Why Missouri has the makeup of a College Football Playoff contender in 2024

The Missouri Tigers are coming off one of the best seasons in school history, going 11-2 and beating Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. They finished No. 8 overall — just the third time the program has finished the season inside the Top 10 since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. 

But Eli Drinkwitz continues to “stand on business,” and Mizzou’s head coach has all eyes looking forward to a 2024 season that could be even more special. Like hosting a College Football Playoff home game special. 

“If you get caught patting yourself on the back for last year, you’re going to be disappointed. Nobody here is sitting around staring at the Cotton Bowl trophy,” Drinkwitz said earlier this spring. 

“What matters is now, and the people who are here with the opportunities moving forward. In order to go further faster, you have to start over in laying the foundation.”

It’s only mid-March, but the Tigers wrapped up spring practice over the weekend with their Black and Gold Game. The early steps of that 2024 foundation have been paved.

Missouri fans got their first glimpses of impact transfers like Oklahoma blue-chip tackle Cayden Green, tailbacks Marcus Carroll and Nate Noel, and pass rushers Sterling Webb and Darris Smith. They got to see a more polished and confident quarterback Brady Cook, and an offense that features an array of playmakers at wideout and tight end. 

Overall, there’s plenty of reasons for Rock M Nation to be excited right now.  

When figuring out how to replace Thiccer Kicker Harrison Mevis is one of your biggest problems, your program is probably in pretty good shape. And that’s where the Tigers stand a little more than five months before the 2024 season. 

Missouri will enter the year ranked somewhere in the Top 10, and when you consider the Tigers’ offensive upside, how Drinkwitz has supplemented the roster via the transfer portal and the team’s schedule, not contending for the SEC and a College Football Playoff spot would actually be a disappointment. 

Why Missouri could crack the 12-team playoff in 2024 

Earlier this spring, I wrote how Drinkwitz and Brady Cook should be ecstatic with Alabama’s decision to promote from within at offensive coordinator. 

The Tigers were able to hold onto OC Kirby Moore, who had ties to Kalen DeBoer. Moore, just 31, was fantastic in his first season in Columbia, so much so that he received a big race and contract extension. Drinkwitz’s decision to cede play-calling duties sparked Missouri’s offense into an explosive attack, going from 86th nationally in scoring to 29th at 32.5 points per game. Moore turned Cook from a quarterback getting booed at home games into an All-SEC candidate who accounted for 30 total touchdowns.

Well, with Moore remaining as the team’s play-caller and all the weapons Drinkwitz has assembled, Missouri’s offense might be even better in 2024 — this from a unit that ranks 16th nationally in returning production. 

Luther Burden III is back as one of the best wideouts in the nation. He was second in the SEC in catches in 2023, and was a YAC monster (No. 3 nationally). Fellow perimeter playmakers Mookie Cooper, Theo Wease and Marquis Johnson all return, too. 

The Tigers are so flush with wideout talent, that Drinkwitz told ESPN analyst Cole Cubelic that Missouri’s offensive staff has watched a bunch of 2019 Alabama tape this offseason to see how the Tide best utilized the likes of DeVonta Smith, Henry Ruggs, Jaylen Waddle and Jerry Jeudy all in the same offense.

Cook averaged 9.0 yards per attempt last season, and there’s optimism the offense will be more dynamic vertically with a better understanding of all the strengths of the Tigers’ wide receivers. 

Replacing tailback Cody Schrader (SEC-high 1,627 yards) is a tall task, but it won’t fall on the shoulders of a single ‘back. Missouri stands to have a Thunder-and-Lightning duo with Carroll, a First-Team All-Sun Belt performer last season, and Noel, a speedster from App. State. 

Carroll is a thumper who had 1,350 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, and much like Schrader did in Moore’s offense, Noel feasted on stretch runs with the Mountaineers (5.7 yards per carry average). They’ll be running behind an offensive line boosted by the addition of Green, too.  

Defensively, the Tigers do have some concerns after the departure of coordinator Blake Baker to LSU. They’re down 10 contributors from last season, too. But while Mizzou is sure to miss likely first-round pass rusher Darius Robinson and All-SEC corner Kris Abrams-Draine, credit Drinkwitz for seemingly nailing their defensive portal additions this offseason. 

Outside linebacker Darris Smith, who came from Georgia, generated all sorts of buzz this spring. Same for Miami linebacker Corey Flagg Jr. and Clemson corner Toriano Pride, who had in interception in the spring game. 

Mizzou also added defensive linemen Zion Young from Michigan State and Chris McClellan from Florida, both of whom are expected to be rotational pieces come the fall. 

The unit is unlikely to finish No. 3 in the SEC in sacks or lead the conference in takeaways again this fall, but new DC Corey Batoon should be able to field a defense capable of being one of the more well-rounded groups in the league.

Then there’s Missouri’s schedule, where the football gods smiled on the Tigers.

There’s no Georgia. Or Texas. No Ole Miss or LSU. 

The Tigers don’t play a road game until the first weekend in October, and they six teams on their schedule with first-year head coaches. They should waltz to 4-0 in the non-conference with games against Murray State, Buffalo, Boston College and UMass. 

Mizzou’s schedule won’t be this favorable ever again, so when you complement that with what the Tigers have on their roster, the stars have aligned for another double-digit win season.

The Tigers weren’t supposed to win 11 games last season, and they did. So why can’t they make the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff this fall?