Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a Braggin’ Rights date.
Excitement may reach an all-time high for the 37th Annual Bud Light Braggin' Rights Game, which now has a date on the calendar. The yearly contest between Mizzou Men's Basketball and Illinois is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 23, and will once again take place inside the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
In previous years, this would have simply been a formality. “Great. We know when Braggin’ Rights is. Moving on.” But with both Mizzou and Illinois making new hires, and with Mizzou not only hiring Cuonzo Martin (who spurned the home-state Illini to go to Purdue long ago) but also signing former Illinois signee Jeremiah Tilmon, this game will be the most anticipated one in years for the series. And as if to get the hype going as soon as possible, there was some online smack of both the passive and active varieties.
In a delicious act of subtle trolling, Mizzou put two upperclassmen on its Braggin’ Rights art ... with Tilmon smack in the middle.
Saturday, December 23.
— Mizzou Basketball (@MizzouHoops) August 2, 2017
#BragginRights #MIZ pic.twitter.com/x6bioGo9Lk
Illinois, meanwhile, reminded everybody who has won four straight in the series.
#BragginRights will be up for grabs Saturday, Dec. 23. #Illini will be looking for 5th straight pic.twitter.com/SD29xqpoji
— Illini Basketball (@IlliniMBB) August 2, 2017
We're just gonna leave this right here pic.twitter.com/terHTvXlRV
— Univ. of Illinois (@Illinois_Alma) August 2, 2017
Yawn. The last three years didn’t actually happen, so that doesn’t count, right?
Other Hoops Links
- The summer rumblings about how well Tilmon is doing was a nice reminder that he could be a massive plus for the Tigers this year.
- Michael Porter Jr., the No. 1 player in college basketball? I think we’d take that.
More Links:
- The second day of fall camp was closed to the media, so there wasn’t much to report, but there was this cool MUtigers.com piece on Terry Beckner Jr. working back from his second knee injury.
#Mizzou's Terry Beckner, Jr., had to fight through two knee injuries to be ready for #MIZCAMP17. Here's his amazing story: #MIZ #ShowMe pic.twitter.com/iYevE4i2dA
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) August 2, 2017
- Offensive tackle Tyler Howell doesn’t think he was very good last year, but he’s ready to change that this time around.
- Nate Howard’s preliminary court date for his drug charges will be August 24. Since he’s facing a felony charge, he will remain suspended at least until that part has been handled.
- Da’Ron Davis, who couldn’t quite academically qualify to play in 2017, tweeted out a message on Wednesday.
I Will Bounce BACK See y'all next season
— Da'Ron Davis1️⃣ (@DaRon_Davis1) August 2, 2017
- Preview season continues! I talked about Georgia at SB Nation (and things got chippy in the comments thread at Senator Blutarsky’s place), and Brandon Kiley previewed #DLineZou.