While Missouri has plenty of new toys to play with in 2026 with the addition of Ole Miss transfer Austin Simmons and the return of running back Ahmad Hardy, not everyone is buying into the hype.
CBS released their bold predictions for 2026, and let's just say they are less than confident about the Tigers. Cody Nagel compiled his predictions for the early top-25 teams, and his final verdict for Missouri: a 6-6 record with a loss in the Bowl game.
"The Tigers didn't beat a single FBS team with a winning record in 2025. They've also lost eight consecutive games against ranked opponents. If those trends persist, 2026 could be another step backward for Eli Drinkwitz. The conference schedule includes games against Georgia, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Texas and Texas A&M -- five teams ahead of the Tigers in the 2026 SEC Power Rankings."
Could the Tigers really fall flat in 2026?
The scary thing about what Nagel said is that it's all the truth. Missouri hasn't been able to beat top-tier teams, and to win in the SEC, it just has to be done. The good thing about his arguement, however, is that the successes--or failures--of 2025, have almost nothing to do with how the team will fare in 2026. It's a brand new season.
Still, the Tigers will face a tough schedule, with a brutal slate in November that features Texas and Georgia in back-to-back weeks. It really feels like this season will boil down to the play of quarterback Austin Simmons. After losing some significant talent to the draft and transfer portal, the Tigers will live and die with their new, but unproven, signal caller.
While a 6-6 season and Bowl loss would be a near disaster of a season, it is a 'bold' prediction for a reason. More likely, is that Mizzou reaches eight or nine wins again, although hitting double-digit wins again would be more ideal. Still, if injuries mount at key positions like quarterback or running back, six wins certainly can't be ruled out.