COLUMBIA, MO. • Up one spot in the Associated Press poll this week, the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs are coming to Columbia with another chance to stake their claim as the country’s top contender to No. 1 Alabama.
Georgia (3-0) is an early 14-point favorite for Saturday’s 11 a.m. game against Mizzou (3-0). The Bulldogs will be the highest-ranked team to visit Faurot Field since the top-ranked Crimson Tide hammered Gary Pinkel’s Tigers 42-10 in 2012.
Mizzou, fresh off Saturday’s wild 40-37 win at Purdue, is 0-4 against nationally ranked teams under third-year coach Barry Odom and 0-3 overall against top 10 teams since last beating Georgia in 2013, when the Bulldogs were No. 7.
Missouri picked up its first votes in the AP poll this week, appearing on one ballot at No. 20 and another at No. 24. The Tigers have eight poll votes. MU has 21 poll votes in the coaches poll.
When was Mizzou’s last win over a team ranked as high as No. 2? You have to go all the way back to the Armageddon at Arrowhead, when No. 3 MU toppled No. 2 Kansas 36-28 to capture the Big 12 North Division. Since that night in Kansas City, the Tigers are 1-8 against teams ranked in the top five of the AP poll.
2008
No. 4 Oklahoma 62, No. 19 Missouri 21 (Big 12 championship game)
No. 4 Texas 56, No. 11 Missouri 31
2009
No. 3 Texas 41, Missouri 7
2010
No. 18 Missouri 36, No. 3 Oklahoma 27
2011
No. 1 Oklahoma 38, Missouri 28
2012
No. 1 Alabama 42, Missouri 10
2013
No. 3 Auburn 59, No. 5 Missouri 42 (SEC championship game)
2014
No. 1 Alabama 42, No. 14 Missouri 13 (SEC championship game)
2017
No. 4 Georgia 53, Missouri 28
Georgia has dismantled its three opponents, outscoring Austin Peay, South Carolina and Middle Tennessee by an average score of 45-8. Oddsmakers are expecting a more competitive game Saturday, though this marks just the third time Missouri has been a double-digit home underdog since joining the Southeastern Conference in 2012.
Since the 2000 season, the Tigers are 0-9 in home games as double-digit underdogs and 3-6 against the spread in those games. Here are those nine games:
2017
vs. Auburn (-18) … Lost by 37
2012
vs. Alabama (-21) … Lost by 32
2009
vs. Texas (-13.5) … Lost by 34
2005
vs. Texas (-14) … Lost by 21
2002
vs. Kansas State (-17) … Lost by 38
vs. Oklahoma (-13) … Lost by 7
2001
vs. Texas (-21.5) … Lost by 19
vs. Nebraska (-24) … Lost by 33
2000
vs. Kansas State (21.5) … Lost by 4
Dave Matter
Dave Matter is the Mizzou beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
