Mizzou Links, 7-3-12

Mizzou Football Links

So Missouri might have one of the best homefield advantages in college football, and that might not be a good thing (since all it really means is they play much better at home than the road). I ran a similar study a couple of years ago for ESPN Insider, and Texas Tech and Hawaii topped my rankings. Missouri's a lot higher in this one.

• Home Field Advantage
  Prediction Machine: College Football Homefield Advantage Analysis

Other Football Links

• Hello There, Chase Coffman!
  Smart Football: Fullback Draw: A Constraint Play for the Sprint-Out Pass
• Really The Only Sandusky Piece You Need To Read At This Point
  EDSBS: THE GRACEPOINT

Mizzou Basketball Links

This site is fascinating. So excited about this.

• HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS SITE EXISTED??
  Hoop-Math.com: Index
  Hoop-Math.com: Missouri

Some quick observations:

1. 67% of Ricardo Ratliffe's shots at the rim were assisted. Sounds about right.
2. 94% of Kim English's 3-pointers were assisted. Pretty much the definition of "spot-up shooter." Marcus Denmon came in at 84%, while Phil Pressey came in at just 54%. All of that makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
3. The Initial Shot Distribution data is so much fun. When Mizzou pulled down a defensive rebound, there was a better than 50 percent chance that a shot would be going up within 10 seconds. When opponents scored, the odds of Mizzou shooting within 10 seconds dropped below 20 percent. And after a steal, the odds were better than 70 percent. Perhaps most interesting: Mizzou shot almost as well (eFG: 58%) when milking the shot clock after a score than they did when running out after a rebound (eFG: 64%).
4. Meanwhile, opponents were trying really hard to slow things down. When opponents pulled down a rebound, there was only about a 40 percent chance that a shot was going up within 10 seconds. Of course that was to their detriment, as opponents shot much better against Mizzou early in the shot clock.

Anyway, this is going to be so much fun come basketball season.

SEC

• It's Still Official
  CBS Sports: SEC-bound Missouri, Texas A&M officially embrace their great leap sideways
  Mr. SEC: Was the SEC, Missouri, And Texas A&M Union a Smart Move?
  ESPN.com (SEC Blog): Missouri, Texas A&M official SEC members
  ESPN.com (SEC Blog): Looking back at the SEC's last expansion
• Flags!
  Mizzou Network: Tigers raise SEC Flag at Mizzou Arena
  The Trib: Flying the flag of a new conference
  The Trib (Dave Matter): Alden: "We want to be challenged."

  on the Sept. 8 SEC opener against Georgia ...

  "We don’t want to disregard the fact that we open against Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 1. We all know that. We need to have a big crowd and do a great job. That first SEC game on Sept. 8, I tell you, we've been around a lot of execiting atmospheres here at Mizzou in the time I've been here, whether it's a Nebraska game or that Oklahoma game" in 2010 "or different thigns we've done in Mizzou Arena. But my gut tells me we probably haven't seen anything like what we're going to see on Sept. 8, that entire weekend. Our effort from Mizzou's standpoint, Columbia's and Mid-Missouri's standpoint, that's a wonderful opportunity for us to put our best foot forward right there. We're excited to be in the SEC. We're here and ready to go and we need to welcome those folks from the University of Georgia that weekend. My gut tells me it'll be unlike anything we've ever seen since I've been here."

  The Missourian: Missouri flies SEC flag to symbolize conference switch
  The Missourian: Alden talks SEC move at ceremonial flag raise
  KC Star: MU holds its first official event as a member of the SEC
• Whoops
  FamousDC.com: SEC on Capitol Hill
• Baseball
  SimmonsField.com: SxSE: Virtual Road Trip Through SEC Country
  SimmonsField.com: SxSE: Fayetteville, Arkansas

Other Mizzou Links

• Mizzou Volleyball
  MUtigers.com: Mizzou at USA Volleyball A2 Update
• Mizzou Cross-Country
  The Missourian: Former Missouri cross country coach signs on for track job at Battle High School