The casualty of Mizzou’s conference switch in 2012 is felt this time every year, when the game’s historic rivals clash on fields across the country, something that won’t happen for the foreseeable future between MU and Kansas, bitter rivals for more than a century. Gary Pinkel’s team has since played 23 games against its new SEC mates, and while the Tigers haven’t won many friends with their unexpected rise in the Eastern Division, no true rival has emerged.
HOME SWEET HOME? Missouri has earned national acclaim for its road winning streak and unmatched success in SEC road contests. The flip side is striking, too: The Tigers aren’t as poised at home. Missouri is just 5-3 at home against power conference opponents the last two seasons. The road wins are impressive, but elite teams also hold court at home. If the Tigers want to establish Memorial Stadium as one of the SEC’s hostile environments, they have to clean up their play at the friendly confines.
"When we left them for dead, now here they are — they win this one and they represent the East," said Taylor, who is back in Columbia for CBS’ national telecast of today’s game. "They’ll have that shot, and that’s something nobody (six weeks ago) gave them a chance to do."
I did a Q&A with our Arkansas blog "Arkansas Fight" you can check it out here:
TEAM MEETING: The Tigers gathered for a team meeting Tuesday night as they looked to move on from their dispiriting loss to the Boilermakers. Both Anderson and Gill-Caesar credited it for helping the team play better against Chaminade. "This is a short turnaround, so you’ve got a lot of work to do in a short period of time. We were meeting last night and a couple of the older guys, I think kind of challenged everybody to perform," Anderson said. "They performed. I’ll give them credit. They took the challenge and came out and played well. Not just younger guys, but everybody."
"Really it's down to two," Linda Bryant said. "Syracuse and Indiana. And it might be down to one soon. Thomas has always told me that Syracuse was the leader."
Missouri had been widely considered a third team in the mix for Bryant thanks to the presence of assistant coach Rob Fulford, who coached Bryant previously at Huntington Prep.
"They're trying to get into it," Linda Bryant corrected.
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