Another College Game Day is here, and we’re all trying to figure out which Tiger team is going to show up today?

A week ago today Missouri took down a top 20 ranked basketball team in the Alabama Crimson Tide. It was their best offensive performance in years. It was a surprising performance. Then a few days later they trekked to Fayetteville and were down 34 points at halftime in what was probably their worst game of the year.

Mizzou has played really really poorly often this year. They’ve played well a lot less often. I don’t know what the Athletic Director is thinking in terms of Cuonzo Martin’s job security but I doubt he’s on very firm ground these days. Ben Frederickson made his case for giving Martin more time in a column for STLtoday.com, in it he said:

Whether you judge by Final Four banners hanging in the rafters, dollars the athletics department pumps into its basketball budget, number of tickets sold, turnstiles turned, or cash handed over from supporters for name, image and likeness deals that have become crucial in recruiting these days, there are some non-coaching factors currently limiting Mizzou no matter who is on the sidelines.

Coming up with $6 million could be done. Investing it in better ways to improve the program than a buyout would be wise.

Spending money instead on closing the gaps, and giving the coach who signed on at the worst of times a shot at a make-or-break season in 2022-23 seems to me like the right direction to lean, since we are picking sides early.

I still haven't picked a side here, though I might be leaning one direction I try not to completely reveal it. But I don’t consider myself in any camp other than the one that says “don’t make any moves until the end of the season.” Mostly because of BenFred’s last line: “More 20-plus point losses will make my side feel pretty lonely.”

Aye there’s the rub. Each game is a new audition, but with each game we’re given more data points. The evidence so far doesn’t add up to a positive result. But there is a lot more information required still. The promise of this season was a straight forward one: Growth. If there are no more 20 point losses, and 3-6 more wins then I’d have a very different taken that 3-6 more 20 point losses and no more wins.

There are even more important data points which can govern a decision, like how happy are the key players you need to bring back versus the guys who aren’t helping? How easy will it be to turn over key spots, and keep others.

The answer isn’t clear right now, but that’s fine. There are 15 games behind us, and 15 in front of us. Cuonzo and his team have just as much time to change minds as they did burn capital. Today is 1/15 and it’s one of 15.

Missouri-Texas A&M Basketball: Time, Location

TIME: 2:30 p.m. CT

DATE: Saturday, January 8, 2022

LOCATION: Mizzou Arena; Columbia, MO.

Missouri-Texas A&M Basketball: Follow the game, TV Channel

TELEVISION: SEC Network

STREAM: WatchESPN

RADIO: Tiger Radio Network

TWITTER: @MizzouHoops

FACEBOOK: Mizzou Men’s Basketball

ESPN+: ROCKMNATION

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Missouri-Texas A&M Basketball: Betting odds, predictions

As of Friday evening, Missouri is a 13.5-point underdog to Alabama, according to DraftKing’s Sportsbook. The total points (over/under) is 148.

KenPom predicts...

Texas A&M 72, Missouri 66 | The Aggies are playing with a lot of swagger due to their 14-2 start, but they’re softer than they appear — they struggled to put Georgia away in Athens despite the Bulldogs being outside the KenPom top 200. Missouri knows it can dispatch much better teams on their home court, so playing with confidence (despite the disastrous trip to Fayetteville) shouldn’t be an issue. What will be an issue, however, is the continued lack of any real scoring threat. Unless the Tigers find the juice they did last weekend against Bama, they’ll find it difficult to find meaningful opportunities against a stingy, aggressive A&M defense.

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