Missouri gets no Love... in basketball.

If that title made you openly groan, well... you can thank Nate for that. My original title was going to be something about blissful ignorance.

MOVING ON!

On to some happy news! It’s not all doom and gloom around here, y’all... Let the sunshine pumping begin!

Let’s start with some basketball, where former Mizzou star, Michael Porter Jr, is looking GOOOOD in this video shared by Mizzou Hoops twitter... conveniently around the time of “the announcement.” Makes me wish I’d seen him play live (and healthy) more than those two minutes on November 10, 2017.

Now, let’s check in with football!

Mizzou is up to #19 in ESPN’s Football Power Index!

And in case you’ve been living under a rock this football season, Tucker McCann is both a kick-ass KICKER and PUNTER, and despite the concerns of many of my fine colleagues, his leg hasn’t fallen off yet.

The women’s golf team did well on day two of their tournament at Old Hawthorne.

Also, I’m really liking what the graphics department is doing with the women’s hoops twitter. This is just super cool. Oh hey, Amber Smith! They’ve also done similar ones for Jordan Roundtree and Jordan Chavis thus far.

What can I say? I tried to keep it upbeat, you guys. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

On to the links!

Yesterday at Rock M

• Nate ranked the prime real estate of the SEC suburbs in his newly acquired SEC Power Rankings post.
• Ryan brought us a new depth chart — with changes! Well... one. Trajan Jeffcoat is back! And Yasir Durant is ready to go despite not playing against SC.
• Coach Bussen continued teaching us all sorts of stuff when he unveiled the QB run game in his newest Film Room.
• Sam previewed our foray back into the Big XII - SEC Challenge, where the Tigers will take on the Fightin’ Huggy-Bears of West Virginia.

More Links:

• If you want lead yourself into a dark hole of despair— I’m kidding, you guys, it ain’t that bad (I say through the tears) — feel free to read up on some stories about Caleb Love, who will be - unsurprisingly - sporting the Carolina blue next season: Dave Matter had a piece on Mr Love earlier Tuesday about decision day, talking about the ‘Hero Status’ he’d receive in the black and gold. Rock M’s resident basketball savants, Sam & Matt, covered the commitment, of course. David Kvidahl of STL Today discussed it here. Alex Schiffer of the KC Star talked about it here. Eli Lederman of the Missourian did as well.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Matter was REALLY busy. He tackled (ahem) the pass rush, claimed there would be no surprises in Saturday’s game, and looked ahead to Troy in a short piece posted late Tuesday night.
• KC Star: Barry Odom knows he’s struggled the week following byes, but it should change on Saturday, writes Schiff.
• PowerMizzou (free): Mitchell Forde posted a notebook covering Media Day, where the coaches heaped praise upon Troy QB Kaleb Barker. Gabe posted a transcript of the presser, and you can watch Ryan Walters and Derek Dooley’s interviews here. He also touched base with some players regarding the recent passing of the Fair Pay to Play legislation in California.
• Columbia Missourian: Owen Kucoff wrote a really cool story about Mid-Missouri wrestling coach, Mike Eierman, who is currently training Jaydin (Clayton, who changed his surname to Eierman in honor of Mike— a father figure to him) for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at his Ashland-based facility, Eierman Elite Wrestling Club. It’s a really awesome story, and I hope everyone will take a look at it.
• More Missourian: Nick Kelly wrote about Richaud Floyd, who’s putting together a helluva season returning punts now that he’s healthy.
• The Maneater: Jack Soble caught up with Hallsville long-snapper and lifelong Mizzou fan, Nelson Pipes, who received a PWO offer from Andy Hill in late July.
• The Athletic ($$): CJ Moore did a piece about men’s hoops, taking a look at one big question facing each Missouri scholarship player. CJ’s stuff is always worth a read. I know... I KNOW— but if you’re not subscribing to The Athletic, you’re missing out, and if you’d like to take advantage of a free 7-day trial, you can go to this link, http://theathletic.com/freetrial.
• If you’re looking to sign up for ESPN+, Rock M Nation now has an affiliate link: click Here for ESPN+ Now!