Written by Matt Zemek at Bloguin
There’s still so much to process and absorb about Gary Pinkel’s retirement at the University of Missouri… and no, we’re not even talking about the off-field stuff from a rather remarkable week in Columbia.
The larger drama enfolding the program last week was quite compelling, regardless of personal views. For some, that series of events is worth discussing; for others, it is and will always be repellent. All those issues, however, represent a different conversation best suited for another space. Here, we’ll focus on football itself, and what Missouri has taught us as Gary Pinkel rides into the sunset.
Let’s start with 2015 in particular. This year’s Missouri team helps us to understand what a diminished SEC East really looks like. The East has been the weaker division in the SEC for several years. Its champion hasn’t won the conference since Florida and Urban Meyer celebrated in Atlanta back in 2008. Yet, the past two seasons have truly marked a low point for the East. The 2010 season was terrible, but it was one year sandwiched between strong seasons on the part of Florida (2009) and Georgia (2011). The East is now in a genuine slump, with 2015 failing to restore what 2014 lost.
Missouri is very much a part of that dynamic.
The Tigers not only won the East the previous two seasons; they did so with a 7-1 record, crashing through the front door instead of backdooring to a title the way South Carolina did in 2010 at 5-3. The regression witnessed this year, despite the return of veteran quarterback Maty Mauk, has diminished the profile of the East. Victories over Mizzou held considerable value (for the few teams able to attain them) in 2013 and 2014. This year, that’s not much of a notch on the belt. With Kentucky and Tennessee still largely stuck as programs (though the Vols were always pointing to 2016, not 2015, as their big year), Missouri’s failure to maintain its status in 2015 leaves Florida as the only program which either lived up to or exceeded expectations. (If Vanderbilt can upset Tennessee, it would reach this status.)
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