The Missouri Tigers rose from No. 23 to No.20 in the AP Poll this week after a 17-point win in Lawrence, their first in 25 years. With a couple of big upsets in college football over the weekend, Missouri is inching up the rankings. Another slate of games is on tap for the weekend, and a couple of matchups could help the Tigers.
The Tigers are headed back to Farout Field at Memorial Stadium to face the Troy Trojans. Across college football, a handful of early-season matchups could lead the Tigers to rise in the rankings.
Missouri Wraps Up Non-Conference Play With Troy
The Tigers are gearing up for a gauntlet of a schedule when SEC play begins Sept. 26 against Mississippi State. Before that begins, Missouri is getting one more game outside of the conference against Troy on Saturday night.
Head coach Eli Drinkwitz is readying his squad to welcome the 2-0 Trojans to Columbia, Missouri. The Tigers come into the third week of the season 2-0 for the fourth consecutive year. If Missouri takes care of business on their home turf, some other games could help them climb in the AP Poll ahead of their trip to Starkville.
Three Ranked-on-Ranked Matchups Mizzou Fans Should Be Watching
The game of the week is undoubtedly being played in Oxford, Mississippi, as Lane Kiffin brings his new LSU squad into the house of his former team, Ole Miss. A top-10 SEC clash that fans have been waiting for since Kiffin departed for Baton Rouge. Mizzou does not find itself on the schedule for LSU; the Tigers do head down to Oxford on Oct. 17.
An LSU drubbing of Ole Miss could result in a heavy fall for the Rebels in the rankings, and if Drinkwitz and his team take care of the Trojans, Missouri could jump the Rebels.
A pair of ACC teams square off with No. 16 SMU heading to No. 23 Louisville. The Cardinals enter the week as the favorites, and a win would cause surrounding effects for the Tigers. Missouri could jump up over SMU in the rankings and inch closer to the top 15 after three weeks.
SMU beat Florida State in the opening week of the season, but has not faced a top-25 team yet this season. A tough task going into Louisville and trying to defend their ranking against a team that lost by three to Ole Miss in week one.
The final game that is of interest for Missouri to climb the rankings is on Friday, when the No. 22 Houston Cougars head to Lubbock to face the No. 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Texas Tech is the favorite entering the week, but they share a common opponent in the young season: the Oregon State Beavers. Houston beat the Beavers 33-20 in week one, and the Red Raiders won 35-24 on the road in week two.
If Houston can pull off the upset at Texas Tech, then Missouri could go climbing once again in the poll. The Tigers have three games outside of their own that could impact what number sits next to their name in week four.
Mizzou Should Root For These 3 Teams To Boost CFP Chances