Last season, Missouri finished with a 5-7 (1-7) record in Gary Pinkel’s final year as coach.
With one week left until the offseason officially hits, the Tigers are set to end the 2016 campaign — Barry Odom’s first as the new coach — with two fewer wins, barring an upset over Arkansas this coming Saturday.
Still, despite increase in losses, advanced stats indicate that Mizzou has actually improved from last season’s unit.
But that’s not the only strange fact that the metrics have uncovered. According to SB Nation and Football Outsiders’ Bill Connelly, a team with Missouri’s 2016 offense and 2015 defense would rank in the S&P+ top 20; and a team with Missouri’s 2015 offense and 2016 defense would rank in the S&P bottom 10.
What an incredible stat from @SBN_BillC. https://t.co/FZ3wMBywjl pic.twitter.com/TFomhRNoMX
— Brandon Kiley (@BKSportsTalk) November 21, 2016
In 2015, Missouri ranked last in the SEC with 13.6 points per game but remained competitive due to its No. 2-ranked defense (16.2 points allowed per game). Through 11 games in 2016, the Tigers rank 13th in the conference in defense (32.2 ppg) but boast a top-six scoring unit (31.7).
In other words, Mizzou’s offense and defense have completely flipped in the matter of a year. That’s a rather bizarre, yet truly remarkable stat.
Tyler Waddell is a member of the Saturday Down South news team. He brings over five years of professional journalism experience and is closing in on a Bachelor's in sports management. Follow him on Twitter (@Tyler_Waddell).
