COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 What does the Kibbie Dome, the spartan-yet-quirky indoor stadium that is home to the Idaho Vandals, have that Missouri鈥檚 Faurot Field doesn鈥檛?
For the moment, a better 2026 recruiting class headed its way.
Check 247Sports鈥 recruiting rankings this weekend, and there鈥檚 Mizzou at No. 83 in the nation 鈥 one spot behind Idaho, which plays in the Football Championship Subdivision.
It won鈥檛 stay that way for long, and the other major recruiting services have the Tigers ranked higher than 247Sports does. Even though the Kibbie Dome has a kind of cult popularity and the Vandals are a good FCS program, it鈥檚 safe to say MU will wind up with the better recruiting haul of the two schools.
Rather, Missouri鈥檚 current standing in recruiting rankings is a reflection of the slow burn that has been the 2026 recruiting cycle for coach Eli Drinkwitz鈥檚 program 鈥 though it鈥檚 not time to panic yet.
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Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz speaks to the press after Mizzou won the TransPerfect Music City Bowl against Iowa on Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn.
He has seven verbal commitments from 2026 recruits, which is level with Auburn for the fewest among Southeastern Conference programs. Only four of the league鈥檚 16 teams have fewer than 10 commits.
Mizzou鈥檚 current crop is ranked last in the SEC by 247Sports and On3, and second-to-last by Rivals. On3 and Rivals have the class at 66th nationally, which is better than 247Sports鈥 83rd spot but still not great.
That鈥檚 not where the Tigers want to be. Given Drinkwitz鈥檚 track record as a sound recruiter, it鈥檚 almost certainly won鈥檛 be where they end up.
Even after three commitments this week, it鈥檚 been something of a trickle. Pennsylvania quarterback Gavin Sidwar committed to MU in mid-April, and then the program dropped a couple of previous recruits who de-committed.
SLUH linebacker Keenan Harris got the ball rolling again when he committed in late May. Wideout Jabari Brady (Coconut Creek, Fla.) and tight end Isaac Jensen (Omaha, Neb.) picked Missouri in quick succession earlier this month. Then this week, running back Maxwell Warner (Chicago), offensive lineman Khalief Canty Jr. (Detroit) and wide receiver Devyon Hill-Lomax (Edwardsville) combined for a three-day streak of commitments.
More will come soon. Of the 33 high school players who took official visits to Mizzou this summer, 15 have yet to decide where they want to play their college football 鈥 and that doesn鈥檛 account for any pledge flipping that could happen between now and signing day in December.
The expectation, of course, is not for MU to win over all of them. In the last three cycles, Drinkwitz has signed 17, 21 and 19 high school recruits. Last winter, he notably declared a predilection toward 鈥減roduction over potential.鈥
If 17, give or take, is the target number, Missouri has 10 commitments to go. Half of that quota could feasibly come from the uncommitted summer visitors, with the other half to come during the late flurry of recruiting offers and decisions that comes in the weeks immediately preceding signing day.
While the slow recruiting pace this year has sandbagged the Tigers in the recruiting rankings, it鈥檚 not an anomaly for the program. A year ago at this time, MU had nine commits 鈥 only two more than it does now. At this point in 2023, there were only three, and that class wound up finishing 21 players deep. In 2022, MU had six players committed at this stage.
The quality of recruits will also matter, perhaps more than the quantity if Mizzou will only take 17ish freshmen in 2026. If that piece isn鈥檛 there, the Tigers will stay low in recruiting rankings.
It鈥檚 too early to know how that will shake out. And as soon as the high school recruiting picture comes fully into focus, the transfer portal will be open for the more important kind of player acquisition.
Recruiting high school players has never mattered less given the emphasis placed on the portal by Drinkwitz and almost all of his coaching peers. It鈥檚 why seeing Missouri and Idaho neck-and-neck in a midsummer recruiting tally is cause for a chuckle more than serious concern.
What the rankings and past classes really show is that while Mizzou has begun the 2026 cycle by nibbling away at available recruits, the meat and potatoes of this recruiting wave are yet to come.
