It's been a long 5 years for South Carolina since they last beat Missouri, a 37-35 thriller all the way back in 2018. That means Shane Beamer has never beaten the Tigers, and truly some of the worst showings of the Beamer era have been the matchups vs. Mizzou the last two seasons, including a 34-12 shellacking in the other Columbia last season. Now, as we head to 2024, the Tigers are considered a dark horse playoff team as Eli Drinkwitz is coming off a strong 2023 with a lot of key contributors returning. While Mizzou still doesn't strike the same fear on the schedule as names like Alabama, Oklahoma, or Ole Miss, perhaps they should.

Admittedly, Missouri did get some favors with their 2023 schedule, avoiding Alabama and Ole Miss, but they still beat Tennessee, Kansas State, and a bowl win over Ohio State, along with 2 respectable losses to LSU and Georgia en route to an 11-2 finish. If they were able to repeat that record in 2024, it's easy to see a path to them sneaking into an expanded playoff field. QB Brady Cook was efficient, if not flashy, and rarely made mistakes, leading the Tigers to 32.5 PPG and just 6 INTs on the season. He also was sneakily dangerous on the ground, finishing 2nd on the team in rushing yards.

Missouri returns Cook, along with one of the nation's best WRs in Luther Burden. They did lose leading rusher Cody Schrader, but tapped Georgia State's Marcus Carroll and App State's Nate Noel in the portal to try to make up that production with a more committee-based approach. The OL, a strength last season, returns 3 starters and added some portal help that should prevent much of a drop-off up front.

Add in the return of WR Theo Wease Jr. and another off-season of development under OC Kirby Moore, and it's hard to imagine the Mizzou offense not being at least as good as it was last year, and if Brady Cook can elevate from efficient to elite, the sky is the limit.

The pass rush for Mizzou seems like it's been good to very good for as long as the Tigers have been in the SEC. EDGE Johnny Walker returns to wreck SEC QBs' days for one more season, and the Tigers added quality depth along the front 7 in the portal to replace some of the departing production.

If there is an exploitable spot on this team, it could be the corner position, with Ennis Rakestraw and Kris Abrams-Draine heading out after last year. They did add Clemson transfer Toriano Pride, which could be a nice boost, but still, I'd think teams will try to test them. The safeties are good over the top and in the run game, but if you can create some time for your QB up front, it's possible you could hit some big plays against this defense.

I'm not going to pick South Carolina to break the streak just yet, but I don't think Mizzou is an unstoppable force like some of the other teams at the top of the SEC just yet. You'll need to protect up front and find a way to create turnovers against a methodical offense, but it's not an impossible task. Still, at this point in the off-season, I'll err on the side of the program that has won 5 straight and has a strong roster returning.

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