Missouri football bowl projections. Where MU is pinned for postseason with 3 games to go
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We can now rule out the CFP for Mizzou, but which postseason games are on the table?
Missouri football’s third loss of the season, which officially eliminated the Tigers from contending for a spot in the College Football Playoff, arrived Saturday, when Mizzou was run down 38-17 by Texas A&M in Columbia.
The Tigers (6-3, 2-3 SEC) are already bowl eligible, meaning they will play in a postseason game no matter how the remainder of the season goes.
Mizzou’s next game is Saturday, Nov. 15, at home against Mississippi State (5-5, 1-5) in Columbia. The game is scheduled kick off at 6:45 p.m. and will air on SEC Network.
With three games left to play in the regular season, here is where various national media outlets have Missouri projected to play in the postseason in their updated bowl projections:
ESPN: Music City Bowl vs. Nebraska; Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Duke
Neither Mark Schlabach or Kyle Bonagura or ESPN changed their projected bowl site for Missouri in their updated projections.
Bonagura has tabbed the Tigers for a Music City Bowl appearance on Dec. 30 in Nashville, Tennessee, for a Big Eight/12 reunion with Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are currently 7-3 with a 4-3 mark in Big Ten play.
Mizzou played in the Music City Bowl last season, beating Iowa to cap a 10-win season. It seems unlikely, but not impossible, that MU would head to the same site in two straight seasons.
Schlabach still projects Mizzou to go to Charlotte, North Carolina, for a Jan. 2 game against Duke in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Duke is 5-4 on the year but is in a unique position because only one of its losses has come in ACC play. The Blue Devils still have a shot to make the ACC title game, although the conference is currently a blender.
Missouri has never appeared in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
The Athletic: Texas Bowl vs Iowa State
Another regional reunion that makes some sense. Scott Dochterman of The Athletic also is sending the Tigers to face Iowa State in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 27 in Houston.
Missouri has played Iowa State 104 times in its history, but not since the Tigers left the Big 12.
The Tigers’ last trip to the Texas Bowl was a 2017 loss to Texas.
USA Today: Music City Bowl vs. Illinois
Braggin’ Rights down Broadway?
Erick Smith of USA Today has Mizzou projected to renew its Braggin’ Rights rivalry with Illinois in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Illini are 6-3 with a 3-3 record in Big Ten play. Missouri, as mentioned above, played in the Music City Bowl last season.
Mizzou hasn’t played Illinois since 2010, but this annual basketball rivalry is set to get a football rebirth soon.
Earlier this year, Mizzou and Illinois altered their upcoming series to drop games in 2026 and 2032. That means the first currently scheduled game in the revived series is for 2027 in Columbia.
CBS Sports: ReliaQuest Bowl vs. Iowa
The repeats are popular this week.
Brad Crawford of CBS Sports projected that Missouri will take on Iowa on Dec. 31 in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Florida. The Tigers beat Iowa in the Music City Bowl last season.
The Hawkeyes, after a narrow loss to Oregon last Saturday, are 6-3 on the season with a 4-2 mark in Big Ten play.
The ReliaQuest Bowl was previously known as the Outback Bowl. Before that, it was called the Hall of Fame Classic. Mizzou appeared in the Hall of Fame Classic one time, beating South Carolina in 1979.
The bowl is now played at Raymond-James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and also where MU lost to Wake Forest in the 2022 Gasparilla Bowl.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Where Missouri football landed in new bowl game projections
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