Oklahoma is a slight favorite to take down Missouri this weekend, but the intensity is expected to be high in Columbia.

Here's an overview of where things stand with the Tigers, with help from Mizzou Today's Kyle McAreavy:

Kyle: Honestly the vibes aren't great outside of the program. Fans are pretty disappointed even though the team is 6-2. Expectations were as high as they have been for the team in a long time and the way those two losses played out, more so than the fact of losing those games, has damped the excitement for the season. I think if those had been competitive losses, fans would still be pretty excited, but being blown out in the two biggest games of the year on national TV has taken its toll.Within the program is a different story from everything I've seen. The players are still engaged, the coaching staff is still focusing everything it can on getting to double-digit wins again this season and the team is excited to get back on the field and get back on track.

I'll say, I haven't been involved around Missouri sports long enough to remember the old Big 12 or Big 8 matchups, but it seems like Missouri fans do have some extra animosity for Oklahoma. After the press conference on Tuesday, it doesn't seem like the players are reading that much into the history of the matchup, but they know about it and the coaches have talked about it. I think Mizzou fans are very excited to get a chance to face OU again and let that animosity out in the stadium.

From everything I've heard, Brady Cook isn't going to be back this week and coach Eli Drinkwitz was pretty straightforward about Drew Pyne being the starter if he's out. That decision surprised me a bit because of Pyne's performance against Alabama, but an extra two weeks of taking starter reps and working with the receivers should have him set up for more success than coming into consecutive games he wasn't expecting to play in. If Brady was somehow able to get back on the field and look even 80 percent healthy, that would be huge. He's the heart of the team and the leader that willed them to a comeback against Auburn and has refused to lose close, tough games.Nate Noel I'm a little less sure of. There's a chance he'll be back and fine, but I expect with how Jamal Roberts and Marcus Carroll played against Alabama, the backfield will be a mix of the three of them anyway if Noel is healthy. So expect a mix of two or three backs depending on Noel's status. But either way, the Tigers are going to rely on the run game that has been a strength of the offense through the year

I'd say the defense has been very good. Early in the season, there were issues with deep passes and breakdowns in coverage, but even then that was about four or five snaps across three games. The whole defense really struggled against Texas A&M, which might be because the coaches gameplanned for Marcel Reed and instead Conner Weigman came out firing in a different looking offense. But the defense as a whole played great against Auburn and held Alabama to 6 points on five drives before Brady Cook exited and Pyne threw three interceptions to set them up for failure late in the game.I've been very impressed with the defense this season, especially because of how much the unit lost after last season to the NFL and losing the defensive coordinator to LSU

I think it comes down to how Drew Pyne plays and if offensive coordinator Kirby Moore and head coach Eli Drinkwitz have set him up with a game plan that plays to his strengths. Best case scenario for Missouri without Brady Cook is a rock fight where the offense is able to score a couple of touchdowns and kick a couple of field goals, while the defense holds OU to a couple of scores. Missouri loses if it tries to come out with the same offensive plan it built for Cook and runs Pyne out there again to throw a couple of interceptions and fails to move the ball consistently