Mizzou Football: Analyzing and Predicting the Rest of the 2011 Season

After Missouri's huge upset win over Texas A&M on Saturday, the Tigers evened their record at 4-4.

Missouri has once again positioned itself to qualify for a bowl game. It would be the seventh consecutive bowl trip for the Missouri program.

The rest of Missouri's schedule is manageable, with two home games and a neutral-site game against Kansas.

Let's look and speculate at the rest of the Tigers' 2011 season.

November 5th: @ Baylor

The Baylor Bears will still be recovering from their 59-24 beatdown at the hands of Oklahoma State. That being said, Baylor is still a dangerous team led by its all-everything quarterback Robert Griffin III.

Griffin will be able to move the ball against the Tigers, but Baylor's poor defense should allow Missouri to win a high-scoring affair.

Missouri 45, Baylor 28. Missouri runs its record to 5-4.

November 12th: Texas

Missouri has a tremendous chance to win this game. The Longhorns will be coming off a tough rivalry game against Texas Tech. The Longhorns are young on offense. Missouri's improving defense should be able to take advantage of that facet of Texas for sure.

That being said, this just feels like a loss. This game feels like one Missouri could win but won't.

Texas is still too talented for the Tigers.

Texas 28, Missouri 24. Missouri is back even at 5-5.

November 19th: Texas Tech

Who is Texas Tech? Is it the team that stunned Oklahoma 41-38 or is it the team that was destroyed by Iowa State 49-7?

That's the big question for Missouri. At a projected 5-5, Missouri will desperately need this game to improve its bowl chances.

This a matchup of two teams that run the spread offense in hot-and-cold fashions. Both teams can be explosive and then turn right around and look inefficient.

Expect a fairly high-scoring game and the Tigers' home-field advantage to be the difference.

Missouri 34, Texas Tech 27. Missouri is 6-5.

November 26th: @ Kansas

This game is the annual "Border War" game played at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium.

Kansas is flat-out terrible. It has one of the worst run defenses in the country, currently ranking 119th out of 120.

Expect the Tiger running game led by Big 12 leading rusher Henry Josey and quarterback James Franklin to tear up the Jayhawks.

Missouri 49, Kansas 21. Missouri finishes 7-5.

Meineke Car Care Bowl: Illinois

After finishing 7-5, the Missouri Tigers should have a few options for the bowl season. The Insight Bowl is a possibility, but that bowl may go in a different directions with Mizzou playing Iowa there last year.

Expect Missouri to end up in Texas somehow—either in the Meineke Car Care Bowl or the Alamo Bowl. Missouri loves playing in Texas to helps its huge recruiting base there. Also don't forget the idea that Missouri is probably going to the SEC. The Big 12 will do its best to make sure the Tigers don't end up in that attractive of a location.

Best guess a month out is the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Illinois. The game would feature an already established rivalry (Missouri played Illinois in 2002, 2003, 2007-2010) and excite both teams and fanbases.

It would be a nice draw for the mid-level bowl and a solid reward for the Missouri Tigers.