Where Mizzou Landed in Coaches Poll, AP Poll Following Week 4 Win

The Tigers keep on rising after an opening win in SEC play.

Sept 20, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Truman the Tiger, Missouri's mascot, runs out with the team before kick off between the Missouri Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks at Faurot Field. | Sam Simon/MissouriOnSI

After improving to 4-0 on the season, the Missouri Tigers saw a slight boost in the national rankings. The Tigers took down the South Carolina Gamecocks 29-20, yet again bringing a competitive game down to the wire.

A lot was learned about the Tigers against the Gamecocks on both sides of the ball. For starters, it's now very clear that head coach Eli Drinkwitz has a special player in running back Ahmad Hardy. He won't stop breaking tackles and scoring and is now up to 600 rushing yards through four games.

"I didn't think he was gonna be this good," Drinkwitz said following the win. "I mean, let's be honest. The dude's running through people like he's a dump truck."

Despite the win, Drinkwitz and the Tigers still have areas they need to clean up. It still is early in the season, however, and what Drinkwitz's team has put on tape so far has impressed him.

"I'm not discouraged by anything that happened tonight at all," Drinkwitz said. "I'm not discouraged at all."

The secondary is an area that hasn't looked its best so far, which was abundantly clear against LaNorris Sellers and South Carolina. Sellers connected on multiple deep balls against the Missouri secondary and had multiple chances to make the game more interesting.

"Whatever we got to do to fix it, we're going to have to do," Drinkwitz said. "But there's way too many holes in our zone cover. We got bad eyes in the backfield."

There was good and there was bad, but the Tigers now sit at 4-0 with an impressive win to start conference play. A potentially favorable schedule still lies ahead for Missouri, as well.

Next up for Missouri is UMass for the Tigers' on Friday. Sept. 27 at 6:30 p.m.

Here's where the Tigers stand in the Coaches Poll and AP Top 25.

Coaches Poll

1. Ohio State, (61), 3-0, 1667
2. Penn State, (3), 3-0, 1552
3. Georgia, (1), 3-0, 1497
4. LSU, 4-0, 1458
5. Oregon, (1), 4-0, 1442
6. Miami (FL), (1), 4-0, 1399
7. Texas, 3-1, 1209
8. Florida State, 3-0, 1100
9. Texas A\&M, 3-0, 1043
10. Oklahoma, 4-0, 1024
11. Ole Miss, 4-0, 996
12. Indiana, 4-0, 915
13. Iowa State, 4-0, 870
14. Texas Tech, 4-0, 807
15. Tennessee, 3-1, 715
16. Alabama, 2-1, 649
17. Georgia Tech, 4-0, 558
18. Michigan, 3-1, 469
19. Missouri, 4-0, 433
20. Vanderbilt, 4-0, 417
21. Notre Dame, 1-2, 261
22. USC, 4-0, 249
23. Illinois, 3-1, 214
24. BYU, 3-0, 185
25. TCU, 3-0, 112

Others Receiving Votes
Arizona State 104, Utah 99, Louisville 67, Mississippi State 57, Memphis 55, Auburn 48, South Florida 32, Washington 19, Navy 17, Maryland 10, Kansas 6, Syracuse 4, Houston 4, UNLV 3, Tulane 3, Nebraska 3, North Texas 2, Iowa 1.

AP Top 25

1. Ohio State, (52), 3-0, 1629
2. Miami (FL), (7), 4-0, 1479
3. Penn State, (5), 3-0, 1460
4. LSU, 4-0, 1433
5. Georgia, 3-0, 1420
6. Oregon, (1), 4-0, 1404
7. Oklahoma, (1), 4-0, 1194
8. Florida State, 3-0, 1183
9. Texas A\&M, 3-0, 1072
10. Texas, 3-1, 1057
11. Indiana, 4-0, 990
12. Texas Tech, 4-0, 890
13. Ole Miss, 4-0, 843
14. Iowa State, 4-0, 779
15. Tennessee, 3-1, 635
16. Georgia Tech, 4-0, 598
17. Alabama, 2-1, 595
18. Vanderbilt, 4-0, 546
19. Michigan, 3-1, 458
20. Missouri, 4-0, 452
21. USC, 4-0, 264
22. Notre Dame, 1-2, 219
23. Illinois, 3-1, 145
24. TCU, 3-0, 138
25. BYU, 3-0, 131

Others receiving votes
Auburn 122, Mississippi St. 102, South Florida 77, Utah 45, Arizona St. 30, Memphis 23, Louisville 23, Maryland 6, UNLV 3, UCF 3, North Texas 2.