For the first time this season, the Mizzou football team cracks the rankings.
Mizzou football has looked like a top 25 team for the past few weeks, and now the Tigers are.
They sit at No. 22 with 233 points after Sunday’s rankings were released.
Mizzou defeated Ole Miss 38-27 on Saturday night, giving the Tigers a 5-1 record for the season. Mizzou is on a five-game winning streak and is the only SEC East team that is undefeated.
The Tigers missed the cut to begin the season by one spot. The Tigers didn’t appear in the “Others Receiving Votes” category for a few weeks after their Week 1 loss at Wyoming, but for the past three weeks they have received points.
They kept increasing despite not getting into the top 25, but finally, on Sunday, Mizzou jumped five spots to No. 22. Last week, the Tigers were two spots out of the rankings at No. 27.
Their spot at No. 22 seems appropriate. The Tigers look like a top 15 team, but still have that ugly loss in their opener that is held against them. Mizzou should jump into that top 15 with a couple of conference wins before November.
Sunday’s release is the first time Mizzou is in the Top 25 since the end of the regular season last year, when Mizzou was No. 24.
The No. 22 Missouri Tigers go on the road for three-straight games, beginning with a trip to Vanderbilt this Saturday.
SEC West teams Alabama and LSU sit 1 and 2, respectively. Florida and Georgia dropped to 9 and 10 with losses over the weekend. Auburn is right behind Georgia at No. 11.
Mizzou is the last of the six ranked SEC teams.
South Carolina, which upset Georgia on Saturday and lost to the Tigers in Week 4, received four points in the poll while Texas A&M has three.
Mizzou football is ineligible to be ranked in the Coaches Poll as it still is under appeal for a bowl ban. The Tigers are one of four teams to move into the AP poll for Week 8.