stadium to take on Kansas. For the first time in three years, this should be a game that is not decided by a field goal. Since an early win over Georgia Tech, the big talk in Lawrence is about when the basketball season starts.

So, if you look at the rest of the Tigers' schedule, while there will be no easy games, Mizzou could easily finish the rest of the season 4-0. That would make the Tigers 11-1, and if Nebraska drops a game somewhere during that stretch, Mizzou could find itself in Dallas playing in the last Big 12 Championship game.

But, what would be the best bowl path for the Tigers?

Turn the clock back to 2007. Mizzou is 10-1 and No. 1 in the country going into the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma. Already with one loss to the Sooners, the Tigers lose and end the regular season at 10-2.

The week before, the Tigers had beaten then undefeated Kansas at Arrowhead. The 10-1 Jayhawks would then get the bid to the Orange Bowl, while the Tigers would get the Cotton Bowl.

The same could happen this year, as it appears one—loss Nebraska is headed to Dallas to take on presumably Oklahoma in the last Big 12 title game. But, the Tigers could be the ones getting the trip to South Florida, while the Cornhuskers would go to Dallas.

Bowl committees can always be tricky, but it would be hard to pass up a 10-1 Mizzou team, compared with a two—loss Cornhusker bunch.

But first things first, the Tigers take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday night in Lubbock. Kick off will be just after 7:00.