Mizzou finalizes march plans while the Tide march in ‘Bama

College football’s — and other college sports’ — forward motion into the areas of social justice continued on Monday with at least one notable demonstration occuring on an SEC campus. Mizzou’s march won’t happen until Wednesday, but final details were released. By that time, who knows how many more marches will have happened or been planned.

College athletes have led similar marches on campuses around the country, including Tennessee, Oklahoma and Mississippi, in the wake of the latest incident of police brutality that’s commanded the country’s attention, this time in Kenosha, Wis.

It’s notable that several of these marches are happening in the south and Midwest, if you ask me. Take that for what you will.

In the meantime, Mizzou’s Black Student Athlete Association released final plans for the march and a following sit-in on Monday evening, which include prepared statements and a press conference. I’m curious if any Mizzou Football players are prominently featured on stage.

In a follow-up tweet, the MBSAA thanked Cuonzo Martin and Eli Drinkwitz specifically for their support.

This much is obvious if you’re keeping track of the current national climate, but Mizzou isn’t the only school taking part in these sorts of protests. Earlier on Monday, Nick Saban led the Crimson Tide on a march through Tuscaloosa’s downtown area.

I feel like I say this every time I write about demonstrations and protests on college campuses these days, but I am fascinated to see what’s next. Just a few months ago, I’d have said you were crazy if you predicted marches on college campuses led by the most powerful men in the sport. There are changing tides in college football, specifically in the arena of player empowerment, and I’m curious to see where they go from here.

Yesterday at Rock M

• 2020 Missouri Football Position Previews: Offensive Tackles
• Best Recruits in Mizzou History: Offensive Line

More Links:

• Dave Matter and Ben Frederickson discussed the ongoing social justice work by athletes on campus in their weekly Eye on the Tigers segment at the Post-Dispatch.
• Sean Williams at PowerMizzou wrote up some storylines from the recent Rivals re-rankings, including a star bump for a high-profile Mizzou recruit. Subscribers can also get access to Gabe’s regular Monday morning thoughts.
• 247 Sports looked at the college programs who have put the most players in the NFL, and Mizzou made the final list!
• Jordan Geist is still out here making cool cash in the midst of a global pandemic.

• Here’s your bummer news for the day. K-12 schools in Columbia will start all virtual for the semester, a decision seemingly made after a rise in cases due to spikes amongst the Mizzou student population. This will be for at least the month of September, and then the board will reassess.
• However, despite the rise in cases, MU officials are working to keep campus open and running, according this KC Star report.
• 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.**)