ADVERTISEMENT

OFF TOPIC Luka

My son has chosen to be a Dallas Mavericks fan many years ago. I haven’t been to an NBA game in years, no one else in my family ever has been. My family’s Christmas was tonight’s game in Dallas. First of all 60 points 21 boards and 10 assists (I think), as if that’s not ridiculous enough, the end was next level. NY fouled Luca on purpose so he couldn’t shoot a three. We’ve all seen it many times before, but it worked this time for Luca. Make the first free throw, miss the second to try a rebound/put back. I’ll be damned if it didn’t work. The Mavs won in OT. That place was rocking. Now we just need to beat Kentucky for the perfect week of basketball in our household. Well done Mavs!

FOOTBALL Good read on Jamal Roberts

published by the Missourian earlier today. Not expecting him to be an immediate star in the backfield, but definitely excited to have him coming on board.

Annual university research rankings are out, Mizzou now ranks higher than kansas

The annual NSF research rankings are out. These are the official numbers, not the estimates that Mizzou came out with a while back.


Mizzou went up from #88 a couple years ago to #78 last year to #71 this year. Biggest news is that we passed kU. We're now back ahead of kU after having fallen behind them for the past several years.

Looking at the list, the top 50 ranked schools are pretty much all in the AAU. Another 15 or so outside of the top 50 are AAU members. Iowa State, at #77, was recently forced out. So we're not totally safe at #71, but it's getting better. There are several AAU schools ranked behind us, including kU, Oregon, and a few others.

As I discussed a bunch in the other thread, the NextGen Center, the new nuclear facility, the MizzouForward initiative, and other research expansions should see our research numbers up around $500 million within the next 5 to 10 years. Currently it's at around $400 million. $500 million would get us into the mid 50s in the rankings. At that point we'd be ahead of at least a dozen other AAU schools and I don't think we'd be at any risk of getting kicked out. Especially since we're mainly focusing on expanding federal research grants and that's where we're having the most growth, which is what the AAU cares most about. And also, Mizzou is smaller than a lot of the other AAU schools, and they factor in size of school when they evaluate these things. So we should be fine.

Here are the conference rankings:

SEC:

16. Texas A&M
24. Vanderbilt
27. Florida
35. Texas
57. Georgia
64. Kentucky
71. Mizzou
74. Oklahoma
85. Tennessee
91. LSU
97. Mississippi State
100. Auburn
113. South Carolina
140. Arkansas
150. Alabama
158. Ole Miss

A few notes on the SEC.

1) I expect Mizzou to pass Kentucky in the next few years and maybe catch up to Georgia by the end of the decade just based on all the research expansion they have in the works.
2) The top half of the SEC is pretty respectable at this point
3) Oklahoma has actually improved quite a bit. I've read some articles and OU is really trying to get into the AAU. They might just get there eventually.
4) Kentucky is improving too. They could conceivably get into the AAU. And Georgia isn't too far off. The SEC currently has 5 AAU members but it's concievable they could eventually get to 8 even without adding UNC and Virginia.
5) Believe it or not, Alabama is improving. They were dead last and in the 160s last year, and now they've passed Ole Miss and they're catching up to Arkansas. I've read they're trying to turn things around down there.

Here are the rankings of a few other schools of interest:

13. UNC (SEC's top expansion target)
37. Illinois
40. Indiana
48. Virginia (another SEC expansion target)
50. Iowa
52. Colorado
65. SUNY Buffalo (the next AAU school Mizzou could pass on the list)
72. kansas (now behind Mizzou, they are also trying to not get kicked out of the AAU)
77. Iowa State (Mizzou passed them last year, recently got pushed out of the AAU)
87. Nebraska (another school that got kicked out of the AAU)
120. Kansas State
126. Oklahoma State

Basically we need to keep making progress. If we fall down the rankings, we'll almost certainly get kicked out of the AAU. If we keep climbing, we'll be fine. If we go up another 10 to 15 spots, then we're going to be totally safe. Everything that we have in the works right now is designed to do exactly that.

BASKETBALL Dennis Gates media day

excited about the Illinois win, but didn't execute the game plan for 40 minutes. Atmosphere was great, excited about fans that were able to go.

Offers condolences to Demetrious Johnson's family.

On the use of zone defense, has always utilized it at times. Have to be able to stay in position defensively.

Shortened rotation against Illinois. Every game he keeps his mind open, lets the rhythm of the game dictate the rotation. Guys were playing well against Illinois and he let it go.

Stresses the unselfishness it takes to understand that every player is going to have a role at some time during the season even if they're not playing the minutes they want to right now. Cites Ronnie DeGray and how he's come on.

Asked for specifics what he didn't like about Illinois he said they had a few turnovers, out of position on defense at times. Says he's not being overcritical, just being disciplined and detailed. Says a complete game requires 40 minutes.

Thankful for a second straight sellout. The goal is to give them reason to keep coming back.

Oscar Tschiebwe is the national player of the year, he's elite and a great player, his teammates believe in him, he does a great job.

FOOTBALL Grayson McCall injured

Landed awkwardly on his head diving into the end zone for a TD.

Walked off the field without any help but clearly was hurting on sideline.

Questionable to return. Seems like an unwise decision to return.

Hopefully, nothing serious. But, this is why players entering the portal for NIL money or certainly players entering the NFL Draft have to really analyze if the bowl game is worth risking injury.

A Thought on Drink and the Team

I think the problem is that Coach Drink is not an offensive guru. At least not now. I get it, we haven't had an ideal QB situation, the offensive lines i mediocre at best, and we had a big downgrade this year in running backs, but the thing is - when you have a good offensive coordinator, they find ways to be viable even good when there are holes in the team and Coach Drink did not and has not done that.

The good news however is this is fixable. They have vastly improved the defense. They can do the same with the offense. I don't mean waiting for the right QB to emerge, which certainly would help. But Coach Drink has to admit that he's not the guy at this point to run that offense. He needs to bring in a proven offensive coordinator to take over. If he can do that, this team is poised to take off. If he doesn't, then I don't know how much of an improvement we'll see.

BASKETBALL Bracketology

Illinois win moved Mizzou from last of the next 4 out to firmly in. Would be nice to see where they’re at after a win over Kentucky.

Who will be a bigger/costlier bust Watson or Wilson

Both appear to be subpar QBs for their teams right now. Yes, Watson has only played a few games, but he looks terrible, nevertheless.
Wilson and the team are not on the same page. Maybe they'll sync up next year but that $296 million dollar contract doesn't look so good in year one.
I always thought Cleveland messed up bigtime courting Watson (even after he as exposed) but fear breeds desperation which leads to poor decisions. Thus, Cleveland is doomed for the foreseeable future.

Why do some consider Mizzou's 2023 schedule easier?

With all thoughts now moving to next season, many have suggested next year's schedule will be easier. I understand we get USCe, TN and FL at home. Also, I understand we might as well play GA away as the probability of winning that one is always slim no matter the location. However, we exchange a terrible Auburn team for a resurgent LSU and in the non con we now have a competent Memphis team and still have to play a tough KSU team. To me, it seems equal or tougher than this year's schedule. What am I missing?
ADVERTISEMENT

Filter

ADVERTISEMENT