In the moments after Missouri's 52-20 win over Iowa State wrapped up the Big 12 North championship, Gary Pinkel told the media, “This was the goal all along.”

It was an important statement for these Tigers, who have been viewed by some, both fans of their program and national media, as a moderate to major disappointment this season.

“Never take it for granted,” Pinkel said. “You've got to enjoy it because it's hard to do. Very hard to do.”

“We're excited about it,” Chase Daniel said. “It's one of our goals. We have some more goals we want to reach.”

Make no mistake, the Big 12 North is nice for Missouri. But the Tigers were a unanimous choice to win the division this year. Just this will not be enough for this team.

“There's a lot still out there,” Daniel said. “We reached this plateau last year and we don't want this to be a plateau for us. We want to keep going on.”

“Everybody was talking about the national championship before the season,” said linebacker Sean Weatherspoon. “Maybe we kind of looked past things that this is what it takes to get to that point. We have to win this, this is what we have to win.”

Barring a complete train wreck in the top ten over the next three weeks, the national title is off the table. But the Tigers have adjusted to that by this point.

“We got off track a little bit, but I think right after those games where we had those bumps, I think the seniors did a great job of getting us focused back on what our goal is,” Weatherspoon said. “Not what everybody else thinks it should be. We just went out there (Saturday) and took care of business and we got our goal.”

“At the beginning of the season, everybody wants to win a national championship,” William Moore said. “But as the season plays out, you've got to settle for what you can get. We worked hard all year. Not to take nothing from winning the National Championship, but I mean, we're in a position right now to do something Mizzou ain't never done.”

Goal number one is out of the way. Number two lies ahead with a date in the title game against “whoever comes out of that Big 12 South circus” as Daniel called it. At the beginning of the season, yes, fans hoped for more. So, to be honest, did the players. But as Moore said, the Tigers have a chance to reach heights never really seen in Columbia.

“It's tough to get here,” Moore added. “The Big 12 Conference is really tough. Ain't nobody gonna give you any games, so we appreciate every day.”

Gabe DeArmond is the publisher of PowerMizzou.com. You can read more of his coverage of the Tigers online every day at http://missouri.rivals.com.