Mizzou Mailbag: Vibe Check on Mizzou Football

Welcome to the first edition of Missouri On SI's weekly mailbag, where our beat reporters field questions on social media and answer them in an article the following day. Make sure to follow us on Twitter to send us questions for the mailbag every Thursday.

Vibe Check on Mizzou Football

What vibes are you currently sensing from the football team? Warm & fuzzy, badly bad, meh or something else?
— Ed Helinski 🇺🇸🇵🇱 🌴 (@MrEd315) July 16, 2026

It's tough to check the vibe on the team when — for the most part — we haven't heard from coaches or players in months. When SEC Media Days begin Monday and fall camp begins shortly after that, it'll be much easier to feel out the general vibe of the players, coaches and program. For now, I'll give you my thoughts.

It's hard to say "warm & fuzzy," given some of the uncertainties including but not limited to Ahmad Hardy's recovery timeline, Austin Simmons' debut and a young defense with little prior experience. It's also hard to say "badly bad," given Missouri has won eight or more games in each of the last three seasons. "Meh" is a bit of a cop-out answer, so I'll roll with "pressured."

The 2025 season showed light at the end of the tunnel on Missouri's path to be an elite team. The passing attack drastically held back an elite running game and prevented the offense from being among the nation's best, which would've paired it with one of the best defenses in the nation.

It feels like there's pressure on Simmons to be "the guy" and perform significantly better than Beau Pribula did last season, because if he's good, the offense should click. There's also pressure on defensive players like Darris Smith, Santana Banner, Marquis Gracial and more to be really, really good next season, as they're all replacing gigantic shoes, and the defense will drop off if they don't rise to the occasion.

The season is far from make-or-break, but it feels like there's pressure for the offense to click and the defense to remain strong, because anything less would be a step backward from 2025.

Could Mizzou Basketball Make the Final Four?

If all goes right for Mizzou hoops — Crowe hits, Tiller and Jones take shooting leaps, backup guard play is stable, Trent Burns and Nick Randle are feasible front court pieces etc. does this team have final 4 juice?
— Owen Jury (@ojury_007) July 16, 2026

If *everything* goes right, like you listed, sure. Mizzou could make the Final Four.

How often does everything go right? Maybe for a few teams each season, and even for even less teams does it go right in both the regular season and postseason. Missouri could very well be one of those teams, but it'd have get at least a small boost in the luck department.

That being said, none of the things you listed are unreasonable asks — a five-star guard hitting wouldn't be a shock, Jones taking shooting leap with better spacing makes sense, Kennard Davis and/or Jordan Crawford and Aaron Rowe being solid in the backcourt checks out, and at least one of Trent Burns or Nick Randall should be playable next season, most likely Burns.

In the scenario you're describing, Missouri has a really strong eight-man rotation with a few extra wildcards off the bench:

Jason Crowe
Jamier Jones
Trent Pierce
Toni Bryant
Bryson Tiller

Kennard Davis
Jaylen Carey
Trent Burns

Rowe
Chronister
Randall

The depth for the upcoming season is certainly better than it was in 2025-26, and while senior Mark Mitchell may be a better first option than freshman Jason Crowe, I think Jamier Jones, Bryson Tiller and Trent Pierce are a better next-three trio than Anthony Robinson, Jayden Stone and Pierce were last season.

In this hypothetical, Missouri has an elite scorer — who would also be a strong ball-handler — surrounded by a huge big-man rotation and a few quality defenders and shooters on the wing.

TLDR: Missouri technically could, it's just not likely, even in the scenario you're describing.

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