Bowl games don’t really matter, right?
That’s what we’re supposed to say when your team loses in a random Bowl game anyway. The excuses are built in. Long layoffs, the transfer portal, NFL opt outs. Those all exist. The offensive line, a problem all year long, got worse through the portal attrition and late season injuries. Your best offensive player, Dominic Lovett, entered the portal. Possibly your best defensive player, Isaiah McGuire, sat out to prepare for the NFL draft.
But if Mizzou had won this game there would be a different song being sung. There’d be talk about momentum, finishing over .