Mizzou's Bowl Game, Opponent Revealed

Missouri will face off against the Virginia Cavaliers in the Gator Bowl, the bowl announced Sunday. The game will be played at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 27 at Everbank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.

If Missouri wins the bowl, it will be the program's 30th win over the past three seasons and the third consecutive bowl win. The Tigers won the Cotton Bowl over Ohio State in the 2023 season, followed by a win in Iowa in the Music City Bowl in 2024.

Virginia had the opportunity to make the College Football Playoff win a win over the Duke Bluedevils in the ACC Championship on Saturday. The Cavaliers lost, leaving the ACC without an automatic bid into the College Football Playoff and knocking the Cavaliers out of contention. Virginia finished the season 10-3.

Missouri finished the regular season at 8-4. All four of its losses were against teams ranked inside the top 10 of the AP Poll at the time of the matchups. Three of the losses were to teams who earned a spot in the College Football Playoff — Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Alabama.

Missouri dealt with costly injuries throughout the season, but the losses to the top teams of the SEC displayed the bridge the program still needs to cross to compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

"I think it's a good season. It's not great," head coach Eli Drinkwitz said following Missouri's win over 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."

Missouri went 2-3 in the final five games of the season, but the highlight for the end of the year was extending Drinkwitz with a six-year deal. There was speculation throughout most of the season that Drinkwitz may consider offers from top jobs like Penn State, LSU or Florida.

"I was the leading bet-getter for a job I never interviewed for," Drinkwitz said. "That's annoying. That's bull crap. Okay? 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."

Drinkwitz has gone 2-2 in bowl games in his time at Missouri. The program has gone 17-20 in bowl games.

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