On Saturday night The University of Missouri Tigers will play The University of Oklahoma Sooners for the football championship of the Big 12. Missouri comes in ranked number 1 in the nation, coached by Gary Pinkel.

This is what he had to say this week about the Sooners. From The Columbia Missourian.

"Our players and staff have tremendous respect for Oklahoma,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said during Monday’s teleconference. “You have to. They’re a first-class program. They’re well coached. They recruit well. And they’re accomplished. That being said, that’s also great motivation to play your best game. So I think that (our) focus and intensity is directly because of the great football team that they are, the great program they are.” Pinkel also knows that Oklahoma has the upper hand in playing big-stakes games. “Oklahoma has been in the national championship, and they’ve been through all those experiences,” Pinkel said. “This is just another game for them.”

Here is an observation from Don Borst of Fox Sports: You know what we like about Missouri's Gary Pinkel? That he doesn't overshadow his players the way so many other successful coaches do. Yes, he's in some ways a vanilla guy, but his teams have never played like that.

And from Mike DeArmond of the Kansas City Star: Two Saturdays past, with fewer than 5 minutes left in Missouri’s blowout victory at Colorado, Tigers starting quarterback Chase Daniel stood on the sideline, watching Gary Pinkel squirm. Missouri wasn’t about to lose a game it led 48-10. The Tigers had the football on the Colorado 3. But Daniel looked at a coach who seemed to be in agony as reserve MU tailback Derrick Washington slashed into the end zone for a touchdown. “Man, Chase,” Pinkel said. “I feel really bad about even scoring 55.” “Coach,” Daniel responded. “We’re running the football (almost) every down. We can’t just take a knee.” The thing was, Pinkel almost would have preferred he’d ordered that ploy. While he again went out of his way Monday not to criticize Kansas for hanging 76 points on Nebraska or Nebraska burying Kansas State with 73 points … Pinkel said he had friends in the coaching profession who did that. Well, Gary Pinkel can’t ever see himself doing that. “I’m just telling you what I believe,” Pinkel said. “I believe we’re not here to humiliate coaches and opposing players.”

And if I read the tables on the latest NCAA graduation-rate data correctly, the entering Missouri freshmen football players of 2000-01 (the latest group for which data is available) had a 65% graduation rate. The rate for all MU students in that cohort was 69%. Pinkel came to Missouri in 2001, so this class was under his leadership beginning their second year. The Missouri football program's graduation rate is right at the national average for D-1 programs. Their Saturday night opponent, the Sooners, have a 44% football graduation rate. (Baylor has an 84% football graduation rate., The University of Texas 44%, and Texas A&M 62%)

Working through the difficult years of life demonstrates and develops character. Pinkel has had some tough times while at Mizzou, but has persevered.

If Missouri is ever stupid enough to fire Pinkel, I hope Baylor can get him.

Here is his official biography from the University of Missouri website.