On Nov. 24, 2007, Missouri beat Kansas 36-28 at Arrowhead Stadium and woke up the next morning ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for only the second time in program history.
This article is part of a recurring series in which we go back in time to look at key moments, people, games and topics that shaped Missouri Tigers history. Have a suggestion for a Time Capsule story? Let us know in the comments.
The last time Missouri had been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, Dwight Eisenhower was president.
Nov. 14, 1960. Dan Devine’s Tigers. It lasted one week, and most people alive in Columbia couldn’t remember it happening.
So when the Tigers woke up on Nov. 25, 2007 — 47 years later — and saw Missouri atop the AP rankings for only the second time in program history, nobody needed to be told what it meant. They’d felt it the night before.
Border War at Arrowhead
On Nov. 24, 2007, No. 4 Missouri and No. 2 Kansas met at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City in front of 80,537 fans. The two rivals entered a combined 21-1. The winner would clinch the Big 12 North and a berth in the Big 12 Championship Game.
It was the biggest game in the history of the Border War. And Missouri made sure there was no doubt.
Chase Daniel was surgical. He completed 40 of 49 passes for 361 yards and three touchdowns. Jeremy Maclin, the freshman from Kirkwood, Missouri, who was rewriting what a first-year player could do in this league, hauled in 10 catches for 69 yards. Tony Temple ran through Kansas’ defense for 98 yards on 22 carries.
Missouri built a 28-7 lead and never surrendered it. Kansas fought back and closed to 28-21 in the third quarter, but the Tigers had an answer every time.
“When other teams score, all I need to say to the offense is ‘Hey, let’s answer,’” Daniel told reporters after the game. “We answered. We did it on almost every single drive.”
In the final minute, defensive end Stryker Sulak sacked Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing in the end zone for a safety, sealing a 36-28 victory and an eruption at Arrowhead that no one in the building would forget.
“When we started the season, this is where we wanted to be,” Sulak said. “We can’t wait to play in the Big 12 championship game.”
Tiger Town
The Kansas City Star’s sports section the next morning said it all. The headline stretched across the front page in yellow block letters: TIGER TOWN!
Columnist Jason Whitlock didn’t hedge. “The Missouri Tigers stated their case for No. 1 Saturday night, and only the clueless left Arrowhead Stadium unimpressed,” he wrote. “They’re worthy of college football’s No. 1 ranking. They’re legitimate national-title contenders.”
Game reporter Mike DeArmond’s headline captured the defense: MU turns off lights. Three times in the early stages, Missouri’s defense stopped Kansas near the goal line.
Gary Pinkel could barely contain himself in the postgame press conference.
“You saw it, America saw it,” Pinkel said of Daniel’s performance. “This guy is special. I’ve said this for a year-and-a-half.”
Maclin, the freshman, understood the weight of what had just happened.
“It felt good,” he said. “It is something that Mizzou has never done.”
No. 1
When the AP poll dropped Sunday — the day after the game — Missouri had 45 of 65 first-place votes. The Tigers were No. 1 for only the second time in program history — and the first time in nearly half a century.
Bryan Burwell’s column landed on the front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Monday under the headline: The new, No. 1 Missouri Tigers. Burwell wrote that “MU coach Gary Pinkel sported a wry smile on his face that you couldn’t have washed off with a sandblaster.”
The 2007 Tigers entered the year as a program still fighting for national respect. Pinkel was in his seventh season. The Big 12 North title had never belonged to Missouri. Daniel had never been mentioned alongside Heisman contenders.
By November, all of that had changed. Daniel finished the season with 4,306 passing yards and 33 touchdowns. He was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting — the highest finish in Missouri history. Maclin posted 2,776 all-purpose yards as a freshman, a Division I-A single-season record at the time. He scored 16 touchdowns via four different methods — receiving, rushing, punt return and kickoff return — the only player in the nation to do so.
Pinkel was named Big 12 Coach of the Year.
What came after
Missouri held the No. 1 ranking for one week. The Big 12 Championship Game in San Antonio brought a rematch with Oklahoma — the only team to beat Missouri during the regular season — and the Sooners won 38-17. The No. 1 ranking was gone as quickly as it had arrived.
But the season wasn’t over. Missouri beat No. 25 Arkansas 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day, powered by running back Tony Temple’s 281 yards and four touchdowns — both Cotton Bowl records. The final record was 12-2. The final AP ranking was No. 4, the highest in program history.
It remains the standard.
Why it still matters
The 2007 season proved something Missouri had been trying to prove for decades — that this program belonged on the biggest stage. Chase Daniel put Missouri on the national map. Jeremy Maclin electrified it. Gary Pinkel built the infrastructure that made it possible.
The No. 1 ranking lasted seven days. The newspaper headlines faded. But for one week in November, Missouri was the best team in college football. And nobody who was at Arrowhead that night — or who picked up the Kansas City Star the next morning — needed anyone to tell them that.
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