Mizzou 72, Coppin State 38. Here's the box score. Play was sloppy, sloppy, sloppy (41 combined turnovers isn't unheard of for a Mizzou game, but Mizzou doesn't usually have 19 of them), and the long-distance shots weren't falling (5-for-21 from 3-point range), but...yeah, that's fine. They were playing in front of a brimming crowd of 6,500, and you just want to grind through these post-Christmas cupcake games. They'll need to play better on Sunday against a Mississippi State team who has lost to the only two good teams (SIU, Clemson) they played and, unlike Mizzou, hasn't actually beaten a major-conference team yet. The Trib, Missourian, KC Star, and Post-Dispatch have more.
Keon Lawrence had 6 points on 6 shots yesterday...not exactly the coming-out party we'd hope for after a) his end-of-game faltering against Illinois, and b) a Trib article quoted him saying he was so unhappy with his play that he walked into Mike Anderson's office and announced his intent to transfer a couple weeks ago. As expected, Anderson talked him down and reminded him that sophomore slumps are called sophomore slumps for a reason, but...yeah, for his and his team's health, he really needs to relax and start playing well soon.
Dave Matter says Welcome to Big D. And apparently the D stands for Damn Cold (though that doesn't appear to be too much of an issue for Tuesday...other than the fact that the damn game starts before McDonald's even stops serving breakfast, and it will only probably be about 35 at kickoff). (Mutigers.com has a Thursday practice wrap-up, as do the Missourian and KC Star...nothing earth-shattering in them, other than the fact that everybody really does seem to be happy playing in Dallas...the threat for a hangover effect is low at the moment.)
Matter's blog entry has some fun info, including his reaction to the silly comments from Arkansas Defensive MIP (see BTBS post below) Matt Hewitt.
There are many things I don’t understand about Hewitt’s comments, but how exactly did the Tigers forget "they’re going against an SEC team" ? Look for some Missouri reaction to these comments in Friday's Tribune.
Meanwhile, there's an interesting rumor floating out of Dallas...apparently Darren McFadden's car is a little too nice, and it's making people wonder if he or his mom were given a little, uhh, purchasing power from an agent. It's probably nothing for Arkansas to worry about, but hey...I just provide the links, not the opinion.
The Missourian gives you 10 things you probably didn't know about the Cotton Bowl. Of course, I knew six of them, but hey...
Mike Dearmond catches up with Tony Temple and talks about the odds he has of getting a medical redshirt.
"I will never look at that injury factor because you can’t," Pinkel said. "If you look at that, then you’re afraid to make any decisions.
"Hopefully, he’ll get the year back. You just never know with the NCAA."
Missouri probably won’t know on Temple’s appeal until after the national championship game between Ohio State and LSU. But many around the MU program, including Temple, don’t expect an extra year.
So Temple prepares for the Cotton Bowl as he prepared for last season’s Sun Bowl, which proved to be the best game Temple ever played for Missouri.
The Post-Dispatch has had some positive, in-depth coverage of Tiger Football lately, and the two latest Vahe Gregorian pieces aren't exceptions. First, we've got a quick rundown of the five highest-achieving Tiger teams; and then, he asks if the 2007 team is the best of the best. Gotta love this quote:
According to then-MU trainer Fred Wappel, MU's linemen in 1960 largely weighed between 205 and 225 pounds.
This season's starting offensive line averages 310 pounds, the defensive line 280. Even Daniel weighs 225.
"The thing you've got to realize is this is a different game than it was in yesteryear," said Wappel, MU's trainer for 41 years before retiring in 1996. "Don't even compare them."
But Wappel couldn't help adding, "You've got so damned many good receivers on (the 2007) team. Nothing can compare to this team, ever. I mean, ever. They've got the best receivers I have ever seen."
Texas 52, Arizona State 34. Both my wife and I went 0-2...and our 8-8 and 7-9 Pick 'Em records sound much much worse than 8-6 and 7-7 did. I hate picking Texas bowl games, as you never know when they're just going to lay a big, fat egg (see 2006 Alamo Bowl, 2003 Holiday Bowl) and when they're going to show up ready to roll. They rolled yesterday, and one of the Texas QBs Ivan Maisel wrote about yesterday had a nice game.