No Top 25 return... yet...

We all need something to strive for.

After recently falling out of the Associated Press Top 25, Mizzou Men’s Hoop’s two wins this past week — a conference road game and a home date against one of basketball’s best teams — seemed likely to put them in, or within sniffing distance of, the AP 25 once more. It turns out this time that the latter was true. The Tigers were the first team outside the Top 25 released on Monday, trailing behind Auburn and the struggling UConn Huskies.

So how do they respond? By beating LSU, of course!

• Don’t want to put Mizzou in the Top 25, AP? Fine. At least Parker Hamann (???) has some Mizzou love in one of his CBB Top 25 lists.

• Mizzou may not have made the Top 25, but Jon Rothstein called them out at No. 37 in his weekly 45 teams of note.
• Jerry Palm at CBS Sports also rates the Tigers highly. High enough, in fact, to get them a bid against a ahem fascinating AQ first-round opponent.
• Jeff Gordon wrote that Missouri held up its end of the bargain in the SEC-Big XII challenge, even if its conference colleagues did not. He also placed the Tigers atop his weekly STL area college power rankings list. We’re number one! We’re number one!

Yesterday at Rock M

• In which Karen takes up the enterprise journalist mantle and examines why it is that the Mizzou Women’s Hoops crowd skews older and, importantly, more passionate
• In which Mizzou jumps squarely back into the NCAA Tournament mix (at least according to Watkins’ numbers)

More Links:

• Ah shoot, I need to update my calendar with the weekly Mizzou regimen. Who should I talk to?

My guy DG always has my back.

• Third downs just won’t be the same anymore. After exhausting his eligibility, Barrett Banister, Mizzou’s charismatic possession receiver of the past few seasons, said his goodbyes through a 2-minute video on Twitter yesterday.

Happy trails, Mr. Banister. We’ll miss you during passing downs.

• ICYMI: Mizzou Alumni will be participating in the The Basketball Tournament this summer, an open application knockout tournament with a jackpot of $1 million. Phil Pressey spoke to TBT about the team he’ll be leading (Team ShowMe) and who will be participating.

• Speaking of Mizzou alumni, Jeremiah Tilmon is back in the... well, not states. Back in the territories? He’s signed with Raptors 905, the Toronto G-League team located in Mississauga, at any rate.
• Nick Bolton’s comments were short and sweet after the Chiefs win over the Bengals on Sunday night.

• Have you been paying attention to Mizzou Gymnastics this winter? If not, better start now because you’re missing out on routines like this. Karen is previewing each matchup and live-tweeting (or live-threading) her way through each competition.

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