2023 Missouri Football Schedule Preview (Game-By-Game Analysis)

we are Chris Lee and Blake love of Southeastern here to preview Missouri's football schedule for the coming season we're doing that with every team in the SEC Blake I think this is an interesting schedule and I will tell you why we've got a composite that's running across the kicker at the bottom of your screen we've averaged four sources we like and seeing where they rate all the teams in the FBS from 1 to 133 Missouri has got by my account eight teams that are in the top 30 of that composite it's also got some games against teams that are outside that those will be Vandy in Memphis that I don't think are gimme's the Memphis game on a neutral site and a game with Middle Tennessee State that may be a little bit more intriguing for reasons I'll get into than people perceive what say you about the Tigers schedule this coming year I made it it doesn't feel easy um that's for sure because you know like you said you've got Kansas state is a a top 20 opponent basically out outside the conference you got LSU on the schedule I think it's only the third time those two teams have played since Missouri joined the SEC um you know you've gotta get the road trip to Kentucky you got to go to Georgia you got Tennessee on there of course you got that game at Arkansas which who knows I think you always just kind of you know throw your hands in the air about sometimes with those two teams play yeah I mean you got you know South Carolina as we said I think a team would be projected to do some you know some damage this season even going to Vanderbilt you know it's not a home game in Colombia Memphis and DSU um I think you know very winnable games for Missouri but I don't know if there's going to be complete pushovers so Lake Missouri will be one of those teams we probably label as sort of the widest range perhaps of a possibilities this season but and again we say that and when we make our game by game predictions uh may not please Missouri fans but who knows we wind up having them six and six again which kind of seems to be the you know kind of that that normal range for this team over the past several years so yeah if you just had to pick a team to follow every year just out of it's going to be interesting you could do a lot worse than Missouri I think most of its games last year were close win or lose and who knows that could be the case again this year but let's dive into the schedule we'll start in September South Dakota and the opener on September 2nd that is South Dakota not South Dakota State big difference South Dakota last year went three and eight this should be a give me in the win column for Missouri again we'll do game by game predictions later but MTSU on September the 9th Now Blake I'll tell you why I think this game is is mildly interesting Missouri was supposed to open its season last year with a trip to Middle Tennessee State I think that set up a bizarre sequence of a bunch of road games to start the season Missouri wound up paying 1.3 million dollars to get that one off the schedule and take Louisiana's Tech instead 800 000 of that went to MTSU so I don't know if the blue Raiders will have a little bit of The Grudge Factor heading into Columbia on September 9th that's a team that can move the ball most years under Coach Rick stock still has been there 17 years they were not as good offensively next year Missouri should win it but just an interesting Dynamic there Kansas state that is a game in Colombia this year so the Tigers have three straight to start at home that was sort of we thought at the time there might be the season record I think that Kansas State won that one what was it 40 to 12. uh Missouri recovered nicely from there but that that'll be a tough game against say a preseason top 20 team and then a game in Memphis Blake in Memphis or excuse me in St Louis against Memphis uh that that's a little bit of an odd setup uh but anyway three straight at home and then a winnable game in State against Memphis to start the schedule here yeah I mean you don't leave Missouri until September the 30th of that game at Vanderbilt which again still I mean that's probably not the most intimidating Road game on your schedule so I think that's what kind of stands out the most but but like you said I think it's going to be interesting to see what their record is coming out of those first four games because as we talked about like the Vanderbilt schedule we did um Vanderbilt similar in that they play you know sometimes we see in the SEC teams non-conference opponents sprinkled in somewhere along the way but you know both these teams play they're non-conference opponents all up front and so it'll be interesting to kind of see where these teams stand heading into that first game against each other in SEC play on September the 30th so it's kind of interesting how the schedules unfold here for those two teams but yeah I mean Kansas State's the one that obviously last year I think we talked going into it we really it was hard to gauge exactly how that game is going to play out and it swung so far in Kansas State's favor that you know kind of changed our perception in Missouri but I mean look we and I'm gonna say this a little bit later on too but it's like I just feel like Missouri's one of those teams that um you know sometimes they're going to be right there in in those games I mean we saw last year writing against Georgia and um you know this is a little bit earlier in the season but I think this will tell us a lot about kind of where they're at and I think the Memphis game could tell us a lot because I mean that's not a bad Memphis team I think Athlon had to pick fourth in the American um they've got Seth Hennigan at quarterback they got two all AC Defenders back so that's not a bad team and so that's one of those games and if you're Missouri and you're trying to get to a bowl game given the rest of your schedule you gotta win but who knows could we look it up in Missouri's 4-0 uh if they were to pull off an upset against Kansas State I think you know there's a lot of possibilities early on in the schedule so yeah the vanity Series has been interesting because that's one that seemed to go down to the last five minutes the last several times those teams have played certainly that one did a year ago LSU seeing the Tigers come to Columbia will be interesting obviously Missouri will be a decided Underdog in that and then in two games that I think could be the swing games of the Season road trip to Kentucky Missouri lost if I remember this now just a really weird game based on a maybe a punt return play or something like that um they did have a lot of weird games last year and that might have been that might have been at the top of the list of the weird games Kentucky bringing Liam Cohen back we'll see where the Wildcat offense is under a quarterback and coordinator change at that point and in South Carolina another game that that on paper feels very competitive and they catch Carolina before that November spell where Shane Beamer's teams seemed to just flip a switch and played a level we didn't even know they could play at so very interesting sequencing of events there in October yeah Missouri had six games last year decided by a touchdown or less so um yeah and they lost several of those games so I think that was yeah that was just an interesting kind of and that's what I mean like I feel like they're going to be with a chance to play these teams close and so that's why I think when you look at the schedule I mean as you mentioned you've got kind of that that set up the Vanderbilt game is just always important um it's not ideal as I mentioned earlier having LSU on the schedule from the West because I think LSU's got a great chance to repeat as the SEC West Champion of course Alabama will be in the mix who knows a m could be there too and and who knows maybe if any of those other teams kind of pop up there into the conversation but I guess the bright side right is at least you get this one in Columbia so um that's at least a somewhat as I said I mean who knows right maybe it's the LSU game maybe it's the Kansas State game maybe it's the Tennessee game Missouri gets a top tier team that comes into the you know their own stadium and and has a chance to pull off the upset kind of like they did last year against Georgia who knows maybe that's a possibility Kentucky um you know keep mentioning kind of a weird game last season but I just think that's tougher now going to Lexington to win that game with kind of a new look offense or some new guys leading the way on that offense for Kentucky and then South Carolina um you know the Gamecocks I would expect to continue that momentum um you know with Spencer Rattlers back and can they continue to build off of what they did towards the end of the last season so not an easy stretch by any means as you kind of head into that part of the schedule okay last four interesting uh at Georgia you would be tempted to say blow out and then might have a little revenge on the mind the way they played last season yeah I mean Missouri could have won that game a year ago in Colombia and maybe that was on Georgia not not showing up and be in Georgia but let's give the Tigers some credit here they were I think the closest team to beating Georgia they should have won that game um you know one play basically swings the momentum of that game and it's just so wild to think back on but who knows that you never know maybe Missouri is one of those teams that just gonna play Georgia tight but my expectation is going to Athens um the dogs probably won't forget how they played last season in Colombia so well Missouri may not forget Tennessee uh what did Josh heupel's first two teams that put well like 214 points on them in the last two games I mean it's been ugly hmm yeah well this offense is gonna have some pieces to replace so maybe maybe that's something that look I know we have we kind of laid out the entire this back part of the schedule yet but I think Missouri's defense right and we'll talk about Missouri's defense this summer that's going to be the key to this whole schedule like because I do think it's like think about how much that kept them in games last year and if they can just kind of build off of that um I mean again I think Missouri's there's a lot of possibilities with the schedule even as difficult as it seems on paper okay the last two I think are interesting I mean they're interesting anyway but I think they're very interesting based on sequencing um for the team that we're not particularly high on that fan base has no patience for coaches I don't think they're going to like and that this is a lot of projecting okay I I don't think if Florida is not going well at that point in the season they're going to fire Billy Napier because that is a a culture overhaul down there in Gainesville that needed to be done and he's doing I think he's the right guy but it's always interesting to see a team where fans expectations are not met and in the SEC where everybody other than maybe Vanderbilt it's a pressure cooker you see the wheels fall off teams and so I would rather have Florida I think later than sooner given all those hypotheticals I threw up no look Florida May overachieve and it may not be like that at all but I'm always circling games in my head like okay where's the place where expectations might be a little bit out of whack and fan base might be a little upset with the coach not that that ever happens not in the SEC no way looking at you Auburn um but yeah I mean that's that's one that you can you can say okay what's that Dynamic with Florida gonna look like going into what should be a you know reasonably evenly matched game uh probably Edge to Missouri and Columbia then you got at Arkansas uh and that's another one I like the job Sam Pittman's done but we have if you haven't noticed a few Razorback fans that watch our Channel and there seems to be some disgruntlement and some uh expectations that he needs to really make hay which is always tough to do in the SEC West I look at those last two games and I want to know what's going on with those other two programs um because if I do I think I have a better idea how Missouri matches up think about this we're going to enter November 18th perhaps I've got Florida and Arkansas I swear the two games that could Define Missouri season but if you really think about it as a whole those three teams like think about how much those could be defining games for all three programs um depending on where they are and then all three coaches depending on where their teams are at that point in the season so I I just think these two are so fascinating again we can look at the LSU at Kentucky Georgia Tennessee Kansas State so forth those are the ranked teams but I think these two games are the one that could set off like that domino effect depending on what happens in these two games for any of the three programs involved so I do believe those are probably going to be sort of the defining games of the Season like I said maybe not just for Missouri maybe for Florida maybe for Arkansas um and I think that could decide a lot for Missouri in terms of again can they get to a bowl game are they going to be six and six again are they going to be better than that um these feel like two games that could really tell us a lot about that but like I said it's hard to I don't even know what and we'll do our game by game predictions in another video here in a couple weeks but I don't know what I couldn't even tell you what record I would have Missouri at right now heading into those final two games and I just think that's why there's so much sort of flexibility in terms of what you could perceive these three teams being at this point in the season um and I think that's what it all comes down to so I think just finishing it off with that can Missouri play that potential spoiler against one of the what five ranked teams they have on their schedule right now um I think those are the biggest questions heading into the scene yeah I'm glad you brought that up because Arkansas Florida not the only two teams in that situation where the the coaching temperature could get a little dicey Missouri and I don't think they'll wait Eli drinkwood's done a bad job but one way to antagonize a fan base is go six and six every year um and look I think he's again I think he's done a decent job but if they're not winning seven rate games by the end of the season fans are probably going to be unhappy so you make a good point that it's going to be maybe multiple programs potentially in that spot um so who knows it could be a situation where you got coaching change on the on the mind at that point can get a stagecoach football you know Dennis Gates um I've heard he's got a great background in football um I don't I'm already I've already pushed him for one Missouri job I don't know that I can do that for another just yet but um you never know depends on how well um you know the summer goes for basketball if they're looking pretty good ahead of September you just never know maybe maybe a lot of drinkwoods brings him out there for a little a little you know assistant work perhaps I wouldn't doubt it I mean Dennis Gates can do everything so yeah right always comes back to dinner skates all right Blake um we got many more scheduled previews to come up we're just getting started with these best way to get them hit the Subscribe button enable your notifications and hit the like button if you would please it helps us get noticed helps us get sponsors all those good things that help us get paid in any case he is Blake Lovell I'm Chris Lee thanks for watching us here at Southeastern 14. we'll see you again soon with another SEC football schedule