UPDATE: Don't mess with wrestling fans.  Pinkel had a small early lead but was overtaken by a tidal wave.  After 351 votes, Brian Smith moves to the finals with a startlingly easy 81%-18% win.

That's right...we've reached the Final Four in the Mizzou 25 Coaches Edition, the tournament to determine who was the best, most likable, most influential Mizzou coach in the last 25 years!  To no one's surprise, Norm Stewart has coasted to the finals--he has yet to garner less than 92% of the vote in any one competition.  But today comes one of the most intriguing matchups of this entire exercise, Gary Pinkel vs Brian Smith.  Two coaches who, in the last 15 months or so, have seen their teams ranked #1 in the country.

Click here for the bracket.

5/19: 1 Norm Stewart vs 5 Dr. Rick McGuire
5/20: 2 Gary Pinkel vs 3 Brian Smith

2 Gary Pinkel vs 3 Brian Smith
	vs
2001-present		1998-present
Career Record at Mizzou: 49-37 Five Best Seasons: 2002 - 5-7 2003 - 8-5 (Independence Bowl) 2005 - 7-5 (Independence Bowl) 2006 - 8-5 (Sun Bowl) 2007 - 12-2 (Cotton Bowl)		Career Record at Mizzou: 119-58-3 Five Best Seasons: 2001-02 - 18-3 2002-03 - 15-6 (2nd in Big 12) 2003-04 - 15-3 2005-06 - 13-4-1 2006-07 - 12-2 (2nd in Big 12, #3 in country)
Gary Pinkel has survived all the peaks and valleys a coach can see and has come out the better for it.  After three seasons of steady progress, the bottom fell out for Mizzou in 2004, and a 5-6 season left Pinkel's tenure on the rocks.  Since then, Mizzou has gone from 7 to 8 to 12 wins, earning its first #1 ranking in 47 years late in 2007.  Mizzou will start the 2008 season in the Top 10, and Pinkel's slow-but-steady grind toward success has won over Mizzou fans, to say the least.		A decade ago, Smith took over a moribund wrestling program and set out to build a national power, slowly but surely.  He has succeeded, producing 8 All-Americans, coaching Mizzou 25 Champion Ben Askren to two national titles, and, in 2007, leading Mizzou to a #1 national ranking.  In training methods and results, Mizzou Wrestling has fulfilled Brian Smith's vow of becoming a powerhouse.