1. Drew Lock makes the final cut for the Manning Award.

Lock is in some pretty elite company here.

While it’s almost assuredly going to be Tua Tagovailoa or Kyler Murray, Lock’s inclusion is a nice accomplishment. The Manning Award is the only college football award that takes bowl performances into consideration, so maybe if Lock has a 900-yard, 12-touchdown day he could edge out those two.

2. Missouri’s bowl destination could hinge on Purdue.

Stewart Mandel of The Athletic writes that Purdue to the Music City Bowl is one of the “closest things to a lock at this point” . While some — like Brett McMurphy — are still slotting a Missouri-Purdue Music City Bowl, the odds of that happening have to be slim-to-none.

(Seriously, do some of these bowl projectionists just pay no attention to recent schedules?)

So, that means, according to Dave Matter, that Missouri may slide down to the Liberty Bowl. That would put Missouri against a Big 12 team, and would also mark Barry Odom’s return to Memphis (ahead of that highly anticipated 2023 return leg of the Memphis series). So, some intrigue there, at least.

3. An old Missouri friend is (reportedly) returning to the Big 12.

After Texas Tech’s hire of Utah State head coach Matt Wells, it’s now being reported that David Yost — Wells’ OC at Utah State — will inherit the same position in Lubbock.

Good for Yost. I still believe the end of Yost’s tenure as the Missouri offensive coordinator was a shame, as he took the brunt of criticism for the 2012 season and became something of a scapegoat, resigning after that season. Yost’s offense has excelled at Utah State, and I think he’ll find the same success at Texas Tech.

Yesterday at Rock M

More Links & Notes:

• The Missouri grad-turned-NASA viral star has been the delightfully nerdiest story of the week.
• Volleyball begins postseason play against Arizona on Friday. Go get ‘em, ladies.

• So not that anyone cares, but I’ve been out in California all week for the NAIA Men’s Soccer Tournament — needless to say, I’ve been a little out of touch with the Mizzou world. Please feel free to chime in and let me know what I’ve missed.