Earlier this week, temps in CoMo plummeted, almost like the town had just fast-forwarded right to winter. As I walked through campus in my Mizzou fleece and gloves, I second-guessed my decision to partake in the weekend’s festivities where I’d undoubtedly freeze my ass off.

But, my midwestern friends, if Mother Nature has taught us anything, it’s that she’s wildly chaotic and cannot be trusted. Not only will we not be freezing our asses off at the game, but we’ll be sweating to death instead. Didn’t you know? It’s summer… in late October.

SIGH.

Anyway, while it will be unseasonably and ridiculously warm this weekend, Thursday was gorgeous outside, as witnessed by this lovely photo I took as I left my office. There’s nothing quite like Homecoming in CoMo, is there? I hope many of you will be able to make it into town to enjoy it.

Karen Steger photo

On deck this weekend, Mizzou Athletics has a full slate of events, including a Fall Ball double header at Mizzou Softball Stadium tonight at 5pm & 7:30pm. Watch your favorite Tiger softballers take the field against Missouri Southern State and Central Methodist. Larissa has been doing a great job of giving everyone, including her NINE pitchers, ample opportunities to prove their skills.

Then on Saturday, after the parade and Tiger Walk, wander over to Mizzou Arena where you can watch an open Men’s Hoops practice from 12:30-1:45pm.

And finally, finish your Saturday of athletic wonderment by taking in the Tigers’ matchup with Vanderbilt at Faurot, where they’ll fight to not be the worst team in the SEC. Ahead of the game, Tiger fans got some injury updates, and it’s good news! Furthermore, Dave Matter reported Luther Burden and Dominic Lovett are “full speed, ready to go.”

On to the Links!

Come see these guys in practice!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• You can tell how Nate feels about the new uni combo by this subhead: The Missouri football equipment managers had a decision to make on what the team would wear, and they certainly made a decision
• In a new SEC preview, Sam tells us Jerry Stackhouse has had some tough sledding at Vanderbilt
• Jackson wrote, As Missouri prepares to take on its second half of the season, these three youths could receive larger roles
• Matt Watkins continued his player previews with.... TRE GOMILLION.
• BK’s new Rock M Nation Reacts posts answers the question, What does Mizzou need to do down the stretch to reach its postseason potential?
• Coming up: A new Hoops Q&A, Pregamin, a new SEC preview, a wrestling piece…. And MORE. SO MUCH MORE.

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More Links:

Football

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read the transcript from Matter’s Thursday (subscriber) chat | Under Clark Lea’s watch, Vanderbilt football carries lengthy SEC losing streak to Mizzou (Matter) |
• PowerMizzou/Rivals: Recruiting Reset: Defensive Backs (Sean Williams) | Notebook: First Down struggles, stop and start run game (Jarod Hamilton)
• Columbia Tribune: Jack Stonehouse makes his own name at Mizzou (Matt Stahl) | Can Mizzou cover the spread vs. Vandy as two-touchdown favorite? (Stahl) | Three things to know about Vanderbilt, Missouri’s Homecoming opponent (Stahl)
• Columbia Missourian: Missouri’s Burden, Lovett probable for Saturday against Vanderbilt (Kenny Van Doren)
• I’m left to wonder, do I like Lane Kiffin now? He is pretty amusing.
• Nice defensive stats, fellas! Give that Blake Baker a raise!

Hoops

• PowerMizzou/Rivals: Four takeaways from Missouri’s appearance at SEC MBB Media Day (Drew King) | Five-star Asa Newell updates his recruitment (Travis Graf) | Gates setting high expectations for himself, Tigers (King)
• Relive the fun from SEC Media Days!

• In things you LOVE to see, a crowded preseason event in StL with Coach Gates! Bring on the increased attendance!

• Matt Watkins’ love of Isiaih Mosley knows no bounds. (side note: the GIF exchange between the two Matts on this twitter thread is hilarious if you want to check it out)

• Per The Athletic ($), SEC commissioner Greg Sankey wants NCAA Tournament expansion. Not all of his coaches agree
• More love for Isiaih, courtesy of The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie. (Of course Watkins commented on the post, lol)

Other Mizzou Sports

• Volleyball is back out on the road this weekend, facing a team they have had a good amount of success against historically— the Ole Miss Rebels. Per MUTigers.com, action Friday is set for 7pm on the SEC Network, while first serve Saturday is slated for 4pm on SEC+. While Missouri holds the all-time series lead over Ole Miss, 17-8, they did drop the previous two matches in the fall. Prior to that, they’d won 10-of-13.
• Gymnastics: I agree, Minions. I AGREE. Also, where were you guys when I needed to borrow your jacket this week?

UPDATE (Friday AM): We have a schedule.

• Baseball: A fun night out for Bieser’s squad—

• Congrats to Antonio Safa, who earned SEC Freshman of the Week for his help in leading the Men’s Golf team at the Quail Valley Collegiate Championship (their final fall competition). Per MUTigers.com, in a very competitive field, Safa placed fifth overall with a 13-under par score of 203.

His 203 total is tied for the lowest tournament score by a Tiger this season and the 11th-best mark in the program’s record book. Overall, Safa carded 16 birdies and his first collegiate eagle during the event, while improving his score in each round in Florida (69-68-66).

Soccer

• Women’s Soccer used their stingy defense to keep the Kentucky Wildcats from taking Mizzou’s final home (Pink out!) game. Per MUTigers.com, it wasn’t until the 41st minute til Kentucky got on the board with a penalty kick, and while the Tigers tried like hell to get a shot in the goal, each of their five shots, including three by freshman Hannah Boughton, missed. In the 81st minute, however, with just 9 minutes of gameplay remaining, freshman Kylee Simmons tapped the ball to sophomore Kylie Dobbs, who scored. In the final 6 minutes, UK & MU combined for four shots on goal to go along with two Mizzou corners (in the final 2 mins), but the scored remained locked up.

Want to check out the stats? Click here for the complete ones, courtesy of statbroadcast.

Per Statbroadcast

Looks like a former Tiger, Sarah Luebbert of NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars, was in attendance!

Hodgepodge

• On the Mizzou Hoops NBA docket, none of our guys were in action on Thursday, but all three teams will play tonight: Dru Smith’s Miami Heat takes on the Boston Celtics at 6:30pm on ESPN. Jordan Clarkson’s Utah Jazz takes on the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7pm, and MPJ’s Denver Nuggets takes on the Fightin Draymond Greens Golden State Warriors at 9pm on ESPN.

Want to know how they all fared in their previous game? Check out Sammy’s links.

• Cool Facts by Dennis. This man is a walking information booth. Love it.

• If you are a voter in the state of Missouri, things are going to be WACKY on Tuesday, November 8. And by wacky, I mean terrible. Because of possible spiders, I’ll just let you click on my tweet [screams into oblivion]

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