What a season for Missouri.

Despite getting little love before the season and hitting choppy waters during an early three-game stretch, the Tigers now claim two division titles in three years as a member of college football’s best conference.

Here are Missouri’s five defining moments of the 2014 season.

1. Fourth-quarter comeback to beat South Carolina on the road: After a humbling home loss to Indiana the week before, Missouri’s offense stalled despite facing a Gamecocks team that couldn’t contain a poodle with a 10-foot fence. The Gamecocks went ahead 20-7 halfway through the fourth quarter. It felt like a danger zone with a home game against Georgia looming (which the Tigers lost, 34-0). Lose that one and Missouri doesn’t win the SEC East. But Maty Mauk sprung to life, hitting Bud Sasser and Wesley Leftwich to set up a touchdown, then engineered the winning touchdown drive with less than two minutes left as Missouri stole a 21-20 victory in the other Columbia.

2. Markus Golden’s fourth-quarter strip and fumble recovery vs. Arkansas: Georgia finished its SEC schedule on Nov. 15, essentially the leader in the clubhouse in the SEC East. Owning the head-to-head tiebreaker, the Bulldogs just had to hope for a Mizzou loss at Tennessee or against a red-hot Arkansas. The Razorbacks led 14-6 in the fourth quarter in the final regular-season game for both teams, but Mauk put together a 98-yard touchdown drive and two-point conversion to tie. The Tigers took the lead on a run-heavy drive with less than five minutes left, but Arkansas drove 40 yards to the Mizzou 35. Then Golden stripped running back Alex Collins, secured the turnover and allowed Mizzou to run out the clock on yet another SEC East title.

3. Mauk’s six TDs at Toledo: The Rockets were a trendy bet as a short home underdog. Instead, Mauk played a great game, following a three-touchdown effort in the season opener with six more in a 49-24 blowout. With the game tied 7-7, Mauk accounted for four scores from 2:47 left in the first quarter to 8:53 left in the third. He finished the day with 325 passing yards and 36 rushing yards, but did throw two interceptions. After another strong performance the next week against UCF, Mauk had accumulated 12 passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in three games.

4. Golden’s hamstring injury: A myriad of factors led to the Tigers’ 31-27 home loss to Indiana on Sept. 20, but the absence of No. 33 especially stood out. Without its senior leader, Mizzou gave up 189 yards to Hooisers running back Tevin Coleman, and IU wracked up 493 yards of total offense in the upset. The game marks what was probably the worst performance of the season for Missouri’s offensive line as well, though the team did lose Anthony Gatti to a season-ending knee injury. Golden missed just one game, but wasn’t his usual explosive self for several weeks, as the team narrowly escaped South Carolina and fell hard to Georgia before reeling off six consecutive wins.

5. Shane Ray’s ejection from the SEC championship: Early in the second quarter, with Missouri playing Alabama pretty evenly (the Tigers missed a field goal that would’ve made it 7-3 in favor of the Tide), Blake Sims rocketed a 58-yard touchdown pass to DeAndrew White. Moments after he released the ball, still vulnerable and looking downfield, Ray smashed him in the face, earning an automatic ejection. Not only was the double blow an emotional letdown for Missouri, but the Tigers had to play the better part of three quarters without the Defensive Player of the Year against heavily-favored Alabama. The Crimson Tide just seemed like the better team, but Mizzou would’ve liked to have all hands on deck for that one.