Missouri football is a College Football Playoff contender.
It’s an exciting time to be a college football fan, especially for Missouri football supporters. The Tigers are riding high on the momentum from their impressive 2023 season and have set their sights on the College Football Playoff for 2024. As August arrives, anticipation is building, with the first games kicking off on the 24th, marking the end of a long offseason.
College football fever is spreading across the country, and this offseason felt a bit shorter thanks to the release of the new EA Sports NCAA 25 video game in mid-July, which kept fans engaged. However, the upcoming season will bring some rule changes that might not sit well with all fans. The most significant change is the introduction of a two-minute warning, similar to the NFL. For fans already frustrated by the number of commercials during games, the two-minute warning could be seen as yet another opportunity for TV networks to insert additional breaks into the action.
There are more changes on the horizon, and while some fans are in favor, others remain skeptical. College football is set for a major transformation next year with the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams and significant conference realignment. The idea of California schools competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference may seem odd, but it’s a sign of how much the landscape is shifting.
Conference realignment has dramatically altered the traditional structure. The once-powerful “Power Five” conferences are no longer intact, with the Pac-12 essentially dissolving. Nearly all of its teams have moved to new conferences, leaving only Oregon State and Washington State behind. These two schools have formed scheduling alliances with the Mountain West but haven’t officially joined the conference.
Every other Pac-12 school has found a new conference to call home. Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and Arizona State have joined the Big 12, while Oregon, Oregon State, USC, and UCLA have moved to the Big Ten. Meanwhile, Cal and Stanford have made the surprising jump to the ACC—an unusual fit geographically, but part of the ongoing realignment.
The SEC is also seeing significant changes, with Oklahoma and Texas leaving the Big 12 to join the conference. With the Big Ten and SEC now stacked with powerhouse teams, some believe we may be heading toward a future dominated by two super conferences.
This season will also introduce an expanded College Football Playoff, with 12 teams competing instead of the usual four. The playoff will now span about a month, providing more high-stakes college football games. While not everyone is thrilled with the expansion, the increase in marquee matchups is hard to argue against.
Overall, this season is shaping up to be one of the most significant in college football history. With these changes, we’re witnessing the beginning of a new era for the sport.
Missouri football is coming off of a strong 2023 season
Missouri football isn’t typically seen as a major threat in the SEC, and while it would be surprising to see them win the conference this year, they are still expected to be a top contender. In the preseason AP Poll released on Monday, the Tigers are ranked #11 in the nation, with four SEC teams ahead of them in the top 10—an expected scenario in such a competitive conference.The good news for Missouri is that they don’t necessarily need to win the SEC to achieve their season goals. While winning the conference is certainly a target, the expanded College Football Playoff (CFP) format, which now includes 12 teams, means the Tigers could still have a successful season by simply making the playoff. Although they didn’t qualify for the playoff last year, they would have made it under this new format.
The expanded CFP brings a significant advantage: losing one game no longer spells disaster for a team’s season. With a tough schedule, even a 9-3 record could be enough to secure a playoff spot. This change opens up opportunities for many teams that might not have had a realistic shot under the old four-team format—Missouri being one of them.
However, despite their high hopes, Missouri has one significant flaw that could potentially prevent them from making the playoff.