Pete Thamel predicts Missouri to make the College Football Playoff

Missouri took a massive step forward in 2023, finishing the season with 11 wins for the first time since 2014 and finishing the year with a Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State.

In 2024, their final ranking of No. 9 in the College Football Playoff poll wouldn’t have seen them settle for a New Year’s Six bowl. Instead, they would have been well within the CFP with an opportunity to compete for a national championship.

The Tigers have experienced turnover throughout their roster and coaching staff, leading to some questions for fans to wonder about before the start of the upcoming season. Despite this, ESPN’s Pete Thamel explained to Rece Davis on the College GameDay podcast why Missouri should expect to enjoy a stint in the 12-team playoff race at the end of the season.

“Now again, fair all of in modern college football, there are always going to be large areas of uncertainty,” Thamel told Davis. “I have a lot of questions about Missouri’s defense, especially at corner, but I do feel like there is enough on the offense, at O line, at tight end, they have arguably the most dynamic player in the country in Luther Burden.

“You can make a Zachariah Branch (USC) thing, but he has not produced. Luther Burden has produced. He was excellent in his freshman year, and he was elite last year as an All-SEC type guy.”

Last season was Burden’s breakout campaign. He finished with 86 catches, 1,212 yards, nine touchdowns and 14.1 yards per catch. As freshman, he scored six touchdowns in a much smaller sample size, catching 38 passes for 329 yards.

As a member of the Class of 2022, Burden was a five-star-plus recruit out of Saint Louis (Mo.) East, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 1 overall prospect in the state, the No. 1 wide receiver in the class and the No. 3 overall prospect in the class.

He’s certainly living up to those rankings so far, and is expected to take another leap forward in 2024.

“I feel like he can take a step, and the schedule is paved for Missouri to do this,” Thamel continued. “So again, [defensive coordinator] Blake Baker is gone on defense. There are questions, I’m not going to, you know, do that, but the schedule allows them a little bit like Ole Miss, quite frankly. The schedule allows them to find themselves, and then to put the hammer down when they need to.”

Missouri kicks off its 2024 season with a special Thursday night kickoff against Murray State on Aug. 29. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and will air live on the SEC Network.