I have no words.

I have no words. No words but overwhelming feelings of appreciation for the unbelievable crowd — especially that student section — who showed up on a cold, cold Tuesday night in CoMo to watch Mizzou take on Auburn. It was so loud and so awesome, and it definitely impacted both teams. I can’t recall the last time I saw a sold out student section… Kentucky? Iowa State, circa 2017?

Everyone was there! Women’s Hoops was there. Ennis Rakestraw was there. Jontay, his brothers, and Porter Sr were there. Coach Golan and Mizzou Soccer was there. Coach Coop and some of her golfers were there. Coach Drink was there.

No words but feelings of immense pride for the grit and determination and ABSOLUTE FIGHT we saw from this Mizzou team. A Tigers team who many were ready to leave for dead**.

PowerMizzou, Twitter

**including some who may or may not work for this very site

No words but just a feeling of astonishment over the glory that is Red Panda.

No words for the people who haven’t yet begun to believe in this team. There’s nothing I can say to you (that is able to be printed, anyway) to change your mind.

It was a gut punch, sure, but above all else, I was proud. So so so so so SO @$&+%!= proud of these guys. I don’t care they lost, though of course I wished those final 30ish seconds had worked perfectly and they pulled off the unthinkable. But y’all, this team put everything they had into that game, and almost won the damn thing against the no. 1 team in the country. No one had thought coming in they were going to pull off this upset, and they came thisclose to doing it. So I’m proud. Proud of the fight. The direction they’re going. The way they’re coming together.

One non-basketball thing before we move onto the links, as this was the only thing I was able to type up before the game…

Another day, another Mizzou Softball preseason ranking. All is right in the world. This time it’s for Softball America. Can you believe the season starts in just a few weeks? That reminds me, I really need to get to my preview, huh? For reference, last year they were no. 12.

The Tigers find themselves among a crap-ton of ranked SEC teams. EIGHT teams from the Southeastern Conference are ranked in the preseason. Missouri sits behind Alabama (3), and Florida (6), and ahead of Arkansas (10), LSU (16), Georgia (18), Kentucky (20), and Tennessee (23). Damn... Here’s the link to the poll if you’d like to see it. Click this link to get your season tickets! Only seating on the berm remains.

On to the links!

NOTE: Have I mentioned how much I despise being in charge of the links on late home game days, win or lose. I don’t get home til late and if I’m working that day, like I was on Tuesday, I have absolutely no time to get anything done until I get home late that night. SIGH. It’s 10:30pm and I’m just getting started.

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Lauren and I provided our weekly T-25 rankings analysis, where our Tigers still find themselves on the outside looking in.
• Wrestling writer James, at the request of some of his unknowledgeable Rock M colleagues, shared a Wrestling 101 so that you TOO can become a smarter TigerStyle fan if you’re not already.
• A new Dive Cuts dove into some reviewin’ and previewin’ of what will be called, the Red Panda Game.
• In Josh’s Auburn preview, he said the newly crowned No. 1 team in the country will visit Missouri looking to continue its 15-game win streak.
• Read Parker’s game recap: Mizzou takes Auburn to the wire in tightly contested affair and the corresponding game thread.

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More Links:

Football

• Ty’Ron hopped into the portal. Then he almost immediately hopped out of the portal. And then he hopped back in and visited Missouri, where his cousin, Tyrone Hopper, is now playing. See what I did there?

• Drink sure liked Javon’s three, huh? HAHA.

• Some Mizzou signee movement in the Rivals250…

Hoops

• Recaps of MBB’s game: Mizzou falls just short against No. 1 Auburn (Dave Matter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch). PHOTO GALLERY... I just want to give Javon a hug (Robert Cohen, Colter Peterson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Mizzou takes No. 1 Auburn to the wire but is unable to seal the deal (Lila Bromberg, KC Star). 3 reasons why Mizzou basketball had a chance to upset No. 1 Auburn (Chris Kwiecinksi, Columbia Tribune). MU men’s basketball loses heartbreaker to No. 1 Auburn (Anthony Kristensen, Columbia Missourian). Auburn’s ability to crash the offensive glass difference against Missouri (Matt Brolley, Missourian). Post-Game Report: Mizzou falters late against No. 1 Auburn (Mitchell Forde, PowerMizzou). Post-Game Thoughts thread for subscribers (Gabe DeArmond, PowerMizzou). Tigers take no. 1 Auburn down to the wire (MUTigers.com).
• This came from Gabe’s piece over at PowerMizzou linked above, but I think it’s important to read:

This team is improving. If you don’t admit that, you’re either blind or you just don’t want to see it. They’ve had second half leads against two of the top three and three of the top seven teams in the league in the last ten days. That can’t be ignored. And it shouldn’t be ignored by the people who ultimately will make the decision whether Martin returns next year. Because of that improvement, I think there’s a pretty good chance he does…

There are wins left on this schedule if Missouri continues to play as hard as it has and finds another play or two here and there. I know I’ve been relatively negative tonight and I think the last 35 seconds warrant that, but I also think this last paragraph absolutely needs to be stated.

• Some twitter thoughts from podcast producer, Levi:

• Lila Bromberg, in a cool story for the KC Star, asked: How do you take down No. 1? Norm Stewart reflects on Mizzou Tigers’ 1997 upset over KU.
• When Overtime shares AB love…You really LOVE to see it.

• Mizzou Women’s Hoops x We Back Pat

Other Mizzou Sports

• Watches on repeat. WOW.

• Huge congrats to Track & Field, who set four program top ten marks at Cylcone Open over the weekend, according to MUTigers.com.
• Next up for TigerStyle?

• Happy Meet Week! The Tigers are in the Other Columbia this weekend to face off against the Gamecocks.

Former Mizzou Players in the Wild

• Dru and the SkyForce took on the G-League Clippers on Tuesday and lost, 101-129. Dru started this game, playing 29 minutes and scoring 13 points (5-8, 3-5 from three), to go with 1 REB, 2 AST, and 1 STL. He was -10 on the night.

His other game over the weekend:

Sunday’s loss: 28 minutes (off bench). 7 points (3-8, 0-3 from three), 3 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1 TO, 3 PF, -9

• Tilly and the Magic took on the Bulls on Tuesday, and lost 88-98. In JT’s 19 minutes off the bench (Teske is back and likely taking his starter’s minutes), JT had 12 points on 5-7 shooting, 7 REB, 1 BLK, 2 TO, and 3 PF. He was +2 on the night.

His other game over the weekend:

Saturday’s loss: 14 minutes (bench), 6 points (3-3), 5 REB, 1 AST, 2 TO, 4 PF, -5

• Quin Snyder’s Utah Jazz took on the Suns on Monday and lost, 109-115. Jordan Clarkson played 34 minutes starting, and had 22 points on 9-20 shooting (4-11 from three), with 4 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 4 TO, and 2 PF. He was -5 on the night.

His other recent games:

Sunday’s loss to GSW: 28 minutes (bench), 9 points (3-13, 1-4 from three), 3 REB, 4 AST, 2 TO, 1 PF, +4

• Oh hey, we know him! WELL DESERVED, BOLT!

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