Soon-to-be Mizzou QB Blaine Dalton: Blue Springs legend.
It's safe to say that Northwestern will come to play on December 29.
"It means everything in the world to me," Northwestern senior quarterback C.J. Bachér said, "and I know for the other 22 seniors, to get this bowl victory and leave the legacy on this program that we set out to leave when we decided to commit here and sign our letters of intent."
...Perhaps sensing his team could get passed over in the Big Ten’s bowl selection process - Northwestern’s average home attendance of 28,950 was the lowest in the league this season - Fitzgerald made a sales pitch shortly after his team wrapped up its regular season with a 27-10 victory over Illinois, telling reporters, "If a bowl site wants to have the best and brightest that college football has to offer, by far the highest per capita income of any Big Ten team among alumni bases, where the economy has affected our alumni the least, we’ll be there to sell out our tickets and buy all the purple and white they can sell. We have a young energetic staff that will bring down their smiling families and have a great time."
They’ll leave smiling, too, if Northwestern can snap a five-game losing streak in bowl games. The Wildcats last won a bowl game in the 1949 Rose Bowl, a 20-14 victory over Cal.
The new Rivals 100 is out, and Mizzou soft-commit Sheldon Richardson has moved up once again, this time to #4. Mizzou target Bryce Brown is now #2.
MUted asks: What will it take for MU BBall to fill Mizzou Arena? Are we only capable of capacity when it's Big XII season?
I'm so glad someone asked this. But I want you to know before I answer that you have opened a can of worms. The fact is, it's time to get past blaming these kids and this coach for things that happened that they had nothing to do with. This is an exciting team. And it's a good team. If you're one of those that needs them to show you, well, then, go ahead and wait. But they've been phenomenal in that building this year. There was some great energy with only 8300 at the Cal game. Imagine what it would be like with double that. I think the first thing it takes is a win over Illinois and a win over Kansas. Missouri fans are sick of being non-competitive in the two biggest rivalries on the schedule. And I also think it takes an NCAA tournament appearance. I hate to say it, but there are just too many people who are tuned out right now. I don't think they'll sell out a single game outside of Kansas this year. It's a shame, but I think it's the truth. If the Tigers make the dance this year and have some momentum going into 2009-10, maybe those bandwagon jumpers will decide to hop on. Remember, it was just last year we were all pissing and moaning that the Tigers couldn't sell out Faurot Field. They did it regularly this year. It seems fans have to have concrete proof that the team wins for a full season before they'll show up on a regular basis, and that's not just in basketball.
Finally, when Mike Leach is right, he's right. To only announce three finalists and NOT invite Graham Harrell (or Michael Crabtree...either would have been acceptable) is ridiculous. I mean, they invited five last year, and we all knew that Chase Daniel and Colt Brennan weren't winning the award, but the invitation was still awesome. "System" QB or not, he put up ridiculous numbers on an 11-1 team. Don't know what more you want to ask out of him, other than playing at a name school. Tim Griffin agrees.