Time for an SEC update from The Athletic!

As Mizzou gets set to face off against Kentucky, a team they haven’t beaten at home since February 3, 2018, some writers at The Athletic are examining the SEC and the Bubble. Let’s see what they had to say!

Brian Bennett and Kyle Tucker of The Athletic took part in a Buy of Sell edition of SEC Hoops. Not only was Mizzou very own Xavier Pinson pictured in the graphic, but Bennett called Mizzou his “surprise team.”

Bennett: It has to be Missouri. The Tigers went 15-16 last year, but they entered this season as one of the most experienced teams in the nation. That has been very helpful in a year with a shortened offseason and curtailed practice availability. Mizzou scored big nonconference wins over Illinois and Oregon and has beaten Tennessee and Arkansas. Senior post Jeremiah Tilmon has turned it up over his last eight games, averaging 18.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks while shooting 70 percent from the field....

You’ll need to be a subscriber to read the article in full.

Not to be outdone by his colleagues, Eamonn Brennan looked at the NCAAT Bubble, and included Missouri in his SEC “in” group tourney-wise, and had some WORDS about this evening’s opponent, Kentucky. Big yikes for Coach Cal’s crew.

They’re bad now. So bad, in fact, that the most likely outcome, by this time next week, is that their record will be five wins and 12 losses. 5-12! To say they’re nowhere near the bubble is an understatement; at this point, it’s not clear whether even winning out, going 9-0 between now and the end of the regular season, would be enough to get them in the tournament.

Brennan also has a nice paragraph about our fair Tigers, but you’ll need a subscription, of course, to check it out. SUBSCRIBE!

Moving on to... more bracketology!

Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology finds Mizzou on the edge of the 4-seed line.

Hoping we see more of this “never give up” mentality tonight! Go Tigers!

On to the Links!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Dive Cuts is back, and Sam & Matt are recapping last week’s games and looking ahead to Kentucky and Alabama.
• Nate (the Great) put together a recruiting reset ahead of (another?) signing day.
• Kortay recapped the newest MIZ-ZOOM, featuring coach Marco Harris-Stevens, X, and Dru.
• COMING UP: Josh previews the Kentucky game, and BK does a roster reset, starting with the QB position.

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More Links:

Football

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Mizzou Football is moving forward with its plans for a brand new fancy practice facility, which will be situated next to the South End Zone complex.
• PowerMizzou: Mitchell & Gabe are back with a new 573 Report, chatting with TE coach, Casey Woods.
• ABC17: Andrew Kauffman reported on local Helias standout, Damon Johanns, committed to the Tigers on Tuesday.
• FootballScoop: According to Doug Samuels, Missouri is adding a former Auburn staffer Brett Whiteside to serve as Drink’s chief recruiting officer. The news comes after former staffer Jake Breske announced his plans to follow Joe Heupel to Tennessee.
• For all you gamers out there, and I’m guessing there are a lot of you as my Twitter feed was VERY excited about this news— EA Sports is bringing back NCAA Football. The last version of the popular game was last released 8 years ago and has been shelved since because of that whole pesky “name, image, & likeness” issue. You know, that thing where athletes should be compensated for having their personas used in a video game...

Hoops

• Columbia Tribune: Eric Blum wrote what fans need to know as Mizzou faces Kentucky on Wednesday evening, and in his new Tiger Extra, he updates where the Tigers find themselves in a bunch of versions of Bracketology.
• Souichi Terada wrote that in a strange role reversal, Missouri finds itself with the upper hand against a struggling Kentucky squad.
• PowerMizzou: Mitchell Forde wrote that Mizzou is looking to tighten up their defense (please?) before their date with Kentucky, and Gabe posted the Zoom video of coach Marco Harris-Stevens’ meeting with the media.
• Columbia-Missourian: Joel Lorenzi wrote a great piece about Rosburg’s experience with Kentucky (in 2015), and how this year’s squad comes in with an edge.
• Read the storylines leading up to Mizzou’s date with Kentucky on MUTigers.com.
• Don’t forget about Women’s Hoops, who will also face a ranked Arkansas team tomorrow at home, and play Auburn on Sunday!

• Hey, we know that guy!!

Other Mizzou Sports

• Congrats to soccer coach, Bryan Blitz, who was officially inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, according to MUTigers.com. Blitz holds a record of 252-214-38 record with the Tigers and an overall record of 297-258-46. He is the only coach the Tigers have had.
• Great news for Joshua Taylor’s volleyball squad, as they move up in the rankings to No. 16 in the new AVCA poll AND Kylie Deberg was named Week 7 SEC Overall & Offensive Player of the Week for her 20-plus kills against LSU over the weekend (MUTigers.com).

• Mizzou Softball finds themselves ranked in the Softball America preseason rankings. You love to see it!

• Opening Day for Mizzou Baseball is just 17 days away! Reid Glenn of the Missourian covered the unveiling of their rival-heavy schedule.

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