Greetings, chatters. It's that time of the week again. I'll be here for the next couple hours to talk all things Mizzou. Hit me with your best stuff.
I'm not sure off the top of my head or what you should expect next week. The team has notified season ticket holders how many seats they'll be allowed to buy this year based on their donor level.
It's not something Drinkwitz has addressed to the media, but my guess is he doesn't like anything that will draw a penalty. There's nothing wrong with some on-field celebrating when the time is appropriate, but no coach likes taunting or anything that would lead to a flag. I agree with Ware. He got caught up in those antics too much last year.
Technically there won't be any redshirts in 2020. The NCAA is granting every fall athlete an extra year of eligibility because of COVID, even if their team plays every game this season. But I would not expect Cook to be a factor in the QB competition this year unless there are multiple injuries. Connor Bazelak (BAZE-uh-lack) ran a wishbone offense in high school, but he's not an option quarterback. He's much more of a traditional drop-back QB. He can create some yards with his legs, but he's more of a pocket passer.
I don't know. Probably. Maybe. What's the difference? We write about sports. Sometimes politics enter the sports worlds that we cover and we write about those topics. But I've never shared my personal politics in my reporting. I've written a lot about Mizzou athletes and coaches using their platform to talk about topics like racial injustice and social issues, but that's not the same as partisan politics.
Ed Chang was here early in the summer working out with the team. The other two newcomers, Jordan Wilmore and Drew Buggs, are both enrolled in their classes. Practices won't begin until later this fall.
MU beat AL in the 1968 Gator Bowl 35-10. After the game Bear Bryant said the Tide couldn’t have beaten a barber college that day. The Tigers also beat AL in Birmingham 20-7 on a Monday night. The most recent results between MU and AL have ended with an average score of AL 40 MU 10. One on those games AL obliterated MU in the SEC championship game 42-10. Without knowing much about this year’s teams, i’m afraid the final score will revert to the average score of the last 3 games. Alabama is still Alabama. Missouri is the great unknown. Last year they were a .500 team but with losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Can HCED inspire the team to be more competetive even against pereniel championship contending teams like Alabama?
The SEC is leaving that up to each school to decide and MU hasn't made any formal announcement yet. Stay tuned.
I've probably heard the most good things about Curtis Luper (running backs) and Bush Hamdan (receivers). Luper is intense. Colorful guy, charismatic, lots of energy. He's got a chance to be a real dynamic recruiter for this staff in St. Louis and anywhere they send him.
I can't envision Mizzou paying any significant buyouts in 2021. It just wouldn't make sense financially. The athletics department is shedding costs now, laying off longtime employees who have been loyal workers through multiple regimes. More cuts could be coming as revenues continue to tumble in the fall. I just don't see the school spending $6 million to get rid of a coach who might be the most widely respected person in the entire department. That's not hyperbole. Under normal financial circumstances, then maybe a losing record would be enough to convince Mizzou to pay that buyout and get aggressive to hire someone they believe can win more games. But not under the current situation.
The football schools have far more to lose without football, but they also spend a lot more money to have a football program. Schools like SLU don't have the same kind of budgets that Power Five schools manage every year. It's all relative.
No, but we always do a weekly recap of some of the best questions and those can be found on the online archives under Quick Hits.
There's no reason they shouldn't be better. They've added a productive point guard and their only loss is Reed Nikko. Mizzou will be the most experienced team in the SEC. That has to be a strength for this team. They have to be the kind of team that makes veteran decisions, is clutch late in games and doesn't get rattled on the road. If this team can recapture what was working for that two-week stretch when Dru Smith and Xavier Pinson looked like the best backcourt in the SEC, the Tigers can surprise some people and be a top-six team in the SEC.
OK. Yeah, Wilmore seemed like a stretch at the time, but they like his size and upside. Chang was a high-major recruit out of high school with a bunch of strong offers. He went to be one of the best programs that's not in a Power Five conference (San Diego State) but is better than a lot of Power Five teams. Mizzou clearly missed out on some of its top targets for the 2020 class. There's no way to spin that.
I was on the field last night and didn't notice if there was a new coat of paint. Not sure about that one.
There has been talk about bubbles for noconference games. Similar to what we've seen in the NBA and the NHL. I'm not sure how feasible that is for college athletes, but the NCAA is set on having a basketball tournament next March. The pathway there could look very different. The Pac-12 has already said it won't have any games until the calendar flips to 2021. If the Big Ten doesn't play football in 2020 I'm not sure how it can justify playing basketball until after the new year. What does that mean for nonconference games? That's what conference commissioners, athletics directors and coaches are asking right now. A lot is to be decided.