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2008 Missouri Tigers

Written June 30, 2008 by Jason Lowry

The upcoming NCAA football season is just around the corner, and Jason Lowry is ready to make his 2008 Missouri Tigers football predictions, but first lets take a little closer look at the upcoming team the Tigers will be sending to the field this season. The Tigers are coming off a great season, and were just one game away from playing in the National Championship. Because of their loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game they missed out, and were sent to the Cotton Bowl where they man handled Arkansas 38-7. Missouri finished the season 12-2, and with 14 returning starters there is talk that head coach Gary Pinkel can lead this team to another great season. Lets take a look at what the Tigers will be sending to both sides of the ball.

Offense:
The team returns just 6 starters on this side of the ball, but the fact that senior quarterback Chase Daniels decided to come back, is enough for this side of the ball to be one of the best in the Big 12 once again. Daniels is the best the Big 12 and maybe the country has to offer, and is coming off a season where he threw for 4,306 yards and 33 touchdowns. The team will like send over the starting running back job to sophomore Derrick Washington who got his feet wet last season as a freshman. The Tigers will have another great group of receivers in 2008, and none will be better than sophomore Jeremy Maclin who brought in 80 catches for 1,055 yards and 9 touchdowns. The team also has one of the better tight ends in the Big 12 in 6-6 senior Chase Coffman who grabbed 7 touchdowns last season. The offensive line returns 3 of the 5 starters and it will really depend on the play of junior Dain Wise at left tackle, and sophomore Tim Barnes at center, both look to be the prime guys to take over the spots when the season starts. Senior right tackle Colin Brown is one of the better tackles you will find in the big 12 and will need to keep it up in 2008.

Defense:
This side of the ball brings back 8 starters to a defense that was arguably one of, if not the best in the Big 12 last season. The Tigers bring back 3 starters to a defensive line that allowed only 93 yards on the ground a year ago. The best of the group is senior defensive end Stryker Sulak and senior defensive tackle Siggy Hood. It looks like junior Andy Maples gets the edge at other tackle spot to start the season. The team brings back all 3 starters at linebacker, and junior weakside linebacker Sean Weatherspoon is one of the best the conference has, and is coming off a team leading 130 tackles a year ago. The secondary will only need to fill in one spot at strong safety, as the rest of the group from last season will be back for another year. It looks like senior Justin Garrett will get first shot at the job, as he did have 2 interceptions and 51 tackles last season as a backup. Senior free safety William Moore is another great talent on this team, and it will be hard to find to many other players in the Big 12 that can compete with this guy.

Prediction: 1st in the Big 12 North
Though the North is many times thought of as a much weaker side of the conference, they had to of the best teams last season in Missouri and Kansas. The Tigers have all the tools and weapons to make another run at the Big 12 title, and could easily end up facing Oklahoma once again for a shot at the National Championship. This team is easily the best the North has to offer, and look for Daniels to have a huge year and maybe even a Heisman Trophy.

For more team preview and predictions be sure to continue to check back often, as Jason Lowry will continue to make his way through the some of the best teams and conferences in the country. Also if you want to get a jump start on the upcoming football season, head over to Bodoglife.com and get an account up and running today.

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