Mizzou Football is getting some love

On Tuesday, the USA Today preseason coaches poll was released — and it’s just another signal that the College Football season is right around the corner. Missouri didn’t go completely unnoticed, as the Tigers drew eight receiving votes — 16 spots outside of the Top 25, essentially ranked as the 41st team in the country. According to the preseason poll, the Tigers will play No. 6 Texas A&M (October 16th), at No. 5 Georgia (November 6th), and No. 11 Florida (November 20th) on their schedule.

Stay tuned for Monday as the AP Preseason Poll will be announced.

Even though Missouri will still be well outside the Top 25 to start the season, they are starting to get some national attention from media outlets.

• Nick Kosko of 247Sports says to not underestimate Missouri in 2021. “They’re sure to be a team to watch for when monitoring upset alerts in the SEC and in College Football in general,” says Kosko.

Here’s the full video:

• And from Austin Gayle of Pro Football Focus, Missouri comes in as one of his five most underrated teams in College Football this season:

Back from August 3rd, check out PFF’s Anthony Treash’s five most underrated teams entering the 2021 College Football season (which also includes Mizzou, and why they’re being slept on).

Bottom Line: “Connor Bazelak can get Mizzou back to a bowl in 2021. The quality of that bowl game, though, depends on the performance of Mookie Cooper, Akayleb Evans and the other inexperienced wide receivers and cornerbacks.”

• Tom VanHaaren of ESPN also put together a piece of College Football’s Top 50 newcomers. Guess who comes in at No. 20? That would be Mookie Cooper!

“Cooper hasn’t played football in two years because he wasn’t eligible for his senior season of high school and he didn’t play as a true freshman for Ohio State. His junior year of high school, Cooper had 12 receiving touchdowns and was the No. 113 prospect overall in the 2020 class. He will be a playmaker for Missouri and gives the offense something it didn’t have at receiver. Despite lacking experience, Cooper has the talent to make a big impact.”

That’s some high praise for Mookie, as the expectations are starting to rise for the Ohio State transfer.

A final note here from Jon Rothstein.....so we’re starting the season in football AND basketball against Central Michigan, huh? Cool!

M-I-Z! Onto the links!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Veteran pass rushers lead the way for a defensive line set on improvement, writes Parker Gillam
• From Kortay Vincent: Meet the New Guys: Edge Rushers Edition
• COMING UP: Stay tuned for Brandon Kiley’s thoughts/analysis of Desiree Reed-Francois’ press conference

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More Links:

(STLToday)

• On the latest Eye on The Tigers podcast, Dave Matter and Ben Frederickson discuss what the college sports world is saying about Mizzou’s hire of Desiree Reed-Francois. Give it a listen!
• Reed-Francois arrives as Mizzou’s “visionary” leader of the future, writes Dave Matter
• From Dave Matter: Mizzou’s ‘business as usual’ ends with Reed-Francois’ arrival
• From Benjamin Hochman: Inspired by a former St. Louis U. Athletic Director, new Mizzou AD Reed-Francois will inspire others

(KC Star)

• On the latest SportsBeat KC with Blair Kerkhoff: Introducing Mizzou’s new Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois
• New Mizzou Tigers AD Desiree Reed-Francois was on campus two months ago, and Blair Kerkhoff tells us why

(Columbia Missourian)

• Anthony Kristensen has the coverage of the press conference: Reed-Francois introduced as new Missouri Athletic Director
• Smith, Tilmon playing in NBA Summer League, writes Anthony Kristensen
• Family and football go hand-in-hand for Reed-Francois, writes Calum McAndrew
• From Anthony Kristensen: Mizzou Women’s Basketball’s Mama Dembele had five points, two rebounds, and one assist in 10 minutes as Spain beat Japan 71-64 to reach the U19 FIBA Women’s World Cup

(Columbia Daily Tribune)

• (For subscribers): How Mizzou fast-tracked the hire of its new Athletic Director, writes Eric Blum

(Miscellaneous/Tweets)

• Quote of the day...from Desiree Reed-Francois’ press conference!

• A new era of Mizzou Athletics is officially underway...Welcome, DRF!

• (Both Jeremiah Tilmon and Dru Smith did not play in the Magic and Heat’s NBA Summer League games on Wednesday. Boo!) Tilmon and the Magic’s next scheduled game is against the Celtics tonight on ESPN2. For Dru Smith and the Heat will be Friday vs the Jazz on ESPNU.
• Steve Bieser is impressively hitting the transfer market so far this offseason. Nander De Sedas (Florida State), Carter Rustad (San Diego), and now....Fox Leum (Coastal Carolina)

• More Mizzou Baseball: Mason Schirmer, a left-handed pitcher and first basemen from Vianney High School (from the class of 2025!) has announced his commitment to Mizzou:

• Mizzou Basketball information: Walk-on tryouts will be held on August 26-27

• Great thread to read here from Mizzou great Karissa Schweizer. Check it out!

• Yes he was!

• DRF with Coach Pinkel!

• And here’s Robin Pingeton with Truman!

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