I'm excited about the start of the 2024 college football season, and Mizzou gets underway tonight (8--29) with a home game vs. Murray State.

The expectations are huge for The Tigers after their 11-win campaign in 2023. And now with the playoff expanded to 12 teams, Mizzou has a good chance to be among the dozen teams that can compete for a national title. But the pressure is on. That's how it goes with heavier expectations.

For Mizzou to be one of the 12 playoff teams, the Tigers will have to avoid falling into traps and losing a game (or two) that they should not lose. And this season, unlike last season, Mizzou will be stalked by opportunistic opponents that want to knock the Tigers down to "where they belong."

No team will overlook MU. It's the exact opposite; opponents are coming for them. Mizzou faces -- by SEC standards -- a relatively easy conference schedule.

Coach Eli Drinkwitz is the ideal leader in this era of fierce recruiting, the chaos of the transfer portal, and the never-ending pursuit of NIL funding to lure recruits. Drinkwitz is a heck of a salesman, and that matters in today's CFB. But can the coach and his team pass a major test this season?

It's an exciting time. But it's also a nervous time -- as MU goes for back-to-back 10 win seasons for the first time since 1968-69.