Missouri 11-2 (7-1), 1st Big 12 - North Division
vs
Arkansas 8-4 (4-4), 3rd Southeastern - West
January 1, 11:30pm, FOX
The Missouri Tigers were one win away against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Title game of playing in the National Title game, but a loss in that game has them playing against a Nutt-less Razorback team. Houston Nutt resigned as Arkansas' coach, only to turn around and take the Mississippi job the day after. The Razorbacks went out and got former Falcons and Louisville coach Bobby Petrino to come in and take their vacancy. In other news, Heisman Trophy runner-up Darren McFadden might not be able to play in the game because of allegations that he took gifts from an agent. To read more about this match-up don't forget to
visit my good pal MizzouRAH.
The Missouri Tigers are built around the strong arm and leadership of their quarterback Chase Daniel. Daniel leads the 7th ranked passing offense and 5th ranked offense overall. In 2007, Daniel has thrown for 4170 yards with 33 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He struggles a bit against the Sooners and I believe that is why they lost that game. Tony Temple is back at running back. He missed two games this season because of an injury, but in 11 games he has rushed for 758 yards and 8 touchdowns. Jeremy Maclin (1000 yards receiving) and Martin Rucker (815 yards receiving) combine for 17 touchdowns and are a difficult challenge for anyone to cover, that includes a defense in Arkansas that ranks 37th against the pass. The Missouri defense is a terrible 101st against the pass, but given that Arkansas does not beat teams through the air, that should not hurt the Tigers. Against the run, Missouri is 26th against the run, giving up only 118 yards per game. They will have their hands full with Felix Jones and possibly Darren McFadden.
Darren McFadden is the offense for the Razorbacks. He lines up at running back, slot receiver, and even at quarterback. In 12 games this season, McFadden rushed for 1725 yards and his partner in the backfield, Felix Jones added another 1100 yards. The duo also combined for 28 rushing touchdowns. For Arkansas to have a chance to win, quarterback Casey Dick must have a good game. Dick has thrown for 1498 yards with 18 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. I think they must take advantage of the fact that Missouri's weakness is their pass defense.
A lot of this game's outcome has to do on whether or not Darren McFadden will play. If he doesn't, I don't think Arkansas has a chance in this game, but even if he does play I still give the decided advantage to Missouri. The Tigers are going to be playing with a chip on their shoulder since Kansas, a team they beat, got into the BCS and they were left out. They are going to want to prove that they should've been there, and will take it out on a leaderless Razorback team.
Missouri 41 Arkansas 20
Picking Missouri to Win (75%)
ITB Brian Sakowski, MizzouRAH, The Enlightened Spartan, ITB Ron Juckett, ITB Charlie Swager, Football Frontier, The LSC Scoop, Corn Nation, Pitch Right, Kansas It's Business Time, Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, Rizzo Sports, Matt Kieta, Sunny Verma, Lorena The Dodgerchick, Jason Stiver, Cyril Tircuit, Rodney Polston, Dan Schoonover, Timmy B, Greg Gowins, Richard Dixon, Mrs Corn Nation, Brian Isaacson
Picking Arkansas to Win (25%)
MidWest Coast Bias, Bastard Sons of Pinfall Marks, Sportsbone TV, Pete Boivin, Jeff Brancolini, Lou Nemec, Logan Jaffe, Brant Chruscial
