Contender #17

Missouri

SEC · 2026 preseason baseline

Projection

74.9

SP+ preseason

+14.8

Returning prod.

58%

Recruiting

78%

2026 portal cycle

Net positive on talent-weighted flow.

+1.48z

talent-weighted z-score

applied: +0.30 pts

Top gains

  • 4★ QBAustin Simmons from Ole Miss
  • 4★ EDGEKamauryn Morgan from Baylor
  • 4★ WRCayden Lee from Ole Miss

Top losses

  • 4★ QBBeau Pribula to Virginia
  • 4★ EDGEDamon Wilson II to Miami
  • 4★ WRMarquis Johnson to Mississippi State

Portal moves are weighted by recruiting stars, position (QB and skill positions weighted higher), and eligibility. Withdrawn entrants are excluded. The z-score is normalized across teams appearing in the 2026 portal cycle. See the full portal leaderboard →

2025 season · final grade

The 2025 season, graded.

C CeilingC

On the projection.

Realized SP+ +14.4 · SP+ rank #21

Projection

70.0

Realized

70.6

Δ

+0.6

Δ grade

C

Ceiling SECONDARY

C

Projection vs realized

Realized 70.6 Projection 70.0

The yellow tick is Missouri's August 13, 2025 preseason SP+ rating (+14.0) — the last preseason release before Week 1, from Bill Connelly / ESPN. The dark bar is the final 2025 SP+ (Connelly, post-championship). Both mapped to the 0–100 scale by score = 50 + SP+ × (50/35), clamped [1, 99]. The gap between them is Δ: +0.6. Δ banded A through F gives the letter grade.

What the grade means

A C means Missouri finished within a narrow band of the projection (Δ +0.6, band −6 to +8). The season the projection described.

Ceiling grade: C · secondary lens · 2% of upside headroom used. Δ divided by the room Missouri had to move (upside if Δ is positive, downside if negative). Ceiling normalizes for projection height: a projection-90 team has 10 points of upside room, a projection-50 team has 50.

The letter grade always records the same relationship: realized minus projection, banded A through F. A team can sit in the Elite tier and still receive a D. LSU in 2025 is that case.

Read the methodology →

Offense (2025)

31.2

SP+ offensive rating

Defense (2025)

15.4

SP+ defensive rating (lower = better)

Nat'l SP+ rank

#21

Final 2025 SP+ ranking

2025 portal cycle (context)

Net positive on talent-weighted flow.

+1.03z

talent-weighted z-score

Top gains

  • 5★ EDGEDamon Wilson II from Georgia
  • 4★ QBBeau Pribula from Penn State
  • 4★ RBAhmad Hardy from UL Monroe

Top losses

  • 4★ EDGEJaylen Brown to South Carolina
  • 4★ EDGEWilliams Nwaneri to Nebraska
  • 4★ LBMikai Gbayor to North Carolina

Portal moves are weighted by recruiting stars, position (QB and skill positions weighted higher), and eligibility. Withdrawn entrants are excluded. The z-score is normalized across teams appearing in the 2025 portal cycle (context).

Returning production (2025): 20% of prior-year PPA back on the field (Bill Connelly's percentPPA metric via CFBD). This is a narrative reference — the 2025 grade itself is Δ vs preseason SP+ only.