If Missouri wins on Saturday, SEC commissioner Mike Slive might as well just hand him the award right there on the field.

One could argue that Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel and the coaching job he has done this season already merits the distinction, but an upset victory over Alabama in the SEC Championship would erase any doubt.

Competing with Pinkel for the honor is likely just one other coach: Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen. While what Mullen accomplished is incredible in his own right — taking the Bulldogs to a No. 1 overall ranking during the season and competing for the SEC West all the way until the last week of the regular season — MSU’s two losses to Alabama and Ole Miss took away some of the luster.

What makes Pinkel’s coaching accomplishment this season so remarkable is how he continues to lead his team to play above everyone’s expectations.

He was able to rally a team that withstood two devastating losses to Indiana and Georgia and finish the season on a six-game winning streak, three of which came at a time when Missouri knew a loss would end its chances of returning to the SEC Championship.

RELATED: SEC Championship teleconference: Pinkel talks Mauk, Alabama

Nationally, the Tigers don’t get much respect. In Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings, Missouri was at No. 16, despite a 10-2 record. Three teams with three losses were ranked ahead of Missouri and Auburn, a team with four losses, was just four spots behind Missouri at No. 20.

Slowly but surely, however, the conference is coming around to the idea that Missouri is for real and that’s a credit to Pinkel and his staff. The success he has had in developing these players, many of which were lower-rated recruits, is evident by the on-field performances we’ve seen in recent weeks.

Awards like the Coach of the Year are always about expectations. Did Missouri have the best team this season in the SEC? No, that distinction goes to Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. But with an 11-1 record, Saban has set the bar so high that one-loss Alabama team under his leadership likely won’t garner any coaching awards for the four-time national champion.

Pinkel, on the other hand, continues to do more with less than any coach in the SEC. Fighting off underwhelming preseason expectations and returning to Atlanta is a big accomplishment for the 14-year head coach.

At some point, Missouri and Pinkel will garner enough respect from those around the SEC that seasons like this one should be expected from the Tigers, but that is not the case quite yet.

And as 14.5-point underdogs against the nation’s No. 1 ranked team on Saturday, an upset win would be a more than fitting ending to Missouri’s season, a year where Pinkel and his players were constantly the underdogs.

Only three times in the SEC Championship has there been a 14-point or more underdog and the favorite as won every time. Not many are counting on Pinkel to lead Missouri over Alabama, but its that exact kind of thinking that has helped the Missouri coach to prove so many people wrong.

And it’s the same kind of attitude that will definitely earn Pinkel the SEC Coach of the Year honor with a win on Saturday.