STP? Mizzou Ranks 12th In SEC Media's Preseason Prediction Poll

The contingent at SEC Media Days in Atlanta this week did not have much love for Eli Drinkwitz's Missouri Tigers football team.

The media voted Mizzou to finish 12th out of 16 teams in its preseason predictions poll for the upcoming SEC season.

Only Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi State finished lower in the poll than Missouri.

Despite the Tigers coming off consecutive seasons with double-digit win totals, they didn't garner much consideration from the media for the upcoming campaign. Only six SEC teams have definitively higher win total expectations than Mizzou according to sportsbooks, but the benefit of the doubt certainly didn't go the Tigers' way in this poll.

In my own personal analysis as to why this happened, it's a combination of a surface level understanding of Missouri's roster from media around the league and the persistent anti-Mizzou bias from the entrenched contingent in the southeastern part of the country.

People look at quarterback uncertainty and see the loss of Luther Burden III. They refuse to see the bigger picture of the improvements on defense and the way the roster reloaded through the transfer portal. Though Mizzou's roster is as deep it's ever been during Eli Drinkwitz's tenure, unknown qualities of key spots like quarterback and left tackle dominated the narrative for voters.

The other fact, having been in Atlanta for these Media Days, is that Missouri is still an afterthought in many SEC markets. Fair or unfair, people covering this league general view Mizzou in the 'other' category rather than accepting the validity of the Tigers' presence—even after more than a dozen years in the league. 

At this point, no Mizzou fan is surprised by what I'm saying, here. The 'STP' mentality must live on for at least another year in CoMo, it would appear.

Mizzou did see some accolades from the media polling on an individual player basis as LG Cayden Green was voted 1st-team preseason All-SEC as an offensive linemen, while WR Kevin Coleman Jr. was voted to the 3rd-team preseason All-SEC roster at the receiver position. 

Still, others players deserving of consideration at their respective spots—like transfer RB Ahmad Hardy, transfer safety Jalen Catalon, STAR Daylan Carnell and more—were not listed on any of the preseason All-SEC squads.

Since I was down at SEC Media Days, I took part in the voting process. Below is my ballot, which predicted Mizzou to finish 4th in the conference standings this year.