The SEC is making decisions... but football awaits its fate

Well, the SEC has made a decision.... about SOME fall sports. Volleyball, soccer and cross country seasons have officially been delayed.

The Southeastern Conference announced Tuesday that it will postpone the start of volleyball, soccer and cross country competition through at least August 31. The decision will provide additional time to prepare for the safe return of competition on an adjusted timeline.

While these aren’t the sports that everyone talks about, it’s still important to note. Their official schedules aren’t finalized, so there is time for them to make adjustments. Back in late May, Souichi Terada wrote in the KC Star that soccer had already started preparing for this by backing out of a tourney they planned to attend in California.

Several of Mizzou’s fall sports coaches spoke up about this in statements released by the Athletic Department. From Head Volleyball Coach, Joshua Taylor:

The safety of our student-athletes and coaching staff is the number one priority. These decisions are in the best interest of everyone involved. We will continue to adjust our preparation and training for the 2020 season and will be ready to go when the opportunity arises.

As for how this impacts competitions typically going on in August, Andy Kimball of the Columbia Missourian reported that last season, the volleyball team played its Black and Gold game, one exhibition and one non-con game in August. Cross country typically has had a season-opening home meet in late August.

As mentioned in Josh’s links earlier this week, the SEC will not be making a decision about football until late July, so until then... we wait.

On to the links!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Nate wrote a game preview for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out my piece on Melvin Booker and the 93-94 Hoops season and the newest Editorial Bored.

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More Links:

Football/SEC News

• PowerMizzou: ($$) Mitchell Forde compiled a version 6.0 of the 2021 perfect class.
• Columbia Tribune: Eric Blum broke down the SEC’s COVID—19 testing numbers.
• The Athletic’s Seth Emerson wrote about how the SEC and its commissioner have reached the boiling point. ($$)
• USA Today: Dan Wolken wrote an awesome piece about how the 2020 college football season, even in the mighty SEC, is in real trouble.
• Arkansas writer Bob Holt has been a fixture at the SEC Media Days, but with it being canceled this year, what’s the beat writer to do? “What about Bob?” is the question The Athletic’s Brody Miller asked in his recent piece. ($$)
• Another day, another award nomination for Mr. Nick Bolton.

Other Mizzou Sports

• KC Star: Souichi covered the SEC postponement of fall sports news.
• Columbia Missourian: Bennett Durando continued his outstanding work on “The Moments that Shaped Them” series. This time focused on Tiger Style’s Brian Smith and how a match in 2003 changed his life.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave wrote about Cuonzo’s involvement in starting a minority leadership foundation with John Calipari of Kentucky. If you haven’t yet checked out the site (minorityleaders.org), I highly recommend it. If you’re interested in the Facebook Live “Coffee with Cal” he took part in with Coach Cal and many other famous college hoops coaches to discuss the initiative and their plans, it’s still out there.
• Mizzou’s 2020 NCAA Women of the Year nominees were announced, and they are soccer’s Sarah Luebbert and hoops’ Amber Smith! More info on MUTigers.com

• Several teams also announced their student-athletes who made it onto the SEC First Year Honor Roll. Congrats to Kobe Brown (men’s hoops), Shannon Dufficy, Micah Linthacum & Hayley Frank (women’s hoops), Sophia Yoemans, Bri Bolden & Olivia Sowers (women’s golf), Kenna Sauer & Claudia Dillon (volleyball), and EIGHT baseball players (too many to name so I included their tweet below)!

Interesting/Non-Mizzou News

These are a few of the best sports stories & tidbits I found regarding some goings-on in sports and the world— Enjoy!

• Dave Matter of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote about Sophie Cunningham’s experience with having COVID-19, as well as getting ready for her second season in the WNBA.
• Speaking of Sophie Cunningham, I spy one former Mayor of Columbia on this poster:

• And in case you wanted MORE Soph content, here’s an interview with ABC17’s Andrew Kauffman:

• Great honor for former Tigers, Willy Mo and SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON, who were named to the Atlanta Falcons’ All-Decade Team.
• Clay Skipper wrote a great in-depth piece on Patrick Mahomes in GQ Magazine. Check it out! He made the cover!!!
• In case you are interested, ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast just put out a new episode on the tarnished legacy of the Karolyi Empire. As someone who is a gymnastics fan and just finished Athlete A on Netflix (it was so good, but so hard to watch), I will check this out.
• Congrats to former Mizzou linebacker, Denzel Martin. This is super cool!

• And finally, this made me laugh, from tennis star Naomi Osaka:

• If you’re looking to sign up for ESPN+, Rock M Nation now has an affiliate link: click Here for ESPN+ Now! (** RockMNation has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though RockMNation may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.**)