Missouri football soars in coaches poll top-25 rankings after battering Florida

Yes, Mizzou is ranked.

Missouri football surged nine spots in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll, taking the No. 16 spot in the nation in the updated rankings Sunday morning.

The Tigers (4-1, 1-1 SEC) battered Florida on Saturday in Columbia, getting a 340-yard passing performance from Austin Simmons, a 211-yard rushing day from Jamal Roberts and a 110-yard receiving day from Cayden Lee for a 45-17 win at Memorial Stadium.

The Gators (4-1, 2-1) dropped seven places from No. 8 to No. 15 in the coaches poll, remaining one spot ahead of Mizzou despite the big loss.

Mizzou next faces Texas A&M at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10 in Columbia. The Aggies beat Arkansas on Saturday in College Station, Texas, and remained unranked in the updated poll.

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There were 10 SEC teams ranked among the top 25.

The top seven remained unchanged. Texas remained No. 1 spot and Georgia stayed at No. 2. Notre Dame, Miami and Indiana, in that order, rounded out the top five, and Ohio State and Alabama were Nos. 6 and 7, respectively.

Elsewhere in the SEC, LSU was No. 10, Ole Miss was No. 11, Tennessee was No. 14,  Florida was No. 15, Mizzou was No. 16, Mississippi State was No. 20 and Kentucky entered the rankings at No. 25.

There are 72 FBS head coaches who vote in the poll, including Mizzou’s Eli Drinkwitz. Former Missouri OC Kirby Moore, now the head coach at Washington State, and Missouri State head coach Casey Woods, who previously worked as an assistant under Drinkwitz, also are voters this season.

Ranked teams are listed alongside their number of first-place votes:

• 1 Texas (45)
• 2 Georgia (20)
• 3 Notre Dame (1)
• 4 Miami
• 5 Indiana (8)
• 6 Ohio State
• 7 Alabama
• 8 BYU
• 9 Texas Tech
• 10 LSU
• 11 Ole Miss
• 12 Utah
• 13 Oregon
• 14 Tennessee
• 15 Florida
• 16 Missouri
• 17 USC
• 18 Iowa
• 19 Houston
• 20 Mississippi State
• 21 SMU
• 22 UCLA
• 23 Duke
• 24 Pittsburgh
• 25 Kentucky

Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State 187; Boise State 161; Nebraska 117; Wake Forest 87; Northwestern 70; Wisconsin 47; James Madison 42; Minnesota 40; North Dakota State 29; Arizona 15; New Mexico 7; Baylor 3; Virginia Tech 1; Texas A&M 1; Kansas State 1.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football soars in coaches poll top-25 rankings after battering Florida