This is part of a daily series this week on each SEC team’s bowl possibilities and likely destination in prep for Sunday’s College Football Bowl Selection Show.

Last season, Gary Pinkel stressed that his Mizzou football team yearned for respect during their second season in the SEC.

A year later, on the cusp of their second straight appearance in the conference championship game on a six-game winning streak, it looks like the Tigers have earned it.

RELATED: SEC Bowl Projections Week 14

With a win on Saturday, Mizzou likely earns a trip to a New Year’s Six Bowl with Miami (Orange) being the probable destination. Ranked 16th in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, the gap’s too wide to ascend into the top four following an upset of top-ranked Alabama.

“It’s a consistency of winning, winning at a high level, in a very, very difficult league, very competitive league; I’ve always sort of brought up (that) you earn respect; that’s how you get it,” Pinkel told ESPN.com’s Sam Khan Jr. in a recent story. “Hopefully we’ve gained some respect. We’ll see how it goes from here.”

Recent Mizzou bowl history

  • 2008: Alamo Bowl — vs. Northwestern, 30-23, Win
  • 2009: Texas Bowl — vs. Navy, 35-13, Loss
  • 2010: Insight Bowl — vs. Iowa, 27-24, Loss
  • 2011: Independence Bowl — vs. North Carolina, 41-24, Win
  • 2013: Cotton Bowl — vs. Oklahoma State, 41-31, Win

Possible bowl destinations

Take away the early-season home loss to Indiana and the Tigers are 11-1 and in the Top 5 heading into Saturday’s showdown in Atlanta. Regardless of what happens inside the Georgia Dome, Mizzou’s in line for a quality bowl berth against Big Ten or ACC competition with the Citrus Bowl (Orlando) and Outback Bowl (Tampa) reportedly showing interest. It would give Tigers fans a chance to spend New Years in tourism mecca Central Florida.

Final bowl pairings will be announced on Sunday.