Black and Gold News: Like it or not, Missouri is an SEC team
Five years ago, Missouri departed the Big 12 for more stable, competitive waters in the SEC. While Mizzou has (generously) been about 50/50 in its success, some believe the Tigers are still out of their league.
The major resistance for Mizzou’s claim in the SEC is geography. Missouri is a midwestern state and school, whereas most of the other schools either border some large body of water (Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico), or are more traditionally in the southeast.
Missouri’s entry into the conference came with some resistance from other SEC programs, as well as fist shaking from some of its former Big 12 counterparts. But, like it or not – agree or disagree – Mizzou is an SEC school, and has two conference titles to prove its validity.
I have to chuckle a little about as recent news about the VW Passat making a cameo at Mizzou Arena over the weekend is generating news everywhere. On Thursday, Tom Sorenson of The Charlotte Observer gave a ‘short take’ on it.
Missouri Tigers Football
"A man is accused of driving his Volkswagen Passat into Mizzou Arena, where the Missouri Tigers play basketball, allegedly doing $100,000 in damage. Worst of all, on his way out the man knocked over the press gate. He was arrested Sunday. Missouri said the man is a graduate. If I were Missouri, I would have announced that he is a graduate of Kansas."
Even Sorenson knows the relationship between Mizzou and kansas is vitriolic.
While we’re on the topic of basketball, Mizzou Arena will host a star-powered Alumni game on July 22. It sounds like a good time for a great deal!
Tickets are $5 apiece, and all proceeds will go to three charities: The Boys and Girls Club of Columbia, Granny’s House, and the Carroll Family Foundation.
"There’s not a good or a bad time to do something for charity, but this is an opportune time. While three dismal seasons for the Missouri basketball team and protests led by Concerned Student 1950 are still products of the recent past, the Tigers’ basketball revolution this spring is a cause for optimism across campus"
Since he took the job, Athletic Director, Jim Sterk, has seen the Tiger Scholarship Fund increase $.7 million to an overall $50.4 million during the 2016-17 fiscal year.
The majority of that money will go toward development of the south endzone project, which, Sterk says, is still on track to be completed on time.
"The last 10 months have flown by. We have made some good momentum, and I’m excited about what happened this past year. We’ve made progress in a lot of areas, but I think the great thing is we haven’t hit any kind of ceiling."
Along with plans to resume a series against Illinois, AD Jim Sterk confirmed on Wednesday that the Tigers’ game against Boston College in 2024, will be played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
In an interview with Tod Palmer of The Kansas City Star, Sterk stated, “I’ve had discussions with (Fighting Illini athletic director) Josh Whitman about playing Illinois in St. Louis, but we haven’t gotten a date.”
Of course, questions were also asked about resuming a series against those who shall remain nameless. For the foreseeable future, that is a series that shall remain off the table, at least for Missouri’s opponent.
The only way such a game occurs, is if their hand is forced, and even then, I wonder if the powers that be don’t try to bag the game, anyway.
Here are Missouri’s five most important players on offense for the 2017 season. We did a piece of our own a while back, but Bill C. of Rock M Nation wrote a solid addition. Check out ours and theirs; see how we fared in comparison.
Next: Could Jontay Porter 's re-classification come soon?
Finally, Missouri volleyball gained a little recognition, as Melanie Crow and Alyssa Munlyn were named to the preseason All-SEC team, which is comprised of 10 players from across the conference.