Vanderbilt’s presence in the Southeastern Conference has offered Missouri a bit of relief from the uphill battle the Tigers have faced since joining the hyper-competitive league.
While Mizzou’s resources have paled compared to the upper-tier SEC programs, poor Vanderbilt has operated at an American Athletic Conference level or worse – leaving the Commodores totally outmanned.
The Tigers have won eight of their last 10 games against the Commodores, who have provided one of the few soft spots their SEC schedule.
Ah, but progress is being made in Nashville. Coach Clark Lea opened his tenure with a 2-10 finish, then he improved to 5-7 in Year 2 and retained many key players for Year 3.