Missouri could win SEC championship — really

Matt Hayes

Missouri could win SEC championship — really image

Just how Missouri planned it: win two SEC games on the road and set up a home finale to win the East Division and play in the SEC Championship Game.

Only there’s one teeny-weeny problem: the hottest team in the conference waits to wreck it all.

So as we marvel at what Missouri has accomplished this fall with after Saturday’s win over Tennessee, let’s face it, an awful offense, understand that this ride is far from over. And no matter how it ends, a wonderfully underplayed story will continue to play out in the SEC.

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Either Arkansas will continue its late season surge, or Mizzou — the Big 12 afterthought in SEC expansion — will win its 10th game (again), win the East Division (again) and be one very winnable game away from winning a conference championship.

That might be the craziest bottom line of all: Missouri, with its popgun offense and shotgun defense, has enough to beat Alabama (if Alabama beats Auburn) in the SEC Championship Game. We’ve all seen how the Tide plays away from home; how the offense sputters and quarterback Blake Sims presses and one of the best teams in the nation doesn’t look like the best team in its own conference.

Now add the ability to win a conference championship to the mix, and the dynamics of that game in Atlanta drastically change — even though a Missouri win would be its first this season against an SEC team with a winning record. Crazy, we know.

But at this point, would it really be such a surprise if the Tigers found a way to win the SEC? Or for that matter, beat an Arkansas team that hasn’t given up a point in almost nine quarters of SEC games and only 17 in the last 12 quarters against teams ranked No. 1, No. 8 and No. 17?

Back in October, another team with a bruising run game rolled into Columbia and destroyed the Tigers. Georgia rushed for 210 yards in that game and won 34-0. If Missouri can’t stop Arkansas from running wild, Georgia will win again.

With a Missouri loss, Georgia wins the SEC East and plays in the SEC Championship Game. Just how Missouri planned it.

Beat Arkansas, and beat Georgia — without ever scoring a point on the Bulldogs.

Matt Hayes