Wednesday, December 27
Houston, Texas
8 p.m.
University of Missouri
vs
Texas
Mizzou Looks to Keep It Rollin' in Texas Bowl vs. Longhorns
12/25/2017 1:39:00 PM | Football
Mizzou looks to become just the second team ever to start 1-5 and win final seven games
Mizzou Football (7-5 on the season, 4-4 SEC, and winners of six-straight) will face former Big 12 Conference opponent Texas (6-6) in the nationally televised Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl inside NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. Kick is slated for 8 p.m. (CT) on ESPN. Both teams will be playing in the Texas Bowl for the second time in their respective histories, with Mizzou dropping a 35-13 decision to Navy in the 2009 game and Texas losing to Arkansas, 31-7, in 2014.
Setting the Stage
- A win over the Longhorns would be historic for Mizzou, as the 2017 Tigers would become just the second Power 5 team in college football history (Rutgers, 2008) to register eight victories after starting the season 1-5. Since its 1-5 start Mizzou has ran off six-straight wins by an average margin of 30.0 points while scoring 45 or more points in each game for the first time in program history.
- The Tigers are playing in a bowl game for the 32nd time, which ranks 30th all-time in NCAA history. Mizzou is 15-16 all-time in bowl games, including victories in its last three appearances. The Tigers' 15 bowl wins are tied for 26th all-time in NCAA history (Arkansas, West Virginia, TCU and Syracuse also have 15 bowl wins).
- Mizzou and Texas will be meeting on the gridiron for the 24th time, with Texas holding a 17-6 series advantage. The Tigers won the last meeting between the programs, 17-5, at Columbia in 2011, which was Mizzou's final Big 12 season before joining the SEC.
- The Texas Bowl will be a homecoming for 11 Mizzou players who call the Lone Star State home.
A Win Would...
- Give Mizzou a 16-16 record in 32 all-time bowl appearances.
Give Mizzou a four-game win streak in bowl games. Mizzou has won its last three bowls: 2011 Independence, 2014 Cotton (2013 season) and the 2015 Citrus Bowl (2014 season). - Give Mizzou its second consecutive win over Texas and seventh in the all-time series
- Give Coach Barry Odom his first bowl win as head coach at Mizzou.
- Move Mizzou's winning streak to seven games to close the season. The Tigers current six-game winning streak is the nation's fifth-longest active streak entering bowl season and the Tigers' longest since 2014 when it also won six straight. Should Mizzou win in the Texas Bowl, it would be the program's longest winning streak since 2013 when it opened the season winning the first seven games.
- Give Mizzou eight wins, which would mark just the second time in college football history that a Power 5 team started 1-5 and rallied to win its final seven games. The only other Power 5 team in the history of college football to do so was Rutgers in 2008. Mizzou is already one of just six Power 5 teams in FBS history to start 1-5 and finish in a bowl game.
- Would give Mizzou head coach Barry Odom his 12th win since taking over the program. That would be the most for a Mizzou coach in his first two seasons at the helm of the program since Warren Powers won 15 in his initial two seasons in 1978-79. Odom is the first Mizzou coach to reach a bowl in either of his first two seasons since Powers did so in both 1978 (8-4 overall - Liberty Bowl Champions) and 1979 (7-5 overall - Hall of Fame Bowl Champions).
Don't Call it a Comeback
- While many thought that Mizzou Football making a bowl game seemed improbable back in mid-October as it was sitting at 1-5, no one in Mizzou's locker room lost faith. That is evident in the turnaround. Below are some notables on why this streak is so noteworthy and one of college football's top stories in 2017:
Since 2000, no team in SEC history that has started 1-5 has finished with more than three wins, meaning Mizzou is the first SEC team this century to start 1-5 and even get to four wins, not to mention seven! - Mizzou has started 1-5 or 0-6 in 10 years of its storied history and had never won more than four games in one of those seasons until this year. In eight of the previous other nine seasons, Mizzou earned no more than three wins and won just one game in four.
- Mizzou is just the 13th team in FBS history to start 1-5 and make a bowl game. The last Power 5 team to do so was Texas Tech in 2012.
- The only SEC team to ever start 1-5 and qualify for a bowl was the 1983 Ole Miss team that wound up in the Independence Bowl, but lost to Air Force, 9-3.
- Mizzou is the first SEC team to start league play 0-4 and get to 4-4.
| School | Start | Final | Bowl (Result) |
| Mizzou (2017) | 1-5 | 7-5 | Texas Bowl (TBD) |
| Miami OH (2016) | 0-6 | 6-7 | St. Petersburg Bowl (L, 17-16) |
| UNC (2013) | 1-5 | 7-6 | Belk Bowl (W, 39-17) |
| Rice (2012) | 1-5 | 7-6 | Armed Forces (W, 33-14) |
| Texas Tech (2012) | 1-5 | 6-7 | Sun Bowl (L, 41-10) |
| FAU (2008) | 1-5 | 7-6 | Motor City Bowl (W, 24-21) |
| Rutgers (2008) | 1-5 | 8-5 | PapaJohns.com Bowl (W, 29-23) |
| Rice (2006) | 1-5 | 7-6 | New Orleans Bowl (W, 41-17) |
| N. Texas (2002) | 1-5 | 8-5 | New Orleans Bowl (W, 24-19) |
| Pitt (2001) | 1-5 | 7-5 | Tangerine (W, 34-19) |
| N. Texas (2001) | 1-5 | 5-7 | New Orleans Bowl (L, 45-20) |
| Utah State (1993) | 1-5 | 7-5 | Las Vegas Bowl (W, 42-33) |
| Ole Miss (1983) | 1-5 | 6-6 | Independence (L, 9-3) |
- As you can see when looking at the list above, there are just five other teams from Power 5 leagues (UNC in 2013, Texas Tech in 2012, Rutgers in 2008, Pitt in 2001 and 1983 Ole Miss), meaning Mizzou is just the sixth Power 5 team to get to a bowl after starting 1-5.
- Mizzou's current six-game win streak to close the season is tied for the nation's fifth-longest active streak entering the bowl season.
- Mizzou is just the 10th team to start 1-5 and finish with seven wins, and just the fourth Power 5.
A Shot at More History
- Mizzou is now just one win away from becoming just the second Power 5 team to ever start 1-5 and win seven straight to close a season. Should the Tigers win the Texas Bowl, Mizzou would join 2008 Rutgers as the only Power 5 schools to start 1-5 and win seven straight to close the season. Rutgers rallied in the fourth quarter of the PapaJohns.com Bowl that year to defeat N.C. State, 29-23, to wrap up its improbable run that season.
- 2002 North Texas, then in the Sun Belt Conference, did the same thing, but did so in a non-Power 5 league.
- Additionally, a win in the Texas Bowl would give Mizzou seven-straight wins to close the season for just the second time in school history. In 1960, Mizzou went 11-0, defeated Navy in the Orange Bowl and finished fifth in the Associated Press Top-25. But, on Nov. 19 of that season, Mizzou actually lost to No. 1 Kansas, 23-7. Fortunately for the Tigers, the archival Jayhawks had to forfeit that win due to NCAA violations for using an ineligible player. Mizzou claims that as a win in its all-time record book while Kansas claims it as a win for the Jayhawks. Since we clearly would never value the opinion of a mythical bird, we'll go ahead and say that a win in the Texas Bowl would make the 2017 Tigers the second team in school history to win its final seven games.
Memorable Second Year for Coach Odom
- Mizzou head coach Barry Odom engineered one of the greatest in-season turnarounds in college football history during his second year at the helm of his alma mater. Coach Odom took a team that started 1-5 and rallied it to win the final six regular-season games, including four SEC wins to close the season (Florida, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Arkansas).
- Mizzou scored at least 45 points in all six wins, marking the first time in school history that a team has done that.
- The biggest turnaround came on the defensive side of the ball. In the first six games, Mizzou ranked 126th nationally in scoring defense (42.2 points per game) and 123rd in total defense (498.7 yards per game). Since that time, Mizzou has allowed just 21.3 points per game and just 351.8 yards per game, cutting the point total nearly in half while reducing its yards per game average by 150.6.
- Odom is the first Mizzou coach to reach a bowl game by year two at the helm since Warren Powers in did so in each of his first two seasons (1978, 1979).
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