The last few years have shown that the worst thing to happen to a football program isn’t losses or inconsistent play.
It’s apathy.
Missouri’s football program has been saddled with apathy over that time The attendance issues and a department deficit show that. Missouri’s doesn’t have a real, honest-to-God rival in the SEC; while the Tigers have certainly shown they belong in the nation’s premier conference, it’s doesn’t mean it’s been fun.
Not anymore.
The NCAA is now a unifying force for Missouri football (and baseball and softball). The NCAA united a fractured fan base when it handed down ridiculous, hypocritical sanctions for infractions that, as an NCAA spokesperson made clear, stemmed from a tutor that acted on her own.