Where will Mizzou Tigers play their bowl game? Here are some updated projections
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Mizzou ended the regular season 8-4; the SEC will assign its bowl slot on Dec. 7.
- Citrus Bowl will likely pick ahead of Mizzou; Tigers project to mid-tier SEC bowls.
- SEC lacks nine eligible teams; some bowl committees may select nearby non‑SEC schools.
Since our last story about bowl projections, Mizzou has lost to Oklahoma and beaten Mississippi State and Arkansas to finish the regular season 8-4.
The Tigers will find out on Dec. 7 where they’ll be playing their bowl game.
The bowl selection process is as follows: SEC schools submit their list of preferences for SEC bowls to the conference. The conference and the bowls work together to create the matchups, with the schools having little influence on the process.
Bowl committees consider factors like potential ticket sales and, most obviously, how good the teams are.
So where might Mizzou play its final contest of the season?
Let’s first consider the landscape of the SEC. Georgia, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Oklahoma appear to be locks for the College Football Playoff, as each team has at least a 97% chance of making the 12-team field according to ESPN’s Playoff Predictor.
Alabama’s odds sit at 65.9%, but even if the Crimson Tide lose to UGA in the SEC title game, they’d still have a good shot at remaining in the CFP at 10-3.
Should Alabama make the 12-team field, that would leave five bowl-eligible teams from the SEC: Texas, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Mizzou and LSU.
The Citrus Bowl gets the first pick of SEC teams that don’t make the CFP. Since the Commodores and Longhorns will be ranked ahead of the Tigers in this week’s playoff rankings, the Citrus Bowl is almost certainly out of the question for MU (most projections have either Texas or Vanderbilt playing in Jacksonville).
On the other end, the Tigers are too good for the Gasparilla Bowl and the Birmingham Bowl, both of which have SEC tie-ins. Power conference teams that play in those bowls usually finish the regular season at 6-6.
There’s an interesting wrinkle to all this, which is that the SEC won’t have enough bowl-eligible teams to fulfill the nine bowl tie-ins they have. They almost did, but Auburn, Kentucky and Mississippi State all lost this past weekend to finish 5-7, falling one win short of bowl eligibility.
At that point, some bowl committees would have to select teams from other conferences. It might also provide flexibility for committees who’d rather host a team that’s located closer to its venue. The Texas Bowl (played in Houston) might rather have North Texas over Mizzou, while the Duke’s Mayo Bowl (played in Charlotte) might rather have NC State than LSU.
Here’s a loose ranking of the potential bowls in which Mizzou could play:
Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Jan. 2, Charlotte, N.C. (ACC vs. SEC)
Current projections: Louisville-LSU (Kyle Bonagura, ESPN), Duke-Mizzou (Mark Schlabach, ESPN), NC State-UConn (CBS Sports), Louisville-Mizzou (Athlon Sports).
Notable: This isn’t a geographically convenient bowl for Mizzou, but this has been the most popular projection over the past couple of weeks for the Tigers.
Kinder’s Texas Bowl
Dec. 27, Houston (Big 12 vs. SEC)
Current projections: Iowa State-Tulane (Kyle Bonagura, ESPN), TCU-North Texas (Mark Schlabach, ESPN), Iowa State-Mizzou (CBS Sports), Boise State-Iowa State (Athlon Sports).
Notable: The projection from CBS Sports would be enticing for Mizzou fans. The Cyclones and Tigers played annually from 1908 to 2011 ... except in 1918, when Mizzou canceled its season due to the influenza epidemic and World War I. Plus, Houston is less than four hours away by car from Dallas and Austin, two cities with strong MU alumni bases.
TransPerfect Music City Bowl
Dec. 30, Nashville (Big Ten vs. SEC)
Current projections: Nebraska-Mizzou (Kyle Bonagura, ESPN), Nebraska-LSU (Mark Schlabach, ESPN), Nebraska-LSU (CBS Sports), Minnesota-LSU (Athlon Sports).
Notable: Teams are allowed to compete in the same bowl in consecutive seasons. The Music City Bowl has hosted the same team in back-to-back seasons twice: Minnesota in 2004 and 2005, and Kentucky in 2006 and 2007. Bonagura’s projection would also reignite some old memories that go even further back than the days of the Big 6. Mizzou and Nebraska played annually from 1911 to 2011 except in 1918.
ReliaQuest Bowl
Dec. 31, Tampa (Big Ten vs. SEC)
Current projections: Illinois-Vanderbilt (Kyle Bonagura, ESPN), Iowa-Tennessee (Mark Schlabach, ESPN), Illinois-Tennessee (CBS Sports), Iowa-Vanderbilt (Athlon Sports).
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
Dec. 27, Jacksonville, Fla. (ACC vs. SEC)
Current projections: Georgia Tech-Tennessee (Kyle Bonagura, ESPN), Miami (Fla.)-Vanderbilt (Mark Schlabach, ESPN), Miami (Fla.)-Texas (CBS Sports), Miami (Fla.)-Tennessee (Athlon Sports).
Notable: These two bowls — ReliaQuest and TaxSlayer Gator — might come down to whether they’d rather have Tennessee or Mizzou. Both teams are 8-4 without a win over a team that finished with a winning record, and all of their losses have come against top-20 opponents.
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Jan. 2, Memphis, Tenn. (Big 12 vs. SEC)
Current projections: TCU-California (Kyle Bonagura, ESPN), Iowa State-Memphis (Mark Schlabach, ESPN), TCU-Tulane (CBS Sports), Cincinnati-East Carolina (Athlon Sports).
Notable: This is an unlikely destination for Mizzou, even as it’s the closest to Columbia. This game has been reserved for the SEC’s worst bowl-eligible teams, but there’s a good chance that, since there aren’t enough SEC teams to fulfill all the conference’s bowl tie-ins, the Liberty Bowl will find a team from another conference to compete in Grind City.
Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian