COLUMBIA - Missouri is giving Kentucky the benefit of the doubt.
Sure, the Wildcats own just two victories and are winless in the Southeastern Conference. But they are, after all, part of the best football conference in the country.
"One thing that's different in this league than in other leagues that I've been associated with and most leagues in the country, is that there's so little dropoff in the teams in this league," Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel said as his No. 9 Tigers (8-1, 4-1 SEC) travel to face Kentucky (2-6, 0-4 SEC) at 11 a.m. today (ESPNU-TV). "Every team we play is good, they have good personnel. Some have better years than other years, but certainly I think this applies to Kentucky. They're a good football team and we're going to work very hard to play our best football game."
That message clearly has been passed along to the players.
"It doesn't matter where they're at in the conference, they're playing in the SEC and we know they're going to be good," redshirt freshman quarterback Maty Mauk said. "Maybe they don't come out on top a lot of the time, but they're a great team."
Add sophomore right guard Connor McGovern to that list as well.
"We cannot take them lightly at all," he said. "We expect them to give us their "A' game. They're tough to beat at home. There's no dropoff in the SEC. You might see in other conferences where you have a couple really good teams and a couple not so good. Every team in the SEC is good, they just happen to be at the bottom of the conference this year. They definitely have enough playmakers to make plays and win games."
Let's add in a third player just for good measure.
"They're definitely a good team and we're going in there like they're the No. 1 team in the nation," senior cornerback E.J. Gaines said.
But just how good can this Kentucky team be?
Even in Missouri's inaugural SEC season in 2012, a year that saw the injury-depleted Tigers limp to a 5-7 finish, the squad in black and gold was able to muster conference victories against Kentucky and at Tennessee.
So doesn't Kentucky - with victories against Miami (Ohio) and Alabama State - have to win an SEC game at some point?
"If you watch them on film you can see they are a good team and have playmakers," McGovern said. "Maybe stuff isn't clicking right or they've had a tough schedule like we had last year. Whatever it is, their record might not show how good they are. Any given Saturday they can win a game. We're going to make sure it's not (today)."
One possible reason for Missouri to worry is Kentucky's quarterback situation.
"With the two quarterbacks playing, who is going to play?" Pinkel asked. "They're a little bit different. In terms of preparation it's significant. We have to keep an eye on that."
And everybody saw the trouble Missouri encountered two weeks ago against South Carolina, when a hobbled Connor Shaw replaced the ineffective backup-turned-starter Dylan Thompson and rallied the Gamecocks from a 17-point deficit to a double-overtime win.
Could a two-quarterback operation cause the Tigers problems again?
One is Maxwell Smith, a pocket quarterback who has completed 70-of-129 passes for 873 yards with six touchdowns and one interception.
The other is dual-threat Jalen Whitlow, who has completed 67-of-103 passes for 690 yards with five touchdowns and an interception. He also ranks third on Kentucky with 351 rushing yards and leads with with five touchdowns on the ground.
"We'll be prepared for both," Pinkel said.
Kentucky is hoping momentum from last week's win against Alabama State will carry over to today's game.
"I think we'll have more energy," Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. "I think it was good to get a win. We needed that.
"We're going to need to improve a great deal between last week and this week to win this game. I believe our players will have a great mindset."
Mauk is expected to get the start over the injured James Franklin, listed as questionable - and third on the depth chart - with a sprained right (throwing) shoulder for the third straight week.
"Whether I'm fifth-string or first-string, I'm going to prepare the same and do what I have to do to get myself ready and get my teammates ready at the same time," Mauk said.
With just three regular-season contests left, the stakes are raised each time out.
"It's a test every week," Pinkel said. "It's the second week of November, Game 2. This is a huge, huge football game for Missouri and our goals. We've got to be ready to go and play our best. Hopefully we get that done.
"I don't think we've played our best game yet."