Column: Should You Care About Mizzou's Bowl Game?

Most of you reading this probably care far more about what happens in the offseason than the final score of the Gator Bowl. 

But it is your favorite team playing, after all. Shouldn't you care? Not really. 

Missouri is playing Virginia in the Taxslayer Gator Bowl Dec. 27 to close its 2025 season. You probably don't care too much about the result of the game — it's almost a full calendar month after Missouri's final regular season game, there's no postseason hopes that the Tigers are fighting for, half the offense hit the transfer portal and Missouri has no rivalry with Virginia, who finished the season as an 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference program with little ties to Missouri or the Southeastern Conference.

But it's not about you. It's about the players who have poured blood, sweat, tears and their entire lives over the years to reach this point. This is their reward of one final sendoff, either for their respective season, or their entire collegiate career. 

"The game of football is not guaranteed," head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. "I think that's the biggest thing with bowl games. It's a guaranteed opportunity for your team to continue to play, and it's a reward for its job well done during the season.

"I think there's always an assumption where, when you're a younger player, that there's going to be more games, and as you get older, you realize that that's not the case. And playing football out in the backyard not like playing it in full field. It's not like playing it with your brothers. It's not like putting that helmet on." 

Some players may never get an opportunity to put that helmet on again — the Gator Bowl is their last ride. Think of Logan Muckey, a former walk-on who's used sparingly, experienced papillary thyroid cancer to play his final season, and has an extremely small chance of playing in the pros, if at all. This is more than likely his last chance to play in a regulated, competitive game again. He deserves that final chance. 

Others who do have a chance to turn pro, such as Zion Young and Chris McClellan, get to continue their football career, but won't suit up for Missouri ever again. This is their last chance to embrace the program that built them, and that they helped build over the past two seasons. 

An aspect that applies to most every player on the team, no matter the class, position or future pro status, is the fact that when their football careers are all said and done, will they wish they didn't play in this game to get a few extra weeks of rest, or will they be glad they did? 

The NFL return of 44-year-old Phillip Rivers  helps answer that question; for those who love the game of football, there'll always be a desire to step on the gridiron — the Tigers should take every opportunity they get to play.

"You got a 44-year-old who decided to give it one more try this past weekend, because that's how much he missed it," Drinkwitz said. "If you asked any of our college players who — maybe thought they were going to get a good chance to play in the pros — if you could give them one more game, they'd always take it, always."

The Gator Bowl not only acts as a sendoff for those closing their football careers, but acts as a huge opportunity for those looking to kickstart it. Wideouts Josh Manning, Marquis Johnson and James Madison II all entered the transfer portal and won't be playing in the Gator Bowl. This leaves a giant opening in the rotation for freshmen like Shaun Terry II and DaMarion Fowlkes to step into a larger role than they had all season, and prove what they can do looking into 2026. 

At the end of the day, the results of the bowl game are largely inconsequential for the fans. A win would be nice, and would end the season on a high note, but it wouldn't affect Missouri's future much at all. 

But it could mean everything to those players you cheer on.