New Missouri football bowl projections. Rivalry reunion in Nashville?

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Renewing rivalries in Nashville? A brief warm reprieve in Florida? Mayonnaise?

There’s all sorts of variety to Mizzou’s latest bowl projections.

Missouri football wrapped up its regular season with a 31-17 road win at Arkansas this past Saturday. Now, the Tigers’ attention turns to the postseason as well as a smattering of early ‘offseason’ tasks. The fun never stops.

The Tigers (8-4, 4-4 SEC) are a bowl win away from securing a 30th victory in the past three seasons — a mark that would tie the best three-season stretch in program history, set by Gary Pinkel’s teams on two occasions nearly 20 years ago.

Bowl game destinations will be announced Sunday, Dec. 7.

Here is where various national media outlets have Missouri projected to play in the postseason in their updated bowl projections:

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ESPN: Music City Bowl vs Nebraska; Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs Duke

ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura, in his updated projections, has tabbed the Tigers for a Music City Bowl appearance on Dec. 30 in Nashville, Tennessee, against their former conference rival, Nebraska. The Cornhuskers went 7-5 in the regular season.

That would mean Mizzou would need to play in Nashville for the second straight postseason, as the Tigers beat Iowa in the Music City Bowl last season.

Mizzou and Nebraska have faced off 104 times before, but not since 2010.

Fellow ESPN writer Mark Schlabach projects Mizzou to go to Charlotte, North Carolina, for a Jan. 2 game against Duke in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. The Blue Devils are 7-5 on the year under head coach Manny Diaz and will play, despite five losses this year, for the ACC title against Virginia this upcoming Saturday. 

Missouri has never appeared in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, where the winning coach gets mayonnaise poured on their head at the end of the game.

The Athletic: Gator Bowl vs Miami

Scott Dochterman of The Athletic’s projections see Mizzou heading to face Miami in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 27 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Hurricanes went 10-2 in 2025, with losses to Louisville and SMU, which cost them a spot in the ACC title game and, seemingly, the College Football Playoff.

Mizzou has not played Miami since 1989. It’s been even longer since the Tigers last went to the Gator Bowl, with their last appearance coming in 1968, when the Tigers beat Bear Bryant’s Alabama 35-10.

USA Today: Music City Bowl vs Illinois

Erick Smith of USA Today has Mizzou projected to renew the Braggin’ Rights rivalry with Illinois in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Illini finished the season with a win over Northwestern to end the regular season 8-4. Mizzou hasn’t played Illinois since 2010, but this annual basketball rivalry, even if the teams don’t meet in a bowl game, is set to get a football rebirth soon.

Earlier this year, Mizzou and Illinois altered their upcoming series, dropping games in 2026 and 2032. That means the first currently scheduled game in the revived series between MU and Illinois is for 2027 in Columbia.

CBS Sports: Texas Bowl vs Iowa State

Brad Crawford of CBS Sports projected that Missouri will land a Big 12 reunion against Iowa State in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 27 in Houston. The Cyclones just beat Oklahoma State and, like Mizzou, went 8-4 this year.

Missouri has played Iowa State 104 times in its history, but not since the Tigers left the Big 12 after the 2011 season. 

The Tigers’ last trip to the Texas Bowl was a 2017 loss to Texas.

What are Mizzou’s other bowl game options?

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Beyond the four sites listed above, where else could Mizzou go?

The ReliaQuest Bowl (Dec. 31, Tampa, Florida) is also an option. That game would be played against a Big Ten team.

The Liberty Bowl (Jan. 2, Memphis, Tennessee) against a Big 12 team could be considered, given the relative proximity.

With eight wins, Mizzou has probably played its way out of lower-tier bowls like the Gasparilla Bowl (Dec. 19, Tampa) and the Birmingham Bowl (Dec. 29, Birmingham, Alabama).

The Citrus Bowl (Dec. 31, Orlando) gets its pick of non-playoff SEC teams, so Missouri could theoretically end up there. But, there is likely to be a team higher up the pecking order than Missouri here.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: New Missouri football bowl projections. Rivalry reunion in Nashville?

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