Mizzou football: Tigers get points in AP ranking

COLUMBIA, MO - SEPTEMBER 21: Larry Rountree III #34 of the Missouri Tigers finds an opening during a fourth quarter run against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, MO - SEPTEMBER 21: Larry Rountree III #34 of the Missouri Tigers finds an opening during a fourth quarter run against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)

Mizzou football is 3-1 with three-straight wins, including a 34-14 win Saturday over South Carolina.

The Mizzou football team is back to receiving points in the Associated Press Top 25.

After Week 1, the Tigers were left out of the poll by each AP voter for two-straight weeks, but after Saturday’s victory over South Carolina, Mizzou returned.

Missouri received 14 points in this week’s poll, tying the Tigers with fellow SEC member Mississippi State. Mizzou and Mississippi State would be 34th in the ranking if it counted.

Dropped from the rankings are Washington State, Arizona State and TCU. The Cougars still have more points than the Tigers, but are just ahead of them with 21.

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Missouri received its votes in Week 4 after its opening SEC win over the Gamecocks. The Tigers thumped their SEC East rival 34-14, and Mizzou has looked much improved since its Week 1 loss to Wyoming. The loss has put Mizzou in a hole, but not one so deep the Tigers can’t climb out of.

With a bye week ahead, the Tigers won’t jump back into the Top 25 anytime soon, but if they can get a win over Troy in two weeks and then Ole Miss the following week, it’s possible we’ll see the Tigers jump back into the rankings with a 5-1 record.

Both of those games are at home before Mizzou hits the road for three-straight SEC road games.

The Tigers have a defense that hasn’t given up 100 yards rushing total in the past three weeks. The defense has scored four touchdowns over that span, while the offense has found a bit of a rhythm behind senior quarterback Kelly Bryant.

He struggled a bit in Saturday’s win, but his legs did enough damage to keep the Gamecocks at bay. The Tigers look more like themselves than they did against Wyoming, and hopefully they continue to improve through the bye week as more big wins should come with it.

For now, we’ll take the recognition as a team considered for the AP Top 25. That’s a huge step after starting 0-1 with that upset in Laramie.

The SEC has five teams in the top 9, including No. 3 Georgia and No. 9 Florida. Mizzou gets both of them in November.

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