Excited, yet?

Missouri football, with just a few weeks remaining until players report for fall camp and the beginning of the 2024 college football season, has been doing some unprecedented work for its future classes.

The Tigers landed commitments on four straight days over the holiday weekend, beating regional rivals and national powerhouses alike and in quick succession for highly rated recruits. Four-star receivers Jayvan Boggs and Donovan Olugbode, four-star offensive tackle Lamont Rogers and three-star O-Lineman Keiton Jones each verbally pledged to MU coach Eli Drinkwitz’s Class of 2025.

The Tigers currently have the nation’s No. 13 class and the SEC’s seventh-ranked group, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. MU’s previous best class was in 2022, when it was No. 15 in the country — a record that could soon topple.

More: Missouri football’s blistering recruiting run continues with 4-star O-Lineman Lamont Rogers

Pair that with an almost-certainly top-15 — and more than likely top-10 — preseason ranking in this season’s polls, and the good times are rollin’ in CoMo.

Missouri has to keep that class committed until at least December, when recruits can officially sign their national letters of intent. A good way to help that cause would be to still be playing high-level football when pens are due to hit paper.

For what it’s worth … this year’s early signing day and the first round of the College Football Playoff begin on the same day, Dec. 20.

Mizzou appears to be primed for a potential run at the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff. Its first SEC test comes in the form of Vanderbilt, one of the Tigers' few SEC East holdovers on the slate from its previous schedules since joining the conference.

Here’s who to know for the Commodores, who will visit Columbia on Sept. 21 as part of the Week 4 slate of games:

Who are the opposing names to know when Missouri football hosts Vanderbilt?

Key players: Diego Pavia OR Nate Johnson (QB); Khordae Sydnor (EDGE); Prince Kollie (LB)

Quarterback, at one point in Music City this offseason, was a serious issue. The top three QBs on the roster — Ken Seals, AJ Swann and Walter Taylor — had transferred to new programs.

But the Commodores have replenished well. New Mexico State transfer Diego Pavia and Utah transfer Nate Johnson both transferred in and are set to undergo a fall-camp jostle for the job.

Whoever wins the starting role will be worth keeping an eye on, as Pavia was a proven threat in C-USA for the Aggies and Johnson is a true dual-threat.

Elsewhere for Vanderbilt, the team’s leading tackler last season, Langston Patterson, returns to the team and is joined at linebacker by Prince Kollie, who sat out last season with an injury but should provide a boost to Commodores’ defensive front in 2023. The addition of promising Purdue edge rusher Khordae Sydnor won’t hurt that cause, either.

Vandy gutted on offense over offseason

Key losses: Jayden McGowan (WR); London Humphreys (WR); Will Shephard (WR); Leyton Nelson (OT)

Here’s Vandy’s main question: Once the ball is snapped, where is it going to go next?

The Commodores’ top three wide receivers from last season — accounting for more than half of their total receiving yards and touchdowns — have transferred out.

Vandy’s top running back, Sedrick Alexander, returns for another season and likely will top the depth chart, but he ran for a somewhat ineffective 3.9 yards per carry last season, stacking up 383 yards and four touchdowns in 12 games, albeit while splitting carries.

Vanderbilt added some playmakers out of the portal, including Ole Miss’ Jeremiah Dillon and Texas Tech’s Loic Fouonji at wideout, but most joined with a lack of high-level experience, or any experience at all.

Tim Beck is in as Vandy’s new offensive coordinator after two years in the same role at New Mexico State. He’s got a tall task ahead of him at making the SEC’s least productive offense in 2023 — which now is without a bulk of its top playmakers — into a threat in 2024.

What is Vandy’s strength?

With all the uncertainty on offense, Vanderbilt’s strongest position rooms might be in the team’s secondary — but that doesn’t necessarily mean the defense is in a great spot, either.

The Commodores have added some intriguing pieces at safety, including Maurice Hampton and Randon Fontenette from Memphis and TCU, respectively. They join returner De’Rickey Wright, who at one point was committed to Texas A&M but has since rejoined Vandy. At corner, Vanderbilt brought in solid additions in Wyoming’s Kolbey Taylor and Eastern Washington’s Marlon Jones.

Here’s the issue: Vanderbilt, by quite some margin, had the SEC’s worst defense in 2023, letting up 454.9 yards per game. Depth does appear to still be an issue, and the newcomers have a tall task making up for existing shortcomings. Plenty of the transfers lack battle testing at the Power-conference level.

Vanderbilt’s visit to Columbia will be its fourth game of the season and its sternest defensive test of the young campaign. If Mizzou’s offense meets its high billing, then it could give Vandy a tough day on the gridiron.

More: Three transfers who could help define Missouri football’s success in 2024 season

More: Here's where Missouri football defense looks strong and where questions still need answered

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football opponent preview: Vanderbilt’s strengths, weaknesses