Mizzou football’s bowl destination still unclear, will be resolved Sunday

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Missouri football team knows it’s playing in a bowl game, but the destination is still unclear.

LSU’s stunning loss to Texas A&M in last week’s regular-season finale likely shook up the Southeastern Conference bowl picture, costing the league a third team in the New Year’s Six bowl games, which would have a trickle effect on the rest of the SEC’s bowl lineup.

Follow along here. This could get bumpy.

The SEC has 11 bowl-eligible teams this year, including Mizzou (6-6), one of three SEC teams that won the minimum six games for bowl eligibility, along with Arkansas and Florida. There’s more than enough bowls for the SEC’s 11 teams this year. All bowl pairings will be announced Sunday.

Georgia, No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings, will almost certainly make the four-team playoff field regardless of Saturday’s outcome against LSU in the SEC championship game. That puts Georgia in one of the two New Year’s Eve CFP semifinal bowls, either the Peach or Fiesta.

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Next up, the other CFP New Year’s Six bowls: Rose, Cotton, Sugar and Orange. At least two SEC teams are positioned for those games: Alabama, most likely, in the Sugar (Dec. 31) and Tennessee in the Orange (Dec. 30) or Cotton (Jan. 2). Should LSU upset Georgia in Atlanta for the SEC championship, the three-loss Tigers could slip into one of these four games, but as a 17-point underdog, LSU is likely headed toward a fourth loss.

Next in the SEC selection process is the Jan. 2 Citrus Bowl, which matches the SEC against the Big Ten. This is LSU’s probable landing spot, unless the Citrus goes for late-charging South Carolina (8-4) instead.

Either way, next comes the SEC Pool of Six. The SEC team for the following six games, all played between Dec. 17 and Jan. 2, are decided by the league office in consultation with the bowls with some input from the schools: Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 17 vs. Pac-12), Texas Bowl (Dec. 28 vs. Big 12), Liberty Bowl (Dec. 28 vs. Big 12), Gator Bowl (Dec. 30 vs. Big Ten), Music City Bowl (Dec. 31 vs. Big Ten) and Reliaquest Bowl (Jan. 2 vs. Big Ten or ACC). The Reliaquest Bowl, played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, was formerly known as the Outback Bowl.

Here’s where Mizzou’s muddled outlook comes into play: The SEC will probably have seven eligible teams for these six bowls. The participants aren’t necessarily decided by won-loss record or head-to-head results. Proximity, projected ticket sales, national branding and potential matchups all factor into which team plays where.

Where does that leave Mizzou? The team’s early preference was Las Vegas — possible opponents would have included Oregon, Oregon State or UCLA — but team sources have indicated the Las Vegas Bowl prefers Florida or an SEC team with a better record, maybe Ole Miss (8-4).

On Friday, The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported that Mizzou turned down a chance to play longtime rival Kansas in the Liberty Bowl, citing anonymous industry sources. Multiple media outlets had projected a Mizzou-Kansas pairing in Memphis, but MU sources have indicated for the last week the team and athletics department preferred bowls on different dates at other locations, especially considering the Liberty Bowl falls on the same night as the Missouri men’s basketball team’s SEC home opener against Kentucky. Last year, Mizzou fans had to choose between the Armed Forces Bowl against Army and the Braggin’ Rights basketball game against Illinois when both were played on the same night.

MU played in the Liberty Bowl in 2018. Arkansas, also linked to the Memphis bowl in multiple reports, last played in the Liberty Bowl since 2016.

Wherever the play, the Tigers will have a depleted roster thanks to transfers and opt-outs. Senior safety Martez Manuel has declared for the NFL draft and announced he won’t play in a bowl game. Senior defensive end Isaiah McGuire has also declared for the draft and will likely skip the bowl, especially after he played the regular-season finale with a separated shoulder. Leading receiver Dominic Lovett has told the staff he plans to enter the transfer portal, along with as many as eight backup players as of Friday.

For SEC teams left out of the Pool of Six, there are two more SEC affiliated games: Gasparilla Bowl (Dec. 23) and Birmingham Bowl (Dec. 27). The opponent for both games is picked from a pool of eligible teams without conference tie-ins. Projected opponents for those games include East Carolina, Memphis, Buffalo, SMU and Coastal Carolina, among others.

If there’s one available SEC team between the Birmingham and Gasparilla, ESPN Events, which owns and operates both bowls, decides the matchup. The Gasparilla Bowl is also played at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Buccaneers.

If Mizzou is the odd team out of the SEC Pool of Six, the program would likely prefer the Gasparilla Bowl over Birmingham. Last year, Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz made it clear the team preferred a bowl before Christmas so players could be home for the holiday if only the mid- and lower-tier games were available. The Tigers lost to Army in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 22 in Fort Worth, Texas.

“Honestly, I don’t give a crap where we play,” Drinkwitz said after the Tigers beat Arkansas last Friday. “A bowl game is a celebration. Wherever our administration thinks is best for us to go, we’ll saddle up and go.”

Dave Matter brings you the latest updates from the Mizzou sports scene.