For the first time, a preseason poll favors the Missouri football team to win its division.
The Missouri football team has been picked to win the Big 12 Conference North Division in a preseason media poll conducted by the Big 12 office. It is the first time the Tigers have been picked to win the North. Before this year’s poll, the highest that the Tigers have been picked to finish was second, in 2004.
“We’re honored to be picked to win it, and we’ll definitely help use that as motivation,” junior quarterback Chase Daniel said in a press release Thursday. “We’ve worked really hard over the last few years to earn some respect, and now that it’s coming, we need to work even harder to keep it.”
If the season goes as expected, the Tigers might have the opportunity to win their first conference championship in football since 1969, when they shared the Big Eight title with Nebraska.
In this year’s poll, the Tigers received 16 out of 24 possible first-place votes, with Nebraska picking up the other eight. Having 15 starters from the 2006 squad that went 8-5 and played in the Sun Bowl is part of the reason why the Tigers are picked to win the division. With all the expectations, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the program and the upcoming year.
“It’s definitely exciting for us and hopefully for our fans, too,” senior defensive lineman Lorenzo Willams said in a press release. “We know that it doesn’t mean anything unless we take care of business, so that’s what we have to do now,”
Currently, the team is continuing its voluntary summer conditioning. Practice will officially begin with the preseason fall camp on Aug. 4. The team opens the season against Illinois on Sept. 1 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.