COLUMBIA, Mo. The University of Missouri has accepted an invitation for its football team to play in the 2018 AutoZone Liberty Bowl, as announced today. The 60th playing of the Liberty Bowl will pit the 8-4 and 23rd-ranked (College Football Playoff) Tigers against the Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-6) in a December 31, matchup in Memphis, Tenn. Kickoff is set for 2:45 p.m. (central time) with the game broadcast on ESPN.
Mizzou, under the direction of third-year Head Coach Barry Odom, comes into bowl season as one of the hottest teams in the country, as it won four straight games, and five of its last six, to close the 2018 regular season. The Tigers have one of the top road wins in the country this season, when they claimed a 38-17 victory at CFP #10 Florida on Nov. 3rd. Mizzou has played one of the toughest schedules in the nation, according to numerous computer ranking models, and has two losses on the last play of the game including to CFP #14 Kentucky and at 7-5 South Carolina (ranked 28th in the FPI rankings). This will mark the second-straight bowl game appearance under Odom, as his 2017 Tigers closed last season in the Texas Bowl.
Mizzou has a history with the Liberty Bowl, which began in 1959 and is the seventh-oldest college bowl game. The Tigers played twice in the Liberty Bowl during a three-year period, defeating LSU (20-15) in the 1978 classic, and falling to Purdue (28-25) in 1980. The 1978 Mizzou team celebrated its 40th anniversary earlier this season in Columbia.
The Tigers boast numerous ties to the Memphis community, as well, starting with Head Coach Barry Odom, who served as defensive coordinator at the University of Memphis for three seasons (2012-14). Mizzou defensive coordinator Ryan Walters also spent the 2014 season with Odom at Memphis as the teams cornerbacks coach, and director of athletic performance Rohrk Cutchlow is a Memphis graduate who led athletic performance operations there for four years (2012-15) before being recruited to Mizzou by Odom prior to the 2016 season.
Additionally, Mizzou has a strong roster presence from Memphis and the state of Tennessee. Junior WR Johnathon Johnson, who leads the Tigers with 50 receptions in 2018 (552 yards, four touchdowns) and true freshman RB Tyler Badie, who amassed 735 all-purpose yards this season (including 407 rushing yards and two touchdowns) both hail from Memphis, as does sophomore reserve LB Aubrey Miller, Jr. Johnson attended Melrose High School, while Badie attended Briarcrest Christian and Miller went to Whitehaven. In all, seven current Tigers are Tennessee natives.
The Tigers and Cowboys last met in the 2014 AT&T Cotton Bowl, when Mizzou claimed a 41-31 win to wrap up a 12-2 season. Mizzou leads the alltime series between the two former conference mates, 29-23 overall.
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