Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel speaks to the media at the Southeastern Conference NCAA college football media day in Hoover, Ala.OTHER PICKSArkansas 37, Tulsa 34Miami 23, Virginia Tech 20W. Kentucky 28, MTSU 21Ga. Tech 25, Maryland 22N.C. State 21, Virginia 16W. Forest 20, Boston Coll. 13Clemson 42, Duke 19Kansas St. 46, Oklahoma St. 27Oregon 49, Southern Cal 35Notre Dame 24, Pittsburgh 18Ohio State 35, Illinois 6Louisville 27, Temple 17Oklahoma 31, Iowa State 24Oregon St. 33, Arizona St. 32Michigan St. 30, Nebraska 23Boise St. 38, San Diego St. 29Stanford 45, Colorado 10
Missouri coach Gary Pinkel did not need an entire season in SEC football to determine if the new league for the Tigers is tougher than their old one, the Big 12.
“I’m not here to devalue anybody,” Pinkel said Wednesday, “but the difference to me between the Big 12 and the SEC is that the SEC has a lot more good teams. I think that is fair to say, and I think it’s hard to argue that.”
The Tigers dropped their first four SEC games by the average score of 33-14 before breaking through last Saturday with a 33-10 win over Kentucky. Pinkel’s Tigers went 3-5 and 2-6 in Big 12 games during his first two years (2001-02) in that league but were 35-22 in the seven seasons that preceded this one.
Missouri has lost to Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama by at least three touchdowns, and the Tigers also suffered a 19-15 home loss to Vanderbilt.