Big 12 Football: 3 programs that made a mistake leaving the conference

3. Mizzou Tigers

At the outset of joining the SEC East, it looked like the Mizzou Tigers athletic program had a brilliant move on their hands after bolting from the Big 12. Mizzou contended for a spot in the BCS National Championship Game during the 2013 season under former head coach Gary Pinkel. Even during the 2014 season, Mizzou won the SEC East for the second consecutive year.

Mizzou was back-to-back SEC East crown holders and dominated a lot of the competition from the outset. They made the likes of the Georgia Bulldogs, Florida Gators, and South Carolina Gamecocks, look bad for a little while there. But following the 11-win season in 2014, Mizzou would have a bit letdown after heavy roster losses in 2015 (finishing up with five wins).

It all came crashing back down to earth for the Mizzou football program in the last five years. Since the 2015 season, Mizzou made it to just two bowl games. And both of those bowl appearances resulted in losses to Big 12 programs. One of them came two seasons ago in the Liberty Bowl against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. And the other was against the Longhorns in the 2017 Texas Bowl.

They took another step down during the 2016 season, finishing up with just four wins. Former head coach Barry Odom did get Mizzou to a better standard in the last three seasons (making two bowl games and winning at least six games in each). But the current sanctions that the Mizzou athletic department faces really puts them at odds heading into the second decade in the SEC for their programs.