Okay, Elle Brown, we see you.

First off, I can’t physically and emotionally bring myself to talk about football right now, and I didn’t see the last two games anyway (I was working, not because I’m a “bad fan” or I’ve given up). Besides, my lovely colleagues here at Rock M have done a masterful job thus far (with more to come!) extracting every little morsel from Saturday’s debacle, so let’s leave that to the experts, shall we? Karen doesn’t want to talk football, and you can’t make her!

Time to talk some women’s hoops again!

Senior hooper Amber Smith, for the second consecutive year, received All-SEC Preseason honors! MUTigers.com had a nice little write up about it you should definitely check out. The SEC coaches also voted Mizzou to finish 9th in their preseason poll, it was announced Tuesday.

I know Fontbonne, the Tigers’ opponent on Tuesday evening, was not... the most skilled of teams (they play D-III, after all), but good God, wow.

Former Rock Bridge Bruin, junior Elle Brown, had herself quite a game again, shooting 11-13 from the field for 24 points, with 6 rebounds AND 6 assists. That’ll do, Elle. That’ll do just fine. As I mentioned in my links last week, I like the balanced scoring attack— 6 in double figures (!!)— and am really looking forward to seeing how this season plays out.

On to the links!

Yesterday at Rock M

• Football Editor Nate was back with a new Beyond the Box Score, the “How to disappear completely” edition. Put on some Radiohead and let the depression take hold, my friends.
• Nate also explained just how we can SPECIFICALLY talk about Mizzou’s problems when lamenting to friends & family about what went wrong.
• In Nate’s THIRD POST of the day, he also provided us with new SEC Power Rankings! Tennessee is bickering rather loudly about the homeowner’s association, you guys. They want to move in to another neighborhood and Nate won’t let them.
• Josh wrote about how the Tiger defense just isn’t the same without its captain. We miss you, Cale!
• The Rock M Hoops Triplets got together to talk about the combo forwards, Tray and Kobe! Read it.
• Leader of men (and me) / Site Manager Sam, has kept busy churning out SEC basketball previews. Tuesday focused on the #5 team, Alabama. These are super in-depth and awesome and you should all read them, then bookmark them to read again. I’m serious, you guys.
• Mitch was joined by SEC Network broadcaster Tom Hart (!) for a later than usual Fifth Down podcast. Tom shared some interesting factoids about the Tigers, and was a great sport answering the pop quiz at the end. Highly recommend. You can also read the recap here.

More Links:

Football

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Matter published his weekly “Matter on Mizzou” piece, which focused on the Kentucky loss and proclaimed that yes, it’s too early for a coaching search! At the end of the piece, he also took some Twitter questions (my friend Evan & I asked an excellent question that was not included about hoops— I am supremely disappointed in Mr Matter for the slight)
• Kansas City Star: Souichi Terada assessed the damage after Kentucky, covering Barry Odom’s press conference.
• The Maneater: Wilson Moore wrote a piece about Jordan Elliott and what lessons he’s learned to lead him where he is today.

Hoops

• Mizzou Hoops BEGINS on Friday with an exhibition against Central Missouri at 7pm! Season ticket holders get in free, and for everyone else, you can purchase tickets for $5 (upper) and $10 (lower). side note- don’t you dare say, ‘Go Mules’, Dad — we are a Mizzou family

• PowerMizzou (free): Gabe wrote a Mizzou hoops season preview, where he predicted MVP, the top freshman, what will happen in the postseason, and some other stuff.
• ESPN put out their preseason SEC Rankings, and hey— at least no one had them 13th? Progress. Out of their 4 panelists, the Tigers fluctuated between 10-11, and only one (John Gasoway) seemed to have much faith, so thank you, sir, for that 8th place vote of confidence.
• The Athletic: CJ Moore did a regional live Q&A for subscribers on Monday. If you haven’t tried out The Athletic yet, here’s a link to a seven day free trial— http://theathletic.com/freetrial. I highly recommend it, and NO, I don’t get a kickback. If I wanted that, I’d give you my subscriber link ;).

Other Mizzou sports news

• MUTigers.com: Women’s soccer will close out their season Thursday evening with a game against Mississippi State at 7:15pm (SEC Network+). They will honor their 5 seniors, and — since it’s Halloween — those wearing costumes get in free!
• STL Today (among other sites): The NCAA is starting to get the picture that allowing athletes to be compensated for the use of their name, photo, and likeness is a good thing. ‘Bout time they’re getting with the program. Too bad it will come about too late to see Reed Nikko on my tv advertising fishing supplies from Bass Pro. Or Karissa Schweizer promoting footwear and signing autographs at Fleet Feet.
• Columbia Missourian: Liam Quinn shared a twitter thread with Jim Sterk’s comments on the NCAA decision, posted here.
• So RS sophomore volleyball player Andrea Fuentes is pretty good, huh? You can read about her weekly honors at MUTigers.com. The #24 ranked Tigers next play tonight, hosting #13 Florida at the Hearnes Center at 8pm. The game will be televised on ESPN U.

Former Mizzou players in the news

• KC Star: Pete Grathoff wrote about how, with Joe Flacco out, Broncos fans are hoping that Drew Lock might get some work.
• USA Today Bronco’s Wire: Travis Wakeman wrote about how the Broncos have seen all they need to from Joe Flacco, and it’s time to see if 2nd round pick Drew Lock is up to the task.
• Saturday Down South: I’m a couple days late with this news, but Adam Spencer wrote about Seattle Seahawks lineman Justin Britt tearing his ACL. Tough break.
• Fan Sided: James Siegle wrote about who should be starting for the Nuggets, Torrey Craig or Michael Porter, Jr.
• Project Spurs: Paul Garcia did an FAQ on the Junkyard Dog, Demarre Carroll!
• Hoping for the best health-wise for my favorite heterochromatic-eyed pitcher, Mad Mizzou Max Scherzer. UPDATE: 9:38pm- he warmed up in the Nats’ bullpen.

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