| Missouri Tigers College Football Picks 2009 |
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| Written by Steve Hastings | |||||||
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Friday, 04 September 2009
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Missouri Tigers College Football Picks 2009: One step shy of playing for a national championship in 2007, last season was suppose to be the season for Missouri. Expectations were high, but not met. Yes, the Tigers did win the Big 12 North Division, but they also lost three in-conference games and fell short of championship hopes. A laundry list of players from last year’s Missouri team are now gone. In fact, only 10 starters are returning in 2009. The college football picks experts at online sportsbook SBG Global has the Missouri Tigers listed at +8500 odds to win the 2010 BCS National Championship Title. #16 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI2008 Final Record: 10-4 Big 12 North Division Champions 2008 Final Rank: 16 Returning Starters on Offense: 5 Returning Starts on Defense: 4 Pros: Recruits. In order to have a successful season with so many key losses, it takes a heck of a recruiting class to do so. That is one area where head coach Gary Pinkel has excelled. Legendary Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel was great for the Tigers, but there is a lot of upside to new quarterback Blane Gabbert who has tremendous arm strength. Running back Derrick Washington is one of the few stars to return to the offense. Washington accumulated over 1,000 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns. The offensive line with Tim Barnes and left tackle Elvis Fisher should give Washington the running room he needs. The loss of All-Star wide receiver Jeremy Maclin will assure a bit of a dip in offensive production, but Andrew Jones and Michael Egnew are highly talented freshman who look to replace TE Chase Coffman, one of the better tight ends in NCAA history. Young receivers Wes Kemp and Jerrell Jackson look to help out Danario Alexander and Jarred Perry who are capable playmakers. On the defensive side, senior linebacker Sean Weatherspoon is one of the nation’s best. Over the past three seasons, Alexander has 302 tackles, eight sacks, and 18.5 tackles for loss. Alexander will look to anchor an athletic defense that can seemingly only get better from last season. Cons: To say that Missouri has lost some key players is a huge understatement. Here is a small list of who is gone starting with quarterback Chase Daniel, professional wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, all-star tight end Chase Coffman, the most accurate kicker in NCAA history Jeff Wolfert, pass rusher Stryker Sulak, and the only good player in a bad secondary, safety William Moore are just some of the names of players not returning. Speaking of the secondary, Missouri has only four starters on defense returning in 2009. In 2008, the Tigers were 117th in the nation defending against the pass, and could somehow be even worse this season. The worst secondary in the Big 12 in 2008 allowed 287 yards passing per game. With so many players gone and shopping 52 freshman on the Missouri roster, experience will not be on the Tigers, side. The college football picks odds makers at SBG Global have the Missouri Tigers +1000 odds favorites to win the Big 12 Conference Title. Overall Outlook: The 2009 season will be pretty much the complete opposite of 2008. Last season began with a team full of veterans and expectations which fell short of what it wanted to accomplish. This season will begin with mostly freshman, very few familiar faces, and not many expectations. A BCS Bowl appearance in 2009 would be a big surprise for a team that hasn’t even played as a team. The Tigers in 2009 are searching for an identity, and predicting what will come out of this team will be hard. A Big 12 Championship is somewhat unrealistic, not because the team doesn’t have the potential, but because of other teams like Oklahoma, Texas, and Nebraska in the Big 12, to name a few. Assuming that Missouri plays up to it’s abilities, the Tigers will be competitive in 2009. Keys to Success: If Blane Gabbert can have a good season and help Missouri score points, the Tigers will be in pretty good shape. Washington is going to do his job on the ground, so having a passing attack to go along with the promising running game will make the Tigers dangerous on the offensive side of the ball and they are going to need to be with a below par secondary. The Missouri defense is going to have to be able to stop the run and apply pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The secondary is going to get exposed from one time to another, and it can use all of the help it can get. If Gabbert is careful with the ball and does not make a lot of mistakes, the Tigers should put up their share of points and keep Missouri in games. Missouri has only four returning starters on defense. Missouri was 117th in the nation is passing defense. Missouri has won the past two Big 12 North Division Titles. Missouri had the fourth best passing offense in the nation in 2008. Missouri had the sixth best scoring offense in 2008 (42.21 PPG). Online Sportsbook SBG Global has posted the following odds to win the 2010 BCS National Championship: Alabama +2200 Arizona St +7000 Arkansas +7000 Auburn +9000 Boston College +7500 California +2200 Cincinnati +8500 Clemson +7500 Colorado +8500 Florida +150 Florida St +4000 Georgia +7500 Georgia Tech +1200 Illinois +4500 Iowa +8500 Kansas +4500 Kansas St +8500 Kentucky +8500 Louisville +8500 LSU +3200 Miami FL +3200 Michigan +8500 Michigan St +1700 Missouri +8500 Nebraska +4500 Notre Dame +1200 Ohio St +800 Oklahoma +650 Oklahoma St +2700 Oregon +4500 Penn St +1500 Rutgers +4500 South Carolina +8500 South Florida+5000 Southern Cal +600 Tennessee +8500 Texas +650 Texas A&M +8500 Texas Tech +6500 UCLA +8500 Virginia Tech +1700 Wake Forest +8500 North Carolina +4500 West Virginia +6000 Wisconsin +6500 Field (All Others) +1200                        |
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