Fox Sports' Joel Klatt names this 2025 Alabama football opponent as CFP 'party crasher'
Since the Missouri Tigers joined the SEC ahead of the 2012 season, Alabama has gone 5-0 against the Tigers. After posting a 42-10 victory in a heavy downpour at Faurot Field in Missouri's first year as a conference foe, Alabama's average margin of victory against the Tigers has been 28.6 points.
Even amid the ups and downs in coach Kalen DeBoer's first season in Tuscaloosa last year, Alabama had no problem dispatching Missouri with a 34-0 shutout win at Bryant-Denny Stadium a week after their 24-17 loss at Neyland Stadium to Tennessee.
Despite being unranked in the preseason top 25 polls, Missouri was arguably the quietest 10-win program in Power Four in 2024. The Tigers reached double digits in wins after closing the season with a 27-24 victory over Iowa in the Music City Bowl. That came 12 months after defeating Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl to cap an 11-2 season.
Could coach Eli Drinkwitz's team take it a step further and reach the 2025 College Football Playoff? At least one prominent analyst believes so. On the Thursday edition of "The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast," the Fox Sports commentator tabbed Missouri as one of four CFP "party crashers" in 2025.
In Klatt's view, Missouri gets the preseason nod over Oklahoma and Auburn as the SEC team that could "come out of nowhere" to snag an at-large spot in the playoff.
"They have been highly successful over the last couple of years," Klatt said of Missouri. "They've recruited well. Drinkwitz has a culture at Missouri, and I'm a fan of Beau Pribula. I know that they haven't settled on a quarterback yet, but I saw him at Penn State last year. Hard for them to keep him off the field at Penn State."
Pribula was the Nittany Lions' backup who entered the transfer portal with his team set to compete in the College Football Playoff last year. Klatt called Pribula's decision to leave Penn State as Drew Allar's backup a "difficult decision" made by "the stupid transfer rules."
Nevertheless, Klatt is high on Pribula and loves the momentum of Missouri's back-to-back 10-win seasons, the Tigers' defense, and most of all their schedule.
"They hit the schedule lottery in the SEC," Klatt said before pointing out that Missouri's conference slate doesn't include games against preseason No. 1 Texas, No. 4 Georgia, No. 9 LSU, No. 15 Ole Miss, No. 17 Florida and No. 18 Tennessee.
Missouri opens its season with six consecutive home games, including a matchup against Alabama on Oct. 11 at Faurot Field.
"Guys, watch out for Missouri this year," Klatt said before asking, "Can you beat either Alabama or South Carolina, and then definitely beat A&M on your home field? If they can do that, then I think Missouri has a great chance to be a party crasher."
Alabama vs. Missouri is scheduled for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff on Oct. 11. The game will be televised on either ABC or ESPN.
Alabama football schedule 2025
Alabama, ranked No. 8 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 poll, opens the 2025 season against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Aug. 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ABC. Florida State is unranked in either poll.
All times Central.
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