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Earlier this week, Missouri announced the addition of Utah to its 2017-18 non-conference hoops schedule. On Thursday, the school announced four more home games: Miami (Ohio) on December 5, Green Bay on December 9, North Florida on December 16, and Stephen F. Austin on December 19.
SCHEDULE ALERT
— Mizzou Basketball (@MizzouHoops) June 29, 2017
Clear that December schedule, #Mizzou fans! More game dates finalized. #MIZ pic.twitter.com/96v1Cb20aO
If you’re curious, here’s a quick capsule for each team:
- Miami (Ohio): 11-21 in 2016-17, No. 279 KenPom ranking, No. 302 RPI. Head coach: Jack Owens, a former Purdue assistant who takes over for ousted John Cooper.
- Green Bay: 18-14 in 2016-17, No. 190 KenPom ranking, No. 166 RPI. Head coach: Linc Darner, former Cuonzo Martin teammate at Purdue.
- North Florida: 15-19 in 2016-17, No. 255 KenPom ranking, No. 221 RPI. Head coach: Matthew Driscoll, who as far as I can tell has no ties to either Martin or Purdue. The Ospreys won the Atlantic Sun regular season title in 2015 and 2016.
- Stephen F. Austin: 18-15 in 2016-17, No. 233 KenPom ranking, No. 206 RPI. Head coach: Kyle Keller, a former Kansas assistant. BORDER WAR PROXY.
We now know 29 of Mizzou’s likely 31 opponents for 2017-18.
- Home (14): Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Green Bay, Iowa State, Kentucky, Miami (Ohio), Mississippi State, North Florida, Ole Miss, Stephen F. Austin, Tennessee, Texas A&M
- Road (11): Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, UCF, Utah, Vanderbilt
- Neutral (4): Illinois, three teams from an AdvoCare Invitational pool of Long Beach State, Marist, Nebraska, Oregon State, St. John's and West Virginia.
Based on Jim Sterk’s conversation with media members earlier this week, it sounds like Mizzou is going to have a bit more of a national television presence this year, which, considering the No. 1 recruit in the country (Michael Porter Jr.) is coming to town, makes sense.
In a meeting with reporters yesterday, athletic director Jim Sterk alluded to big TV games without providing big details.
“I’ve heard some good things from CBS and those folks that we’re going to have some games on,” he said.
The Trib’s Daniel Jones notes that Mizzou hasn’t played on even ESPN for two seasons. Goodness. Relevance: better than irrelevance.