Let’s face it: Missouri has made following football recruiting ... I mean, it’s not boring, really, but even in Gary Pinkel’s heyday, there were only a few truly standout recruiting battles to follow in a given year. Most of the major battles the Tigers lost didn’t end up being incredibly costly*, and a healthy percentage of Mizzou’s breakthrough players committed either out of nowhere or after less high-profile battles.
For every blue-chip battle for a Jeremy Maclin, Tony Temple, Sheldon Richardson, or Dorial Green-Beckham, there were, like, eight recruitments that played out like Sean Weatherspoon’s (mid-major commit who flipped late) or Michael Sam’s/L’Damian Washington’s (out-of-nowhere late offers because some other commitment fell through).