Happy Commitment (watch) Day!

With the bye week in place, we’ll have plenty of time to get to football over the coming days. But let’s all turn our attention to basketball for just a little while.

On Friday, one of Cuonzo Martin’s priority targets — 4-star combo guard Mario McKinney out of St. Louis — announced he would commit today. I’m not usually one for reading tea leaves, but let’s see if we can decipher these for a second.

• 247’s crystal ball predictions have McKinney at 100 percent to Mizzou.
• Mario is cousins with former Mizzou standout, Jimmy McKinney.
• Mario has taken several unofficial visits to Columbia over the past several years.
• He has also only taken one official visit... to Columbia a few weekends ago.

You can never be too careful in predicting recruiting, but it seems like Missouri is about to get its first recruit of the 2019 cycle. Keep a close eye on our website throughout the day as we break down what a McKinney commitment could mean for the Tigers moving forward.

Some bad news too...

Mizzou Hoops also suffered through some bad PR Sunday, when it was announced that forward Mitchell Smith was arrested for driving while intoxicated in Columbia.

Mizzou released the following statement: “Per Mizzou Athletics’ department policy, Mitchell has been suspended from team activities for a minimum of one week.” Under Mizzou athletics department policy, an athlete arrested for a first-offense DWI is suspended from team activities for a minimum of one week. The Tigers begin preseason practice this week.

This would be a highly regrettable mistake in any scenario, but it seems particularly egregious given that one of Smith’s teammates was arrested for the same crime just a few months ago. That arrest likely had adverse effects on the team’s result in the NCAA Tournament.

It’s unlikely Smith ends up getting dismissed because of this lapse in judgment, but man does it look bad.

Report Cards

Back to football. In case you forgot, Mizzou isn’t undefeated anymore, which sucks. It sucks even worse since Saturday felt like one of those days where better play might’ve resulted in a major upset. The weekly report cards reflect as much.

• It’s a mixed bag from PowerMizzou’s Mitchell Forde, but the Pro Football Focus grades aren’t as kind.
• Alex Schiffer was tough on the offense in his report card, but pretty lenient with the defense.

And while it’s not related to the report cards, PowerMizzou has a lot of updates on the weekend in football recruiting. Check it out if you’ve got a subscription.

Yesterday at Rock M

• Mitchell Smith suspended after DWI arrest

More Links:

• The latest AP poll is out and, while Missouri is still getting votes, there’s another SEC East team on the rise: Kentucky enters the fray this week at No. 17. Their tilt in Columbia on October 27 now looks like an opportunity to score a big win.
• ESPN’s weekly Best Of column is out, and it’s worth at least a passing glance.
• Here are Missouri’s latest bowl projections:

ESPN: Liberty Bowl vs. TCU

CBS Sports, Saturday Down South, 247: Belk Bowl vs. NC State

Happy Bye Week, y’all!