The Tigers are a top-25 preseason team.
Missouri football is the No. 25 team in the AP preseason top-25 poll, which was published Monday, Aug. 17. It is the second time in head coach Eli Drinkwitz’s tenure that the team has been a ranked outfit entering a new campaign, with the only other instance happening in 2024.
Before Drinkwitz took over the program, the last time the Tigers were a preseason top-25 team in the AP poll was in 2015. It is the 12th time Mizzou has been ranked in the preseason in program history.
Mizzou is now a top-25 team in both major national polls — and with the same number. MU was picked as the No. 25 team in the US LBM Coaches Poll earlier in August.
The Tigers finished last season unranked after a bowl loss to Virginia capped an 8-5 season. After back-to-back double-digit win seasons, Mizzou finished both the 2023 and 2024 seasons among the end-of-year top 25.
Nine SEC teams appeared in this year’s AP poll, which was the most of any conference.
Mizzou will face five preseason top-10 squads this year: No. 3 Georgia; No. 5 Texas; No. 8 Texas A&M; No. 9 Ole Miss; and No. 10 Oklahoma.
LSU was the next-best SEC team in the initial poll at No. 11. Alabama checked in at No. 13, and Tennessee was No. 18.
Ohio State was the preseason No. 1, with fellow Big Ten outfit Oregon at No. 2. Notre Dame was No. 4, and defending national champion Indiana was No. 6.
No. 25 Mizzou opens its season on Thursday, Sept. 3, against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Faurot Field in Columbia.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Where Missouri football was ranked in preseason poll by national voters
Leave a Comment