By Seth Herrold
Remember last season when Mizzou fans began chanting S-E-C late in games when the Tigers were leading their Big 12 opponents? Well, there were fans chanting S-E-C at Faurot Field last Saturday. Only problem is, they were Vanderbilt fans.
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Yes, Missouri’s inaugural season in the SEC isn’t turning out like most, including me, had hoped it would. There was so much promise when the announcement was made last year and now things feel deflated.
When the announcement was made that Missouri would be in the SEC East, I was feeling pretty good. No Alabama, no LSU, no Arkansas. Little did I know Missouri would still be facing Alabama and that three of the SEC East opponents would be top 10 teams when Missouri played them. I’m starting to realize four games against top 10 talent is too many. Not only were Georgia, South Carolina and Florida (presuming the Gators don’t have a massive collapse between now and Nov. 3) all in the top 10 at the time of their match-up with Mizzou, but the other teams in the SEC East have proven they are no slouch. Vanderbilt nearly beat South Carolina and we all know what they did to Mizzou last Saturday. Tennessee appears to be pretty good this year and beating the Volunteers on the road in Knoxville is looking more and more impossible. The Tigers should be able to get Kentucky at home, but who knows at this point.
So, why hasn’t Missouri been able to compete? They have been a team on the rise since Brad Smith came to town. Don’t get me wrong, Missouri is light years ahead of where they were before Brad Smith. But to me, this team has been on the decline since 2008. Missouri had a tremendous year in 2007 and were a win away (against Oklahoma) from playing for the BCS championship. After a big Cotton Bowl win, however, Missouri regressed in 2008. Even with the almighty Chase Daniel at quarterback, Missouri underachieved. 2009 was another step backwards. The Tigers were 12-2 in 2007, 10-4 in 2008 and 8-5 in 2009. Missouri bounced back in 2010 with a 10-3 season, but the Tigers ended the year, losing three of their last six. Missouri was 8-5 again in 2011 and now the Tigers are looking 3-4 in the face with Alabama coming to town this Saturday.
The two 8-5 seasons could be credited to new quarterbacks taking over. Missouri was 8-5 in 2006 during Chase Daniel’s first year as quarterback. This year will obviously be worse than 8-5, but you have to be better than an 8-5 Big 12 team to finish 8-5 in the SEC.
Yes, this year has been a struggle, and yes, Missouri is going to continue to slip farther and farther away from 2007. But there is light on the horizon. Missouri has the money, has the recruiters and they will build this program into an SEC contender. It will take time. You have to do a lot of building and get yourself established recruiting in the SEC states. The Tigers will get there though and 20 years from now people will look back on the move to the SEC as one of the best moves the school ever made.