Mizzou Overview, Music City Reaction

Missouri was supposed to play in its first Music City Bowl after the Covid-compromised 2020 season. The opponent was Iowa. It was canceled due to health issues in the Tiger program.

Fast forward four years and the folks in Nashville got another crack at the matchup on Sunday. They took it, pitting teams separated by a couple hundred miles against each other in the Dec. 30th game.

"It's an honor to be selected to participate in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl," Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said in a press release. "We're looking forward to the opportunity to play at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. It's a great market for our alumni and fanbase and I know we'll have an excited crowd.

"Our team has worked extremely hard to achieve this goal, and we are looking forward to preparing and playing against a terrific Iowa squad. I'm just thankful I get to coach this special group of men for one more game this season."

The Hawkeyes defeated Kentucky, 21-0, in '22 Music City Bowl. It was their first appearance in the game.

Missouri makes its Music City debut. It's 9-3 overall and 5-3 in the SEC.

Against arguably their toughest opponents this season, the Tigers were outscored 75-10 by Alabama and Texas A&M. They were on the road.

The ESPN Strength of Record rankings have Missouri 19th and Iowa 38th. The Tigers' top victory was against No. 31 Oklahoma. The Hawkeyes' highest-ranked win was against No. 43 Minnesota.

Teamrankings.com rates Missouri's schedule as the 26th toughest nationally, the Hawkeyes checking in 21 spots behind that. They're two spots apart in the site's predictive rankings.

Iowa will be without its top player, running back Kaleb Johnson, who opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL draft. The Tigers will not have dynamic receiver Luther Burden III or right tackle Armand Membou, who also have turned their attention to the pros.

On the bright side for Missouri, like Iowa, it's hung its hat on defense, ranking 20th in scoring defense (20.1 PPG). The Hawkeyes are ninth (17.1). The Tigers are 59th in scoring (29.1), and Iowa is 66th (28.0).

Missouri's defense ranks fourth nationally on third downs and seventh in first-down defense. The Tigers are seventh in time of possession and 16th in third-down conversions.

Brady Cook owns as 25-13 record as Missouri's starting quarterback. He averages more than 200 yards in completing 63 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. Running back Nate Noel ranks fifth in the SEC in rushing yards per game.

Corey Flagg Jr. paces a balanced Tiger defense with 76.0 tackles, while Johnny Walker has a team-high 7.5 sacks and three fumbles forced.

Iowa and Missouri last met at the 2010 Insight Bowl in Arizona. The Hawkeyes won, 27-24. It was the first time they played in 100 years. 

The Tigers finished their regular season with a 28-21 win against Arkansas on Nov. 30.