By Seth Herrold
Life has been good for Missouri fans like myself since the announcement that the Tigers were heading to the Southeastern Conference in 2012. Sure there are a good chunk of Tiger fans that were adamant about staying in the Big 12 and I will admit I will miss the conference, but you can’t complain about what the Tigers have done since the announcement. Missouri’s marquee teams (football and men’s basketball) are undefeated since the announcement was made. They haven’t lost a game.
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Hopefully, Missouri can carry those winning ways with them over to the SEC when they begin play in the league next year. They are definitely going to need to be at the top of their game. Yesterday, the SEC announced the 2012 football schedule and Missouri was handed a card that will really separate the men from the boys. Early indications were that the first SEC schedule the Tigers would get a look at wouldn’t be very difficult as far as SEC schedules go. That is no longer the case.
The Tigers failed to dodge both LSU and Alabama as predicted early on. Missouri will face Alabama at home on Oct. 13 in what will easily be their toughest game of the year. With the eight game schedule, Missouri plays one opponent from the SEC West each season (the Tigers are in the SEC East) and that opponent just happened to be Alabama, who will play fellow SEC West school LSU for the BCS National Title in a few days. The Tigers also have one crossover opponent from the SEC West who they will play every year, that being Texas A&M. The game with the Aggies is set for Nov. 24, a weekend when the Tigers and Aggies would normally be playing their biggest rivals, Kansas and Texas.
In a perfect world Texas and Kansas would get over their hurt feelings and play Texas A&M and Missouri on Thanksgiving weekend and the Missouri-Texas A&M game could be moved to Nov. 17, a date the Aggies and Tigers have both yet to fill. It’s a long shot, but maybe a rivalry forced onto Mizzou and A&M by the SEC will blossom into something in future years.
As for the Tigers’ regular schedule with their fellow SEC East schools the draw is a bit tough. Missouri opens with Georgia, the defending SEC East champions. The Tigers get the Bulldogs at home for their first SEC game ever. It may be time to embrace Union General William Tecumseh Sherman and start selling t-shirts that read “Make Georgia Howl.”
After the opener Missouri travels to South Carolina to face Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks, runners-up in the SEC East this past season. Vanderbilt and Kentucky are home games the Tigers should win and by the look of the rest of the schedule, they must win those two contests. The final stretch of the season sees the Tigers on the road against Florida, Tennessee and A&M. A front-loaded home schedule bites the Tigers as they must play on the road at three of the toughest stadiums in the nation to close out the year. Florida and Texas A&M are both on The Sporting News’ top 10 home field advantages in college football and nobody likes playing the Volunteers in Knoxville.
I am optimistic for 2012, despite the tough schedule. I think the Tigers are capable of running a 5-3 conference record realistically. The only non-conference game set for 2012 is with Arizona State and being at home, I think the Tigers get that one. Throw in three more wins against your typical non-conference opponents, maybe one of them being Kansas (wishful thinking), and you have a Missouri team that finishes 9-3 overall. While that may seem far-fetched for some, I think it is a very realistic possibility. Missouri has a lot of players coming back and quarterback James Franklin will only be better with a full season of starting experience under his belt. The way Missouri closed out this season makes me think this is a team that is on the verge of doing some great things.
2012 MISSOURI TIGERS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
09/01/12 OPEN DATE TBA
09/08/12 vs. Georgia Columbia, Mo.
09/15/12 vs. Arizona State Columbia, Mo.
09/22/12 at South Carolina Columbia, S.C.
09/29/12 OPEN DATE TBA
10/06/12 vs. Vanderbilt Columbia, Mo.
10/13/12 vs. Alabama Columbia, Mo.
10/20/12 OPEN DATE TBA
10/27/12 vs. Kentucky Columbia, Mo.
11/03/12 at Florida Gainesville, Fla.
11/10/12 at Tennessee Knoxville, Tenn.
11/17/12 OPEN DATE TBA
11/24/12 at Texas A&M College Station, TX
(Home Games In Bold)