The Tigers hadn't beaten the Sooners since 1998. Of course in that time there are some big losses, namely the 2007 and 2008 Big 12 Championship games. In 2007 the winner would have been in the national championship game. So Pinkel has played big games before but Mizzou had slowly been gaining the reputation as a team that can't win th...e big game.

They proved the doubters wrong on Saturday beating Oklahoma 36-27 in Columbia, MO.

Pinkel understands how important it is to beat Oklahoma. He opened his press conference this week saying to reporters that he knows he hasn't beaten Oklahoma and if you want to be considered one of the best you have to beat Oklahoma.

In his career he was 0-6 against the Sooners before Saturday night. That's a pretty big mountain to climb. Oklahoma had beaten Missouri 19 of their last 20 meetings. The Sooners were 7-0 against Missouri in the Bob Stoops era. That helps describe how huge this was for Missouri.

I didn't even mention that this game was nationally televised. So the world was there to see Pinkel finally beat Oklahoma and it put Mizzou on the 2010 college football map. The significance of this win can't be understated.

Now Mizzou goes from a bubble team in the top 15 to legitimate contenders. The test doesn't stop there though. They'll travel to Lincoln next week to take on Nebraska.

We first met Coach Pinkel when he was QB coach for U of Washington in 1988. He then went to Toledo (my Master's Degree program) and then on to MO. He has a great work ethic and of course, he perseveres.

As QB coach, he wanted his QBs to lift along with the linemen, to "lead them in the weightroom just like on the field." We loved that work ethic!