New York Times' prediction for Missouri's 2009 football season

Even the most optimistic Missouri fan would be hard-pressed to make a case that this year team is good enough to post the program’s third consecutive double-digit win season. But how good can Missouri be? If we learned one thing from the post-Brad Smith era, when many of the same concerns were raised as prior to this season, is that you cannot discount the Tigers merely because of its personnel losses. For example, if sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert lives up to his five-star billing and sophomore tight end Andrew Jones is the receiving threat he seems poised to become, the Missouri offense will be only marginally worse than a season ago. On the defensive side of the ball, much will depend on the play of the secondary. If that group can hold its own against the explosive passing attacks in the Big 12, Missouri could be the North champs. Doable? Yes. Do I think those stars will align for Missouri in 2009? No, I don’t. Too many question marks, too many holes to fill. There is no doubt that when considering the youth of this team, especially on offense, Missouri could be back atop the North division in 2010. For this year, I predict the Tigers to hover around the .500 mark: 6-6, 3-5 in the Big 12. However, no other team in the North has as much upside.