1. Now it officially feels like game week.

On Tuesday, Missouri players and coaches met with the media for their first in-season availability of 2018. MUTigers.com released the first game notes and depth chart of the season.

And, above all, there weren’t many big surprises on the depth chart itself. The most news came regarding the freshmen that did make the two-deep. There were six of them:

• RB Tyler Badie
• WR Jalen Knox, Kam Scott, Dominic Gicinto and Khmari Thompson
• LB Nick Bolton

The loftiest praise seems to be about Badie, at least at this stage. From Dave Matter’s media day wrap-up notebook, Drew Lock said this about Badie and early comparisons to Marcus Murphy:

“If there’s a guy wearing 6, can come in the backfield, go play the slot, get open for the two-minute drill, have no one really be able to cover him in space and do punt return and kick return, that kind of sounds a little like Marcus Murphy. … If Badie can be that guy, that speaks a lot to him as a player.”

It should be noted that Lock hedged on the Murph comparisons before saying that, but... still. I am here for Tyler Badie, or as I will now call the Tennessee native, Memphis Murphy.

More depth chart analysis

• Notes and quotes about Missouri’s Week 1 depth chart, from Mitchell Forde of PowerMizzou.com
• Who was a surprise on the depth chart?, asks the Kansas City Star
• Four freshmen wideouts appear on Missouri’s initial depth chart, writes Daniel Jones of the Columbia Tribune

2. About those Skyhawks...

Yeah, UT-Martin is an FCS team that’s beat one FBS program before — Memphis, in 2012, when Barry Odom was the defensive coordinator there. But all the previews for the game Saturday will be put into the context of what happened and what ALMOST happened last year.

We all know about that Misery State Fiasco. The players especially do.

Linebacker Jamal Brooks told Alex Schiffer of the Kansas City Star:

“Especially defensively, we sat back and we said, ‘Man, we saw what we did last year. Do we want to go out there and take UT-Martin like we took Missouri State? Or do we want to come up and play big-boy SEC ball?’”

So, yeah. The ghosts of last year are still there, but this time, they’re being used to inspire instead of frighten.

More on UT-Martin and the Misery State Fiasco

• Mizzou hasn’t forgotten last year’s disastrous debut, writes Dave Matter (via STLtoday.com)

3. After Saturday, we won’t have anymore preseason predictions, so enjoy them while you can.

Here’s a couple more that directly involve Missouri:

• ESPN has its final preseason bowl predictions. One writer has Missouri vs. Minnesota in the Gator Bowl; the other has Missouri vs. N.C. State in the Music City Bowl. I think I’d be OK with both, although a second Missouri-Minnesota bowl game in Florida in four years might be a bit of a stretch.
• Rivals.com analyst Mike Farrell makes his SEC predictions, and he has Missouri has the surprise team in the SEC. Farrell believes that if the defense improves, coupled with the office, Missouri “could make a run” at second-place in the SEC East.

Yesterday at Rock M

• Previewin’ Missouri’s offensive line: A lot of starts, but will it translate?
• Jack Parodi recaps some of the Missouri media day, with Drew Lock critiquing his bobblehead and seeking advice from Tony Romo.
• Rock M Nation ALSO has some hot depth chart analysis for your eyeballs.

More Links:

• A potential Missouri upset of Georgia seems to be gaining a lot of steam, but if the Tigers can do that, why is no one picking them for more than eight regular season wins?

• Here are some video interviews from Missouri’s media day, courtesy of ABC 17 in Columbia.
• Mizzou wrestling gets team bonding, Army Style from veteran Mark Tibus, via MUTigers.com.