After their first season in the Southeastern Conference, the 2012 Missouri Tigers were considered just another mid-level conference team that had a lot to prove if they were going to justify a place in what is considered the toughest conference in college football.
The 2013 Tigers have done just that. Missouri is now the undisputed champion of the SEC East and if the Tigers can beat Auburn on Saturday they will be the undisputed champions of the entire league.
Talk about justifying your place in the conference.
“The biggest difference is that we are healthy,” said Gary Pinkel in comparing the difference between the two seasons. The kids had good attitudes last season, but it was just a win then a loss then a win then a loss almost all year. These guys battled through it through. The senior class did a good job on battling through the adversity.”
“I think if you have been in the national Top 10 for most of the season, that it’s not only good for the Missouri football program but it’s also good for the University of Missouri, the state of Missouri, and the city of Columbia, Missouri. That’s how a sport can be an asset to the university in a really positive way. It’s great. The more consistent you are in that area the more you reap the benefits of that. It affects a lot more than just winning a football game.”
Moving to the SEC from the Big 12 was an adjustment for the players and it may have taken them a full season to make it.
“The SEC is definitely known as one of the top conferences in the country,” said defensive lineman Shane Ray. “The players you’re going to see in this conference are some of the best day-in and day-out. That’s kind of what you expect nowadays. Coming from the Big 12, just as competitors, it’s awesome to play against those guys and to be able to say ‘I played in a game against Johnny Manziel’ or ‘hey, I know that guy’.”
“I knew what it was going to take to get here,” said defensive lineman Markus Golden. “A lot of people expect me to say `it was harder for me to get here, and it was hard’, but it was just as hard as it is for everyone else. A lot of guys on this team have to work to get here to Mizzou, and reach that goal. I knew it would be a long ride, but I just stuck with my family. My mom and dad stayed on me, and we worked hard together to end up getting here.”
It will all come together on Saturday when the Tigers from Missouri play the Tigers from Auburn in a game that could be a stepping stone to a national championship — but at the very least will decide the best team in the SEC for this season.
“It’s always in our program, as a goal just like it was in the Big 12. First of all, to win a national championship it starts out with winning your division. If you can’t win your division then you can’t get to your championship game,” said Pinkel. “We have three blocks in our locker room. The top is the national championship; one is the SEC East Championship, and then a bowl game. So those are constant goals that we have in our program.
“One of the things they (the seniors) talked about was raising the standards. Not only getting back to winning and going to bowl games, but competing for championships. It was a real emphasis for our team. Goals are always there. The seniors put a real emphasis on the standards for championships and we won three divisional championships and played in two championships in the Big 12. That’s what the goals should be. Bowl games are obviously big too. That reset the mind set of why we’re here and what we’re about. And I’m interested to see how things turn out.
“We are the new kid on the block,” he said. “That doesn’t faze us. I just want to win our game. I’m focused on Auburn. We got a tough task, and I don’t care about anything after that. Let’s just focus on Auburn.”
The players are looking forward to the challenge and are not put off by being the underdogs against Auburn.
“Honestly, we kind of enjoy it,” said Ray. “You’re only the underdog if you think you’re the underdog, and we don’t see ourselves that way. We find ourselves to just be a group of guys who are going to come out and just play to the best of our ability against anyone you put in front of us. All we do is focus on what we can do better as a team and go out there next week and play another good football team and see who’s going to come out on top.”
“I’m pretty excited to be honest,” said quarterback James Franklin. “I’m pretty thankful to be a part of that, and to be a part of this team. It was really exciting for me, so I was glad to be a part of it. That’s one of the goals we had set before the season and to get where we are now and knowing we were able to accomplish it and knowing how great of a team I’m a part of. I feel really good.”
Pinkel has to make sure his players keep their focus on beating Auburn and not be satisfied to just reach the SEC Championship Game.
“That’s a big thing. We can’t just be complacent. We can’t be happy that we are here,” said junior tailback Marcus Murphy. “We have to keep fighting hard and we have to keep pushing to get to our goal, which is the national championship or wherever it takes us. We just have to come out and play hard in this game and see where it goes.”