The Tigers are Back in Town!

Welcome back, Tigers! A fun-filled winter break was hopefully had by all our favorite student-athletes, and that includes Football. (editor’s note: is it weird that I never knew who sang the song, “The Boys are Back in Town” until today? Thin Lizzy? Hmmph...)

Hey, look! Coaching assignments!! Exactly as we all predicted, right? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Be sure to check out BK’s post about this later on this morning.

On an unrelated to football note (but not completely off the wall because of the dumb NCAA sanctions)... Can’t wait to see the softball team tear it up. Stupid NCAA.

One last thing, anybody know if there was a basketball game last night?

On to the links!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Josh previewed Tuesday night’s home matchup against the Aggies of Texas A&M.
• Josh also wrote in his offseason recruiting reset piece that Mizzou is trying to pry 3-star Texas CB Ennis Rakestraw away from some dude named...(checks notes)...Nick Saban??
• Ryan posted a game thread if you wish to see what your fellow RMN commenters had to say.
• Matt A wrote a gamer, appropriately titled, “Heartbreaking Ending.” Yep, pretty much sums it up.

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More Links:

Football

• KC Star: Souichi wrote in more detail about the assigned duties of the coaching staff now that they’ve been finalized.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Matter covered the assigned duties as well, pointing out that former UW offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan is not the new OC, as many had thought might occur.
• PowerMizzou (subscribers): Sean Williams said Mizzou is among the top 3 in contention for DE/LB Eddie Watkins from Alabama.
• The Athletic (subscribers): Peter took a first look at Coach Drinkwitz’s offensive line up and projected a depth chart.
• Kelly Bryant shined in the East-West Shrine game, according to the Missourian Staff’s local briefs.
• Well, what do we have here?

• Get to know... a coach you are likely already familiar with? Hello again, Ryan Walters. How ya been?

Men’s Hoops

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave wrote that, after a 1-4 start, the turnaround for hoops starts now... or never. He also published a game day blog, asking if freshman Kobe Brown is ready for liftoff. (editor’s note: not in the A&M game obviously, as he was ‘under the weather’ and had his feet firmly planted on the ground)
• Columbia Missourian: Brian Napier said that Auburn’s slide muddled the top of the SEC rankings in his new SEC Review.
• PowerMizzou (free): Mitchell previewed the A&M game, saying in order to win the Tigers would need to 1) make the easy shots, 2) defend without fouling, and 3) win the turnover battle, before predicting a WIN for the Tigers. (editor’s note: I should really stop sharing the breakdown of these, huh? Seems to bring about bad juju)
• A&M game previews: Souchi Terada (KC Star). Adam Reckamp (Columbia Missourian). MUTigers.com. Thomas Huitt-Johnson (Trumans Tales).
• Choose Your Own Gamers available in various places if you care to read up on them (runs off to weep in quiet corner): Souichi Terada (KC Star). Dave Matter (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Brian Napier (Missourian).
• PowerMizzou Gameday wrap up coverage (free): Jessi Dodge provided a photo gallery. Gabe wrote that Missouri keeps firing from three and has no plans to stop, and Mitchell penned (typed?) that Missouri rallied, but came up a few bounces short.

Other Mizzou Sports/ Miscellaneous Mizzou News

• Track welcomed back the students with this cool video.

• Big congrats to MU gymnast, freshman Helen Hu, who earned SEC Co-Specialist of the Week for her awesome performance against No. 2 ranked Florida on January 17, where she scored a career-best 9.95 on bars, according to MUTigers.com. Congrats to high-flying Helen! (editor’s note: I’ll see myself out)

• More Preseason All-American recognition for Mizzou Baseball’s Ian Bedell!

• Tennis welcomed Rock Bridge alum, Eleanor Fay, to its roster as a walk-on. Fay was part of four team state titles at RBHS from 2015-18, per an MUTigers.com article.
• Friday is Mizzou Baseball’s annual First Pitch dinner. They will be honoring Mizzou pitching legend, Aaron Crow.

• Mizzou rival news- Sorry, I couldn’t resist. What the hell happened in Lawrence? Good lord. It was so distracting that Fearless Leader Sam missed the first part of the game because he was enthralled by the disaster at the Phog. There’s some pretty disturbing videos out there as well. You can read SI.com writer Pat Forde’s article about it here. Just when AD Jeff Long thought that he was done with serious issues... is he back to longing for the good ol’ days of NCAA investigations and Snoop Dogg with his pole dancers?

Mizzou in the Pros / Former Player News

• The Denver Post: Mike Singer, noted Michael Porter, Jr stan (perhaps only topped in MPJ revelry by my bud, Evan) published some takeaways from the Nuggets’ recent victory over the Timberwolves, noting that the veterans are marveling at his meteoric rise. Disclaimer: sorry if you can’t read it. Their site lockdown of the site is insane.
• Seattle Times: Pat Graham wrote about former Nathan Hale High standout Michael Porter Jr, who’s on a roll with the Denver Nuggets.
• SBNation site, SLC Dunk, asked, is Jordan Clarkson is the next Jamal Crawford? JC, like Crawford — who’s made his living feasting upon opponents’ benches — is exactly what Jazz star Donavan Mitchell needs.
• SBNation site, Pounding the Rock, said DeMarre Carrolll, the Spurs’ biggest offseason addition, has become an afterthought. So disappointing and not what we wanted for the Junkyard Dog.
• Soph is taking over the Phoenix Mercury instagram stories this week! I expect top notch content all week long from our former mayor.

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