So here's the problem with decoding Mizzou, and why so many of us are having such trouble with them.
Until they moved to the SEC, they were the "Georgia" of the Big 12 North. Often second fiddle to Nebraska, they would have a hot year or two, followed by a mediocre year or two. Could win the division, and sometimes did, but could never win the big one, the conference championship. So they were there, but never all that and a bag of chips.
Well, the SEC is a stronger conference, top to bottom, than the B12. At least, all the objective indicators over the past decade+ say that: bowl results, inter-conference regular season games, final Top 25 rankings, etc. Bob Stoops' protests notwithstanding.
So if Mizzou is a middling-good, but not championship level B12 team, and they're moving to a tougher conference, they should take at least one step down, right? And be something just under the true Georgia of the SEC.
That would, normally, put them at 4th or so in the SEC-East, on par roughly with USCe.
But that's not how it worked out. Mizzou actually stepped up their game when they arrived, and stepped ahead of Georgia. At the same time, Tennessee and Florida were dismally down, catapulting Mizzou from an expected 4th position to 1st (two of the three years).
And that's how we find ourselves here, wondering what in the heck is going on with Mizzou being so much stronger than expected.
To Mizzou's credit, and especially Pinkel's, they have slowly gotten stronger and stronger each year he has been the head coach. His first four years at MU, he won only 22 games (12 in conference). His next four years, he won 37 (20 in the B12). His last three, he won 26 (15 in B12). His first three in the SEC, he won 28 (16 in conference).
But where is Mizzou's top end? Are they at it, or are they still improving as a program?
And do the return to relevance of Tennessee (fingers crossed) and Florida (inevitable, eventually) doom Mizzou back to the (long expected) second tier? A second Georgia, alongside Georgia, often contending but never truly threatening for the conference championship?
Time will tell. One thing's for sure. We as a fan base need to get over the idea that Mizzou is sitting in the cheap seats with USCe and Kentucky. They've already proven they're beyond that. At least as long as Gary Pinkel is coach.
p.s. This write-up is just a little unfair to Georgia. The Bulldogs have won SEC championships. It's just that they haven't done it since 2005, and so are becoming viewed as a "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" sort of program, with Richt at the helm. Might not be entirely fair.