Mizzou Football's Early-Season Benchmarks: The Read Option

Welcome to "The Read Option," a series featuring Missouri On SI's beat reporters providing analysis or intel on the Tigers.

Missouri had three games I would consider benchmark-worthy in the first half of the 2025 season: Week 2 vs Kansas, Week 4 vs South Carolina and Week 7 vs. Alabama. After beating Kansas in an intense rivalry game, the Tigers were projected to beat South Carolina and be a formidable SEC squad. Then, after beating the Gamecocks, thoughts of Missouri being a potential College Football Playoff team began to swirl, even with No. 8-ranked Alabama coming to town.

The CFP hype began to dwindle after losing to Alabama, but Missouri remained solidified as a solid SEC squad. Here's the three games for the 2026 season that mirror the aforementioned format from 2025.

Week 2 at Kansas

Anything can happen in a rivalry game like the Border War, but Missouri should be favored in this one. Kansas got significantly worse over the offseason and will most likely be near the bottom of the Big 12 standings for the majority of the season.

A win for the Tigers — despite it being a road game against an archrival — should be expected. Walking out of Lawrence with a win would signal that the Tigers can win in hostile environments and are capable of beating inferior opponents, providing a strong indicator for future wins against

A loss, although unexpected, would be disastrous. Yes, it'd be a rivalry game on the road — a scenario crafted for chaos and the unexpected — but if Missouri can't beat Kansas, the outlook for the rest of the season gets bleak quick.

Week 5 vs Florida

Heading into the season, it seems Florida will be Missouri's first opponent on a similar level of play. Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Troy are undoubtedly tiers below, while Kansas and Mississippi State are shaping up as inferior. Florida, although holding many unknowns itself in the form of a new head coach, staff, quarterback and more, will likely be the biggest test of the first five opponents.

Missouri will have the home-field advantage, holding a 19-3 record at Faurot Field in the last three seasons, but Florida could be beginning a bounce-back season under Jon Sumrall.

A loss for Missouri wouldn't mean that the panic button needs to be hit, but it would indicate that the Tigers probably won't have the CFP in their future.

A win, however, would likely put Missouri at 5-0 entering an SEC gauntlet, solidifying the Tigers' status as a tough conference squad, but not necessarily a CFP contender... yet.

Week 7 at Ole Miss

Ole Miss made it farther in the postseason than any other SEC team last season, reaching the CFP semifinal under the guidance of then-interim head coach Pete Golding. Golding, along with star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, are back to lead the Rebels into battle for 2026. Ole Miss will be the first team Missouri faces that has legitimate CFP potential and a true contender status, mirroring the Week 7 matchup between Missouri and Alabama in 2025.

Losing to Ole Miss on the road wouldn't eradicate Missouri's potential CFP contender status, but it would certainly make the path to it much murkier — Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia and Oklahoma would still be slated in the coming weeks.

Beating Ole Miss would likely move Missouri to an impressive 6-0 and into the contender status, giving the Tigers a real shot to win against any daunting foe remaining on the schedule.

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