In a mixed-up Big 12 season where several teams are looking forward to the Bowl Season without a single team playing for the BCS Championship, the Missouri Tigers are sitting pretty in their possible Bowl match-ups -- at least according to some of the early projections.
In Mark Schlabach's opinion, the Insight Bowl is where Mizzou is headed to face the Michigan Wolverines, a more impressive foe but one whose season has been tumultuous to say the least. The dazzling athletic display of Denard Robinson is indeed something to watch, but the Wolverines have lost five of their last seven and have put coach Rich Rodriguez on the hot seat. Again, it's not an opponent for Missouri to really worry about as long as they are focused and play as well as they have all season.
In one projection, ESPN's Andrea Adelson has the Tigers heading to the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl (Note: the least impressive sounding Bowl game in the college football post-season) to face the Washington Huskies. I'm not even sure this is possible since the Huskies sit at 5-6 and need a win this weekend over Washington State to even be Bowl eligible in the first place. I realize every NFL draft pundit has a residual crush from Ryan Leaf that somehow projects over Jake Locker, but seriously, Missouri should start celebrating if this even happens.
In perhaps the best match-up of any, USA Today recently released a list where they place the Tigers in the Insight Bowl as well but alongside the Iowa Hawkeyes. Sure, they suffered a ridiculous defeat this weekend to the University of Minnesota, but Iowa is a much more formidable foe overall and Kirk Ferentz is always a competitive coach no matter what state his team is in. They've lost their last three games, but each by only four points or less, including a close game versus Ohio State.
Some other possibilities exist, including the Alamo Bowl, but in any case, Missouri has to look like the favorite for any of the match-ups posted thus far.