Dating back decades, the Tigers have mauled the Sooners off the field, and many of the players MU acquired ended up shining with the Black & Gold.

Heading into Saturday’s matchup against Oklahoma, head coach Eli Drinkwitz & Co. will be solely keyed in on the Sooners.

And why wouldn’t they be? Mizzou’s College Football Playoff hopes are down to its last breath, as two major losses to ranked teams have evaporated MU’s margin for error in climbing back into CFP contention.

The first step in the comeback will be booming the Sooners; the Tiger defense will look to exploit one of the most anemic offenses in the sport while trying to figure out their own issues moving the ball as well.

But beneath the action on the gridiron is a storyline that has put several potential Sooners on MU’s sideline.

In recent high school recruiting and transfer portal expeditions, Mizzou has crossed over and dunked on Oklahoma, from Luther Burden III’s flipped commitment in 2021 to Cayden Green’s transfer from Norman to Columbia in December. It made social media beef between the fanbases of the former Big 6/8/12 rivals go from medium rare to well done.

One guy that doesn’t seem to care is Drinkwitz, and his feelings about the matter have been public since SEC Media Days in July.

“We have recruiting battles with everybody in the SEC,” Drinkwitz said in Dallas. “I think there’s too much made out of it.”

After all, it’s not like MU and OU were the only two schools jockeying for the services of guys like Burden and Green. Recruiting battles involve a litany of other power schools armed with similar, if not superior resources to score a commitment from a highly-touted prospect.

“In the SEC, there’s only about 100 players that you can actively recruit that are good enough to play in this league,” Drinkwitz said. “You’re going to be in battles against each other, and we don’t ever take those personal. It’s great for the fans, and it’s great for social media, but for us, it’s another quality on our schedule that we’re going to have to have played our absolute best in order to have any type of opportunity to win.”

The mentality is sensible; Drinkwitz’s words align with the team’s mantra of going 1-0 each week.

But it’s not just difficult to ignore the recent wins off the field; Mizzou taking elite prospects from Oklahoma when both teams had legitimate shots at them has been happening since well before Drinkwitz’s arrival to Columbia. The origin of this trend dates all the way back to the Dan Devine era, when the Tigers pillaged an eventual program legend from Bud Wilkinson’s crew.

Johnny Roland

One of Mizzou’s greatest was, for a brief period of time, a member of the Crimson & Cream.

Roland was a multi-sport phenom at Corpus Christi High School in Texas, starring in baseball, track and football. On the gridiron, he ran for 1,224 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior, earning him All-State honors. His performances yielded over 50 collegiate offers, and he ultimately signed a letter of intent to play for Oklahoma, then led by Wilkinson, in June 1961.

However, this was an era where letters of intent weren’t binding; after some rethinking, Roland decided to change course and take his talents to Columbia.

“I decided I would rather not live in Oklahoma,” Roland told the St. Louis Dispatch in 1966. “I felt I definitely would prefer living in Missouri to living in Oklahoma.”

The flip proved to be golden for Mizzou. Roland’s three-way impact that made him special in high school translated to the collegiate level. Along with returning kicks, he was a brilliant runner and an All-American defensive back. The Tigers won 22 games in Roland’s three collegiate seasons, including a triumph over Steve Spurrier and Florida in the 1966 Sugar Bowl. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998, and his number 23 is retired at Mizzou. Roland was also a pioneer for the program — he was named the first African-American team captain in the history of Mizzou football. Roland would be selected No. 54 overall in the 1965 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals.

The superstar’s decision also trickled down to future generations of Roland’s. Johnny’s son, John Roland Jr., attended MU and married a fellow student, Holly. John Jr.’s son, Adam Roland, became a preferred walk-on for Mizzou football in 2015. All because ol’ Johnny didn’t want to live in Oklahoma.

Jeremy Maclin

Like Roland, one of Mizzou’s hottest lightning rods was originally headed to OU.

The Kirkwood, Missouri native committed to the Sooners in Aug. 2005. But during the 2005 college football season, Maclin was a regular attendee at Mizzou football games and developed a strong relationship with the coaching staff. A few months after committing to the Sooners, Maclin had a change of heart. He called then-OU wide receivers coach Darrell Wyatt and then-head coach Bob Stoops to tell them he would no longer be a Sooner.

“I didn’t look at the people. I didn’t really look at the offensive scheme,” Maclin told The Oklahoman. “Looking back on it, it was a mistake I wouldn’t make again. I was probably immature at the time.”

A few months later, he signed with Mizzou.

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“We didn’t try to pressure him,” then-Mizzou offensive coordinator Dave Christensen said. “We just try to develop relationships; that’s what we always try to do with our kids we recruit.”

Like Roland, Maclin would shine in multiple facets of the game en route to becoming an all-time Mizzou great. In two full seasons with the Tigers, Maclin broke the program record for career all-purpose yardages (5,609), is the only Tiger to ever be a two-time first-team All-American and was the first Mizzou freshman to win first-team all-America honors. Maclin would be selected No. 19 overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2009 NFL Draft.

EJ Ndoma-Ogar

EJ Ndoma-Ogar never truly panned out for Mizzou, as he eventually transferred to Arkansas State in 2023 after playing sparingly for Mizzou from 2021-23.

But when the Allen, Texas native transferred from Oklahoma, it felt like a huge gain at the time. Ndoma-Ogar was a four-star recruit by 247Sports.com and ESPN in the class of 2019. He held offers from Alabama, Georgia, Miami (FL), Michigan, Penn State, Texas and many other power programs before eventually committing to the Sooners on Apr. 25, 2018. However, after one season at Oklahoma, Ndoma-Ogar officially left for Mizzou on Nov. 6, 2020.

Luther Burden III

16 years after Maclin pledged to Oklahoma, a new-generation version of him did the opposite.

Luther Burden III committed to the Sooners on Oct. 9th, 2020 as one of the most highly-touted recruits in the country. But the following August, the East St. Louis superstar changed course.

“I would like to thank the entire Oklahoma coaching staff for giving me an opportunity to be a part of the Sooner family,” Burden said in a Twitter/X post. “But after a long conversation with my family, I have decided to decommit from the University of Oklahoma.”

Then, one year and 10 days to the date of his initial commitment to OU, Burden filled Mizzou with unbridled joy when he threw Alabama and Georgia hats off of a table and committed to the Tigers. He became the second-highest rated MU commit behind Dorial Green-Beckham and Mizzou’s first five-star commit since Terry Beckner in 2015.

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In the aftermath of his ground-shaking decision, Burden cited a desire to be a trail blazer for other football talent in the Gateway City to follow his path to Columbia.

“Usually (the best players here) go to places like Georgia and Alabama,” Burden told The Columbia Tribune after his commitment to MU. “I just want to start a trend here in St. Louis for the younger people with talent in front of me to start carrying St. Louis and stay home and take our talents to Missouri.”

Sure enough, the prince that was promised has electrified in just over two seasons with the Tigers. After showing glimmers of superstardom amidst a frustrating 2022 campaign for the entire team, Burden mirrored Mizzou’s ascention into the national picture the following season, catching 86 passes for over 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns. Despite not stuffing the stat sheet as much in 2024, Burden is still projected to be a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Theo Wease Jr.

Another native of Allen, Texas, the former five-star’s venture from Oklahoma to Mizzou wasn’t his first trip in the transfer portal.

Wease missed all but one game in 2021 with a lower leg injury; after two seasons in Norman, he was prepared to look for another home despite potentially becoming a feature in the offense sometime in the near future. He had a destination in mind south of The Sooner State: Ole Miss. Jeff Lebby, a Sooner alumni and former student assistant, was the offensive coordinator for the Rebels. His decision to explore other options became easier when then-OU head coach Lincoln Riley took the same position at USC on Nov. 28; Wease entered the portal the next day.

However, instead of going to Lebby, the opposite happened. On Dec. 5, former Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables accepted the vacant head coaching job at OU, and Lebby was brought on as the offensive coordinator. That was enough for Wease to withdraw from the transfer portal and return to Norman.

However, even after Wease contributed in a reserve role in 2022 (19 catches, 378 yards and four touchdowns), he re-entered the portal 364 days after he did it the first time. Just shy of two weeks later, he committed to Mizzou.

Since 2023, Wease has become a key red zone option for Brady Cook. Now, he gets to face his former team in a rivalry renewed.

“It’s kind of crazy that it’s a rivalry,” Wease said. “I didn’t know that. I kind of had something built up inside of me to play this game, but now I know it’s a rivalry, it’s just built up even more.”

Cayden Green

On the first go-around, Mizzou couldn’t keep the Kansas City native in The Show Me State.

After taking an official visit to MU on June 24, Cayden Green committed to Oklahoma on July 8. He would end up starting seven games for the Sooners in 2023, flashing an ability to potentially become a star under the tutelage of legendary offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh.

But the ensuing offseason saw one of the more surprising transfer portal entries in recent memory. It was announced on Dec. 12, 2023 that Green would be looking for another home. One week later, Green was a Tiger.

“The culture, how tight the locker room is, how genuine and honest the coaching staff is,” Green told On3 regarding why he committed to MU. “The chance to be big time in the state that I grew up in stood out.”

The transfer portal didn’t — and still doesn’t — usually see players like Green traverse its pathways. Green was a rising sophomore who was not only poised to play a huge role in what was supposed to be an elite offense, but he’d received ample playing time the year prior.

Mizzou offensive tackle Armand Membou, Green’s teammate at Lee’s Summit North High School, was happily bewildered when Green decided to take his talents elsewhere.

“When he hopped in the portal, I couldn’t even believe it,” Membou said during fall camp. “It’s still crazy that he hopped in, but when he committed here, I was so excited and fired up that I was going to play with him.”

Green’s jump from Oklahoma to Mizzou also started a firestorm on social media between the two fanbases, which didn’t go unnoticed by Membou.

“The OU fans go crazy about it on Twitter,” Membou said. “It’s funny.”

Others, like Green, chose to block out the online noise.

“I deleted Twitter,” Green said during fall camp.

Williams Nwaneri

Sometimes, crystal balls aren’t so clear.

Leading up to Williams Nwaneri’s commitment on Aug. 14, 2023, Oklahoma seemed to be in the lead for the five-star defensive lineman out of Lee’s Summit North, ahead of Mizzou, Georgia, Oregon and Tennessee.

But the Sooners were stung once again; a year after Burden’s arrival on campus as the shiny new five-start recruit, Nwaneri commitment to the Tigers gave them another five-star recruit to look forward to while also conjuring up another war on social media. He also said that he picked Mizzou over Georgia, meaning that Oklahoma finished, at the very most, third. It was a race that the Sooners lost despite appearing to be in first leading up to commitment day.

“Really, I felt like I was just most comfortable with that coaching staff, and it as close to home and all that,” he said after his commitment. “So I felt like it was just the right decision for me at the time.”

“It was very emotional,” he continued. “Like, the hardest decision I’ve had to make. But I just had to do what I felt was best for me.”

With injuries along the defensive line this season, Nwaneri has seen increased opportunities this season; Drinkwitz said on Tuesday that they’ll likely burn his redshirt this Saturday against the team he burned not too long ago.

It will likely take some time for Nwaneri to round into final form at MU, but his teammates recognize that a star could be born very soon, from returners…

“He has all the potential,” Membou said. “He has all the talent. I think he’s going to be a very big contributor on this football team.”

To newcomers.

“The sky’s the limit,” defensive tackle Chris McClellan said during fall camp. “He only can go as far as he works.”

Speaking of McClellan…

Chris McClellan

The former four-star defensive tackle almost became a Tiger in 2021.

McClellan, who hails from North Tulsa, Oklahoma, had Mizzou in his top five before ultimately signing with Florida in Nov. 2021.

“I was close, man,” McClellan said during fall camp. “It was just a few deciding factors in the end.”

However, after two seasons at Florida, McClellan wanted a change of scenery and entered the transfer portal. Oklahoma gave him an offer, but McClellan spurned the Sooners and chose the team he almost committed to a couple of years prior. Along with a more attack-heavy defensive scheme, Mizzou’s rise to national prominence under Drinkwitz attracted McClellan to Columbia.

“Everything (Drinkwitz) told me when I was in high school,” McCellan said, “he’s done. Step-by-step.”

Now, he’s one of Mizzou’s most impactful players on defense; his 5.5 tackles for loss are tied with Johnny Walker Jr. for the team lead and is 1.5 more than he registered in 15 games at Florida.

Lamont Rogers

Mizzou’s most recent recruiting victory over Oklahoma was yet another elite prospect from The Lone Star State.

Lamont Rogers, a senior at Mesquite High School in Mesquite, Texas, was being courted as another potential star under Bedenbaugh. Oklahoma made Rogers’s top six along with Mizzou, Florida State, SMU, Texas and Texas A&M.

Rogers took an official visit to Norman on June 18 and had visited the campus several times over the past year. However, he ended up committing to Mizzou less than a month later on July 6. It marked three commitments from four-star recruits in the span of four days for the Tigers along with wide receiver Jayvan Boggs (who ended up flipping to home-state UCF) and wide receiver Donovan Olugbode.

On Oct. 23, Rogers was upgraded to a five-star recruit in the On3 Industry Ranking. He’s currently a top-40 prospect in the class of 2025.