Today we will be previewing the #7 Missouri Tigers. Coach Gary Pinkel knows his team faced high expectations going into last year but that pressure will pale in comparison to what the Tigers will be staring down this fall. After improving by four wins and rising to a No. 1 ranking in the nation for the first time since 1960, Missouri enters the season poised for what could be the most exciting and successful campaign in school history. They have most of there key players back from last years surprise team of college football. This year they will not sneak up on anybody. Being ranked #7 they will get every teams best shot. This team has experienced big success and there goals are very high for this season!

Offensively this team finished #5 as one of the highest octane offenses in all of college football. All eyes will be on senior Chase Daniel this year, and he'll have his work cut out for him to live up to the standard he set as a junior. Last season, the first Heisman finalist in school history completed 68.2 percent of his passes and set a pair of school records with 4,306 yards and 33 touchdowns through the air. He also rushed for 253 yards and four touchdowns and threw just 11 interceptions. In camp he has looked great expect him to be even better this year. At RB last year they were over shadowed by the high powered pass attack. But in the Cotton Bowl they broke out and rushed for 323 yards as a team. Look for this years team to use there hidden weapon, the running game even more. They do lose Temple from last years team. He rushed for over 1,000 yards. This year they will go with a more running back by committee attack. Receiver was definitely on of the strong points of last years team. They do lose there best receiver off last years team but welcome back there most explosive player Jeremy Maclin. Last fall, Maclin burst onto the scene with 80 catches for a team-leading 1,055 yards and nine touchdowns. He also rushed 51 times for 375 yards and four scores, and thanks to his kick-returning skills, he set an NCAA freshman record with 2,776 all-purpose yards, the sixth-highest single-season figure in NCAA Bowl Subdivision history for all classes. The offensive line loses two but coaches think they will even be stronger this year. They should keep Daniel upright which should lead to a very successful offensive season.

With 10 starters returning from the Cotton Bowl, the Tigers' defense seems to be on pretty solid ground, but the one defection was possibly their biggest star, nose guard Lorenzo Williams. The first-team All-Big 12 pick led the team with 6.5 sacks and was second with 10 tackles for loss in 2007, and he was a key cog of the defensive line the last two seasons. The leadership on the line will come from three senior starters, and on the interior line, defensive tackle Ziggy Hood (6-4, 295) will be asked to assume an even bigger role. Hood finished last year with 49 tackles, eight TFL and five sacks and was an honorable mention all-conference selection. The coaching staff hopes that playing next to Williams the last two years will help Hood with the intangibles necessary to set the tone on the line. A strong, experienced quartet of linebackers will rotate through the three positions this fall, with a pair of senior starters taking a back seat on the stat sheet, at least to junior Sean Weatherspoon. He led the team with 130 tackles from the weak-side spot last year, and added 9.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, eight pass break-ups and two forced fumbles in a first-team all-conference campaign. Weatherspoon underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder that hampered him during spring drills, but he's expected to be 100 percent by fall practice. The leader of the defensive backfield will be senior free safety William Moore, whose school-record eight interceptions led the NCAA last year. Moore finished the year with 117 tackles, nine tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles and six pass break-ups. He was a first-team All-America pick by Rivals.com and a second-team pick by the Associated Press. They lose two from the defensive backfield. But have some very talented backups that should fill in without any problems.

This should be another great year for the Tigers! They have a huge early season test against Illinois first game of the season. If they get by this game they might have a chance to go undefeated. They do play at Texas but other than that there schedule is very favorable to another BCS birth. They are my dark horse to play in the BCS national championship game. They will the game of the century in the Big 12 championship game against Oklahoma. Regular season record will be an undefeated 13-0!! You heard it hear first go Tigers!!

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