Missouri's Drinkwitz treats Ole Miss trip as just another game despite many ties

The storylines connecting Missouri and Ole Miss are hard to miss this week. Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz is trying to keep his team from paying attention to any of them.

As On3's MizzouToday reported Tuesday, the two programs share plenty of links. Drinkwitz has asked everyone around the Tigers to treat Saturday as a meeting between two very good teams and nothing more. Kyle McAreavy's story, which ran in the outlet's subscriber section, presents the coach's message as a deliberate effort to keep the outside noise away from a team that is 5-1 and ranked No. 13.

None of this is unusual for a coach before a road game with this much attention on it. The stakes this week make it easy to see why he is saying it. Missouri heads to Oxford to face No. 9 Ole Miss (4-1) at 3:30 p.m. EDT Saturday on SEC Network. It is a top-15 SEC game in the middle of October, and the loser takes a serious hit in the conference race.

The Tigers come in off a home game against Texas A&M on Oct. 10 at Faurot Field, with quarterback Austin Simmons running the offense. Their 5-1 start has created real momentum around the program, including among future Missouri players, who are energized by Drinkwitz's direction and the team's championship potential, according to On3's recruiting coverage. A win in Oxford would move Missouri firmly into the top tier of the league. A loss would hand the Tigers a second defeat at the season's midpoint.

Ole Miss enters with one loss of its own. The Rebels have the edge of playing at home, and the market reflects that. On Novig, one of the venues pricing the game, Ole Miss is favored at -190. The best sportsbook price on the Rebels is -210 at FanDuel. The point spread has Ole Miss favored by 5.5, and the total is 58.5. That number suggests both offenses are expected to score. You can follow the latest numbers on our Missouri at Ole Miss odds page.

A spread under a touchdown means the market sees a competitive game, with home field doing much of the work. It puts Missouri in a familiar spot under Drinkwitz: a ranked team on the road, asked to prove it belongs among the SEC's best. If the Tigers win, the edge goes away. If they lose, the questions about whether this start is for real will get louder.

The ties between the programs will get plenty of airtime before kickoff. Drinkwitz's position is that none of it decides the game. What happens on the field Saturday afternoon in Oxford will.