Texas Tech @ Missouri preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 6, 2010 ) Missouri 17, Texas Tech 24

THE STORY: With a win at home against reeling Texas Tech, Missouri could become bowl eligible for the seventh consecutive season despite a 2-3 start. The Tigers have won three of their last five, including a convincing 17-5 home victory over Texas last week. With games remaining against the Red Raiders and last-place Kansas, the Tigers, currently in a tie for sixth in the Big 12, could finish as high as fourth in the conference. Texas Tech, meanwhile, has lost three straight after a stunning 41-38 win at then-No. 1 Oklahoma on Oct. 22. Missouri is 5-3 all-time against Texas Tech.

TV: ABC. Line: Missouri -18

ABOUT TEXAS TECH (5-5, 2-5 Big 12): In its three straight defeats, Texas Tech has lost by a combined 159-33 margin, including last week’s 66-6 home loss to No. 2 Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders never had a chance against the Cowboys, who took a 49-0 lead at halftime. The 66 points were the most ever allowed by the Red Raiders. Offensively, Texas Tech has been out of sorts, scoring just one first-half touchdown in the last three games.

ABOUT MISSOURI (5-5, 3-4 Big 12): The five points Missouri gave up against the Longhorns were the fewest it has allowed in a Big 12 game since shutting out Iowa State on Nov. 20, 2010. The win also snapped Missouri’s six-game losing streak against the Longhorns. But the victory came at a heavy cost, as the Tigers lost running back Henry Josey to a season-ending injury. Josey, the Big 12’s leading rusher, suffered an injury described by doctors as “one in a million,” as he tore his ACL, MCL and also ruptured the patellar tendon in his left knee.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Missouri has won six straight home finales, all by double digits.

2. The Tigers lost 24-17 last year at Texas Tech, but have never dropped back-to-back meetings.

3. Texas Tech is 0-3 all-time at Columbia and has lost each game by 27 points or more.

PREDICTION: Missouri 21, Texas Tech 13 -- Without Josey to carry the load offensively, the Tigers will struggle to score. However, Texas Tech doesn’t figure to light up the scoreboard given its recent struggles.