Top 5 matchups for Week 9 of the 2024 college football season
2. No. 21 Missouri at No. 15 Alabama – Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
This weekend’s matchup between Missouri and Alabama holds significant College Football Playoff implications and could serve as an elimination game. The two programs will meet for just the eighth time on Saturday and the fifth time as SEC opponents. The Crimson Tide have won all four conference matchups with the Tigers, including the SEC championship game in 2014, while Missouri won the first two games played in the series.
Since those first two wins in 1968 and 1975, the Tigers have lost every game against Alabama by at least 18 points and are two-touchdown underdogs again heading to Tuscaloosa. Mizzou had a brutal road loss at Texas A&M a few weeks back but has rebounded with two victories since to sit at 6-1. However, it took the Tigers a 15-point fourth quarter to rally and defeat 2-5 Auburn at home this past weekend. Perhaps they can turn that into momentum though as the Tigers still feature an offense that can put up points behind quarterback Brady Cook and maintain a top-10 total defense.
It’ll be a tall task to slow down Alabama’s offense, a unit that ranks 19th in the country in scoring at just over 38 points per game. Jalen Milroe has been inconsistent at times but remains an electrifying dual-threat quarterback, while true freshman wideout Ryan Williams has emerged as one of the top pass catchers in the country. However, the Crimson Tide’s defense will need to be better and is a big reason why the team has lost to Vanderbilt and Tennessee in two of its last three games. If the defense can step up, Alabama has a chance in what’s essentially a must-win game with LSU up next.
