Sept. 24, 2006

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri football team improved to 4-0 on the season with a 31-6 win Saturday over Ohio. The win, coupled with the Tigers' impressive start to the season overall, was enough to propel MU into the national rankings for the first time this season, as Mizzou entered the Associated Press Top-25, in the No. 25 spot, on Sunday.

This marks the first time that Mizzou has been in the AP top-25 since early in the 2004 season, when the Tigers were ranked 19th prior to the second game of the year, at Troy. MU began that season ranked 18th in the AP poll. Mizzou has played two games previously as the AP's No. 25 team, winning home games in 1997 against Baylor (42-24) and in 1998 against Kansas (41-23).

Off to just the school's 6th 4-0 start since 1925, Mizzou will look to move to 5-0 on the year this Saturday as they play host to the Colorado Buffaloes in the Big 12 Conference opener for both schools. Head Coach Gary Pinkel has led MU to a 12-5 record in his last 17 games, and currently has MU on a 5-game winning streak dating back to last season's bowl win over South Carolina. The last time MU won five games in a row was when the 1981 squad started the year 5-0. A win Saturday over Colorado would stretch the winning streak to six games, which would tie for the 5th-longest streak in MU history (the record is 13 spanning the 1960 and 1961 seasons).

Mizzou currently can boast being only one of two schools to have both its offense and defense ranked in the nation's top-10 in total yardage. The Tigers enter Saturday as the nation's top-ranked defense, allowing 175.25 yards per game, while their offensive counterparts aren't far behind, ranking 8th in the NCAA (471.00 ypg). Only Florida has both units in the top-10 in both categories in addition to the Tigers, ranking 8th defensively and 9th on offense.

Saturday's game will kick at 11:40 a.m. at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field, and plenty of tickets remain available for purchase. General admission hill tickets are being sold in advance ($22 apiece), and a "Conference Kickoff 4-Pack" special was announced last week that gives fans four reserved seats in the south endzone for just $80 (a savings of $100 off face value). Tickets can be purchased online at www.mutigers.com, or on the phone by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS. The 4-pack special is available until 5 p.m. (central) this Friday (Sept. 29th), and will not be available on the day of the game.