For those wondering whether MU makes top 25

Posted on: November 20, 2018 at 14:09:25 CT

Pete Fiutak has an opinion;

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/jeff-gordon/tipsheet-surging-tigers-overdue-for-national-respect/article_73495692-54cf-5325-b0de-4a32260eded5.html

It's no surprise that Missouri didn't make the Top 25 in either the Associated Press poll or the USA Today coaches college football poll.

Voters in both look at the entire season. And as much as the Tigers would like to, they can't go back and erase those heartbreaking losses at South Carolina and at home to Kentucky under extenuating circumstances.

But does anybody want to play Barry Odom's team right about now? In the past three weeks the Tigers sandwiched lopsided victories at Florida and Tennessee around a more-harrowing victory over pesky Vanderbilt.

This team has suffered massive injury hits, yet it is managing to play the best football this program has seen in some time. The Tigers are highly motivated to plow over reeling Arkansas in their regular season finale and become an unwanted opponent in whatever bowl game they land in.

Writing for College Football News, Pete Fiutak called on the College Football Playoff committee to give the Tigers a nod for their stellar finish.

First he listed their credentials:

One win over a CFP-ranked team, and it was a dominant 21-point performance on the road.
Red hot, won four of the last five games with the lone loss coming on an untimed down closing out a miraculous performance.
Two wins over teams that have secured bowl eligibility, and it could turn out to be as many as five. However …
Not even close to being in the AP or Coaches Top 25, and haven’t been in the CFP top 25.
Yeah, four losses … one on the road to a solid team in a tough finish after a weather delay. The other three losses were against last week’s CFP No. 1 on the road, and to No. 5 and No. 17 at home in a miraculously painful loss.
By the way, went on the road and beat the team that blew away (Ohio State). And here’s the key to all of this …
10th in strength of schedule.
Then Fiutak wrote this:

Remembering that the committee selects teams based on stats, schedules, eye-test, big wins, bad losses, and the overall body of work, the entire idea is to come up with the 25 best teams in college football . . .

Utah State has played a schedule that makes UCF look like it’s ripping through the SEC West, and there but for a little divine love survived against Colorado State. It’s in the top 15 in both of the other polls, just because of the record.

Missouri has played a brutal schedule that Utah State would probably be 5-6 against at absolute generous best – losses at Alabama, Georgia, at South Carolina, Kentucky – destroyed Florida in The Swamp just a few weeks ago, beat Purdue on the road – hello, Ohio State – and is playing like one of the 15 best teams in college football over the second half of the season. College Football Playoff committee, if you’re really doing this thing based on who the best teams are right now … show me.

Edited by jumbo73 at 14:09:54 on 11/20/18