Mizzou football: The latest on the Tigers' bowl projections before bowl selection

With less than 24 hours until Missouri football’s bowl destination is announced, where the Tigers will play remains unclear. On Friday, Brett McMurphy of the Action Network reported MU was avoiding a matchup with Kansas in the Liberty Bowl.

The program strongly refuted that report, with a social media post.

“Not true,” the post read. “Looking forward to our bowl game vs. any team!”

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz posted a photo of the Liberty Bowl stadium from above and asserted his team wasn’t afraid to play there. Regardless of whether Missouri is in fact attempting to dodge its former Big 12 rivals, McMurphy altered his bowl projections to have the Tigers facing off with East Carolina in the Gasparilla Bowl.

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The Action Network was joined in that projection by Brad Crawford of 247Sports.

That game takes place on Dec. 23 in Tampa at Raymond James Stadium. East Carolina finished its regular season at 7-5 and capped it off with a win on the road against Temple.

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports also projected the Tigers will land outside of the SEC’s Pool of Six bowls, which include the ReliaQuest (formerly Outback), Gator, Music City, Texas, Liberty and Las Vegas Bowls. Palm has held firm in predicting Missouri will face Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 27.

Memphis finished its season 6-6. It beat North Alabama to earn bowl eligibility before losing to SMU in its final game of the regular season.

Palm was not along in projecting Missouri to the Birmingham Bowl. The Athletic also predicted the Tigers will end up there, facing SMU.

The Mustangs finished the 2022 regular season 7-5, finishing with a win over Memphis. They finished 5-3 in the AAC and showed the ability to score major points in most of their wins, most notably hanging 77 on Houston in a Nov. 5 victory.

SMU would bring a familiar face, as former MU tight ends coach Casey Woods serves as the Mustangs' offensive coordinator.

The bowl picture for Missouri would be thrown into more chaos if the SEC ends up with more than one team in the College Football Playoff. After that, an SEC team goes into the Sugar and Citrus Bowls, and likely the Orange Bowl, before the conference assigns teams to the Pool of Six games.

After that, ESPN Events makes matchups for the Gasparilla and Birmingham Bowls.

Wherever Missouri ends up, it will be with a roster significantly impacted by the transfer portal and opt-outs. Top offensive threat Dominic Lovett is likely gone to the portal, and safety Martez Manuel has announced he will skip the game in order to train for the NFL Draft.

Defensive end Isaiah McGuire could also miss the bowl. He played the final matchup of the regular season with a separated shoulder and already declared he will enter the draft.

Other Tigers who have announced they will enter the portal include defensive backs Les Hewitt and Davion Sistrunk, quarterback Tyler Macon, Linebackers Zach Lovett and Devin Nicholson, cornerback DJ Jackson, safety Jalani Williams and defensive lineman Travion Ford.

The portal officially opens on Monday, which means the Tigers could be short even more players by the time the bowl game rolls around.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mizzou football: Latest bowl projections from national experts