Mizzou football notebook: Tigers score recruiting win & climb the AP Top 25
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Four-star edge rusher Micah Nickerson flipped commitment to Mizzou Sunday.
- Missouri climbed to No. 19 in AP Poll and No. 18 in Coaches Poll after UMass win.
- Tigers face top-10 teams Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Alabama in upcoming schedule.
Missouri football earned its 12th commitment in the class of 2026 on Sunday, as four-star edge rusher Micah Nickerson announced a change in plans.
He is no longer committed to Mississippi State, having flipped to Mizzou over the weekend.
Nickerson took an official visit to MU on Sept. 20, roughly three months after he verbally committed to MSU. The Tigers offered Nickerson on July 31; before then, the Mississippi high school senior had picked up offers from Tulane, Virginia and other FBS programs.
While Nickerson attends South Pike High School in Magnolia, he played his freshman season at Hickman in Columbia, so mid-Missouri isn’t foreign to him.
In 2023 and 2024, Nickerson combined for 29 tackles for loss and 14 sacks. This season, he has six tackles for loss and three sacks.
Mizzou football is climbing the top 25
Following a 42-6 win over UMass, Mizzou moved up in both the Coaches Poll and AP Top 25.
The Tigers checked in at No. 18 in the Coaches Poll, up one spot from last week. They were leapfrogged by Vanderbilt, as the Commodores are 5-0 and coming off a 20-point win over Utah State.
In the AP poll, MU moved up to No. 19, swapping places with Michigan, which was on a bye week. Three of Mizzou’s future opponents are in the top 10: No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 10 Alabama. Vanderbilt also moved up two spots to No. 16.
Should the Crimson Tide defeat the Commodores on Saturday, the Alabama-Mizzou matchup on Oct. 11 would likely feature two top-20 teams in Columbia. That has only happened once since 2014 (Tennessee-Mizzou in 2023).
Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian
This story was originally published September 29, 2025 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Mizzou football notebook: Tigers score recruiting win & climb the AP Top 25."