2025 Was A Year of Growth, Disappointment for Mizzou Athletics

Reviewing the year that was for the Missouri Tigers across several sports.

Sept 27, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers mascot “Truman” shows off his jersey ahead of a game against UMass at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Sam Simon/MissouriOnSI

For the Missouri Tigers, 2025 was a reminder that progress isn't always linear. And also of being close, but not quite close enough. Of big wins, but not quite the ones needed to change narratives.

In the same year that the men's basketball program earned its biggest off-court wins ever, it's had an incredibly disappointing finish to the 2024-25 season and a concerning start to the 2025-26 season.

The women's basketball program turned a new page and hired a new head coach for the first time in 15 years. For the football and volleyball programs, key extensions were made to retain head coaches that could take the programs to new heights.

The combined record of the football, men's and women's basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, softball and baseball teams was a perfectly even 127-127 for the calendar year.

Packed in there was a historically great year for the gymnastics program, a historically bad year for the baseball program and a down year for the softball program.

The record between the football and men's basketball programs was 29-18, good for a winning percentage of 617%, which ranked at No. 9 across the SEC.

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz's assessment of his football team's 2025 season does a good job of capturing where the athletic department as a whole stands.

"I think it's a good season, it's not great," Drinkwitz said after Missouri's loss to Arkansas to end the regular season. "We had a chance to go to great. We didn't get it done. And as a team, as an organization, as everybody, we've got to find those inches and it starts with me, and then it trickles down to everybody. ... It's going to take all of us, and that's what's going to make Mizzou really special moving forward, is that we're all in this together, and we're all trying to figure out, how do we go achieve what we all dream we can do and do it together."

Nov 15, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz looks at the scoreboard in the Missouri matchup against Mississippi State at Faurot Field. | Cal Tobias/MissouriOnSI

Drinkwitz's team featured what he called "the most talented" roster he's had in his time with the program. But after injuries, poor execution in key moments and a host of other issues, the team finished with the worst record out of the last three years.

For the men's basketball program, there was electric upset wins over two top-five teams in January and February, but those were followed by a plummet in March.

The volleyball program went from a 2024 season where it proved to be a rising force in the SEC to completely missing the NCAA Tournament in 2025.

For all the programs, there was certainly disappointment. But there's reason to be optimistic those will just be roadblocks to a brighter future.

To take a look back at the year for Mizzou athletics, here's our rankings of the top five moments for the Tigers in 2025. All of these moments celebrate the accomplishments of the program, while also adding new expectations for the future.

5. Ahmad Hardy's Record-Breaking Season

Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy (29) runs for yardage in the fourth quarter of a game against Mississippi State on Saturday | Cal Tobias/MissouriOnSI

The Missouri offense ranged somewhere between boring and difficult to watch all season. But running back Ahmad Hardy was a thrilling watch all year.

It became clear pretty early in the season he'd be more than just one of the top running backs to come through the transfer portal in 2025, but one of the best rushers in the country overall. He broke Missouri's single-season rushing record in the Gator Bowl, ending the season 1,649 yards on the ground while also adding 16 touchdowns.

"I had zero expectation that he would come in and that he would come in and be the first team All-SEC running back and be a finalist for the Doak Walker award," Drinkwitz said in a press conference on Dec. 9. "I knew he was a talented player, but I didn't know how good he was, and so it's been a remarkable season. He's a young man who's earned it. He's a great teammate. He's got great work ethic, got an unbelievable personality. People love being around him. So it's been really fun to watch him and watch his journey."

Ahmad Hardy doing Ahmad Hardy things🤯pic.twitter.com/mVHVITNcVP

— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 29, 2025

4. Basketball Earns Two Upset Wins Over Top-Five Teams

Feb 12, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Tamar Bates (2) leaps up for a layup during a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

Missouri's ceiling felt infinite at certain points of the 2024-25 season.

It raised when the Tigers upset the eventual national champions, then-No. 5 Florida, on the road on Jan. 14. Missouri was the only team to beat Florida in Gainesville on the season.

The expectations of the ceiling hit its peak when Missouri's was able to outpace one of the best offensive teams in the country, No. 4 Alabama on Feb. 19. in a 110-98 win.

"They were great, we weren't very good," Alabama coach Nate Oats said in his press conference as he was being cut short by fire alarms going off.

Of course, the collapse that followed the Alabama win makes both of these top-five victories as painful reminders of what could've or should've been for the team. After the win over the Crimson Tide, Missouri lost four of its next five to end the season.

Missouri then lost to Florida in a rematch in the SEC Tournament before falling in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Drake.

3. Gymnastics Places Third at the NCAA Championship

Apr 19, 2025; Fort Worth, TX, USA; The Missouri Tigers gymnastic team celebrates after the Tigers finishes in third place in the 2025 Women's National Gymnastics Championship at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Missouri gymnastics put together its best season of all time, placing third at the NCAA Championship. It was also the best postseason finish for any women's team in school history. Three gymnasts earned scores of 9.9000 or greater.

2. Basketball Lands No. 1 Recruiting Class in the Country

July 15, 2025; North Augusta, South Carolina, USA; Oakland Soldiers Jason Crowe Jr. (5) dribbles as Team Final RJ Smith (3) defends during the Oakland Soldiers and Team Final game at Nike EYBL Peach Jam at Riverview Park Activities Center. The Oakland Soldiers won 86-75. Mandatory Credit: Katie Goodale - Augusta Chronicle/USA TODAY NETWORK | Katie Goodale / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Missouri signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, highlighted by the signing of the second-best prospect in program history, guard Jason Crowe Jr.

The win in the offseason, however, has put more pressure on the court for Gates. Though the 2026 class was a whole other level of doing it, Gates had already proven he can recruit high school players at an elite level.

What he's yet to prove is whether or not he can get the most out of that talent. Recruiting has given Gates more of a leash, especially after a winless conference slate in the 2023-24 year.

But with another year of underperforming in March, plus the 2025-26 season on the wrong trajectory, 2026 has become a crucial year for Gates to perform he can win on the court. Especially with Crowe Jr. likely declaring for the NBA draft after just one season.

1. Eli Drinkwitz's Contract Extension

Sep 6, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz watches from the sideline in the second half of the Border War against the Kansas Jayhawks at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Matt Guzman/MissouriOnSI

2025 was not the most encouraging season for the football program. But being able to earn the security of Eli Drinkwitz's future amid a wild coaching carousel was bigger than any win Missouri earned on the field.

Does Drinkwitz still have more to prove? Certainly. There's no guarantee he'll lead the program any further than he has the last three seasons. That question starts with the offense, and more specifically, the passing game, an area where Drinkwitz's teams have seemingly yet to figure out.

The legitimacy of rumors that Drinkwitz was at all interested in any other job were questionable.

"I was the leading bet-getter for a job I never interviewed for," Drinkwitz said after the win at Arkansas. "That's annoying. That's bull crap. And it's just speculation. It's just media throwing stuff on the wall and it's tough on everybody. It's tough on players, it's tough on coaches."

But had he left, Missouri likely would've had to take a gamble on another coach. Plus, roster retention when going through a coaching change is extremely difficult.

The extension reaffirms the athletic department's confidence for Drinkwitz to continue building the program.