The Missouri Tigers won't win a spot in the Big 12 championship game to qualify for an automatic bid to a BCS Bowl. Projections have them in a variety of bowls but here's one that could get them into a BCS bowl. Blair Kerkhoff of the KC Star lays out a very interesting scenario.
Auburn and Oregon end up in the National Championship game. The Rose Bowl takes the highest undefeated team -- TCU or Boise -- along with the Pac-10 champion. The Fiesta Bowl will take the Big 12 champion and the Big East champion. The Sugar Bowl would take the SEC runner-up as well as the Big Ten runner-up.
That leaves the Orange Bowl. They'd take the ACC champion plus...
It could be Boise State but they'd be playing Virginia Tech, a team they already beat, once again. It could be the Pac-10's Stanford but, as Blair Kerkhoff points out, they don't travel well and, let's be honest, this is about making money. The loser of the Big 12 game could move into this spot, even after a loss (which didn't help Mizzou in 2007).
So Mizzou to the Orange Bowl? Don't buy your tickets just yet. It's a long shot. But it does provide some more hope for a season in which Mizzou, who started 7-0, was eyeing a BCS bowl.