No, you’re not time-traveling — Thursday’s links ARE posting early. And that’s because...

1. 5-star forward EJ Liddell — Missouri’s top target in the 2019 basketball class — announced his top three schools.

And Missouri made it:

I’m certainly not the guy to break down where Liddell is leaning, but undoubtedly this is huge news for Missouri — considering, as own Sam Snelling wrote, the Tigers kind of have all their recruiting eggs in Liddell’s basket, so to speak. That became even more true after Tray Jackson committed to Minnesota.

So, baby steps, but positive steps nonetheless.

2. I feel like this backhanded compliment by a Georgia writer sums up being a Missouri fan in a nutshell.

In this article on DawgNation, Georgia beat writer (as well as two other DawgNation writers) said Missouri was the Georgia opponent that is getting overlooked the most.

Chip’s reasoning is, um, blunt:

Why: It is a crappy trip to a crappy stadium that’s hard to get to, and they have a really good quarterback in Drew Lock who plays really well at home.

OK, let’s unpack this. First, is it a crappy trip for Chip, or a crappy trip for the Georgia football team? Because while Chip may have to fly into STL or MCI and drive the 90 minutes to 2 hours to Columbia, the Georgia football team will have a chartered flight into COU and have to make the... 15 minute drive to their hotel.

Let’s get it straight: It’s perceived as a crappy trip by Chip because it’s inconvenient to him. The trip will have nothing to do with whether Georgia wins or loses this game.

Also, Athens is one hour, 40 minutes from the Atlanta airport. And Atlanta traffic is terrible. Fact of the matter is, none of the SEC towns — outside of Nashville and Columbia, S.C. — are particularly convenient to get to.

Now let’s talk about the stadium. If Chip thought it was crappy before, then he better get ready for a quarter of the stadium being demolished. He’s going to need some oxygen once he finds out Georgia’s locker room is trailers this time. Oh my.

But then, the backhanded compliment — Missouri has a real good quarterback in Drew Lock, who plays really well at home... oh, wait, Lock was actually BETTER on the road last year than at home in terms of efficiency, yardage and TD:INT ratio.

Let me know if you need any recommendations for what to do and where to eat in our fine state, Chip!

3. Getting ready for Purdue

• Dave Matter writes that the running game is looking for answers (via STLtoday.com)
• Cameron Teague-Robinson writes that MU is pleased with the defensive front so far (via ColumbiaTribune.com)
• Eli Lederman says it’s Terez Hall’s claim that he’ll lead the team in sacks that’s pushing the defensive line (via ColumbiaMissourian.com)
• Mitchell Forde writes that Emanuel Hall’s fast start has been fueled by the haters (via PowerMizzou.com)

Yesterday at Rock M

• Hopefully it’s Rondale Less and not Rondale Moore: Purdue’s freshman receiver will be a big challenge for Missouri
• How Cullen Van Leer’s medical retirement affects Missouri’s roster

More Links:

• Everybody and their mother hands out positional grades now, but you’re damn right I’ll always include the stats that grade Missouri players high:

• Speaking as a person who thought the UCF-as-national-champs campaign was funny at first but tiresome now, this really made me laugh: