Missouri football in 2023 quietly enjoyed its best season since the Tigers' 2014 campaign, with coach Eliah Drinkwitz leading the Tigers to an 11-2 (6-2 SEC) record and a Cotton Bowl win over an (admittedly depleted) Ohio State team.

Drinkwitz has assembled a characteristically strong recruiting class for the 2024 cycle, including several massive wins. No. 1 defensive end Williams Nwaneri and wide receiver Courtney Crutchfield head up the class, and quarterback Brady Cook is returning to the fold in Columbia.

All of that and a manageable schedule for Missouri give it a lot of potential for the 2024 college football season. Its toughest games, in theory, are Alabama and Oklahoma, with the Crimson Tide game occurring in Tuscaloosa and the Tigers hosting the Sooners.

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There's a lot of variance in how outlets view this Missouri team. Some early top 25 rankings have the Tigers ranked as low as the 20s, and others have the Tigers as high as No. 8.

How high or low Missouri falls tends to depend on how high people are on Missouri's defense. Defensive coordinator Blake Baker was poached by Brian Kelly and LSU, leaving a void there. Nevertheless, the return of Cook and star receiver Luther Burden III could lessen the blow.

Missouri early top 25 rankings for 2024

Here’s where the Tigers are placed in various early top 25 rankings for the 2024 college football season:

• USA TODAY: No. 14

• ESPN: No. 8

• 247Sports: No. 8

• CBS Sports: No. 8

• The Athletic: No. 21

• The Sporting News: No. 12

• Yahoo Sports: No. 8

Missouri's consensus ranking places the Tigers at No. 11 overall for the 2024 college football season.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football rankings: Tigers' early top 25 rank for 2024 season