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1. Good week for Barry Odom. The Tigers landed three prospects last week. They got commitments from Antonio Doyle, Ray Curry and Dominique Johnson. The Doyle commitment is the headliner because he's a four-star and an in-state kid. Some of the offer lists we see are dubious, but every indication we have is that the vast majority of Doyle's offers were committable right now. Based on what we've seen on the A&M and Oklahoma boards, both of those schools would have taken him and were caught off guard by his commitment to Missouri. This is the exact type of thing that Missouri fans have believed the Tigers' staff wasn't very good at lately: Making up ground on better programs for highly ranked kids. That's a win any way you slice it. As I posted yesterday, I asked Doyle if he was shutting down his recruitment or if he was still planning to take visits. He told me he was shutting it down. His next official was supposed to be in two weeks to Texas A&M. Now, obviously, there's no guarantee he won't take that trip, but at least right now, he's saying he won't.
2. Mizzou now has seven commitments and Doyle was the first defensive commit. We are projecting a 23-man class (give or take a couple of spots obviously). We think there's going to be another quarterback, another running back, an offensive lineman or two and a couple of receivers. That leaves about ten more spots for defense. Probably one more linebacker, four or five defensive linemen, three or four defensive backs. Those numbers probably aren't exact and are flexible, but they're a good guideline. For an idea who the Tigers are targeting, check out our Perfect Class story from last week.
3. Everybody's into projections. Missouri takes the stage at SEC Media Days exactly five weeks from today. So, what the hell? I'll take my first stab at predicting the schedule. This will change and I'll get more into analyzing it later on, but this is just my first blush gut reaction:
@ Wyoming W
vs West Virginia W
vs SEMO W
vs South Carolina L
vs Troy W
vs Ole Miss W
@ Vanderbilt W
@ Kentucky W
@ Georgia L
vs Florida L
vs Tennessee W
@ Arkansas W
That comes out to 9-3.There always tends to be a week that a team is a little bit off and gets beat. I'm projecting that as the South Carolina game. I think the Tigers are a better team than the Gamecocks, but there's almost always an upset somewhere. So that's why I picked a loss there. I just can't in good conscience pick this team to start 8-0...although it wouldn't shock me.
4. Robin Pingeton is either psychic or knew something when I talked to her. Here's what she said when I asked her the biggest challenge of coaching:
"The (transfer) portal. It's just the unknown. It just, it's just changed. It's like a free market now. To me, commitment's commitment and then you get through the ups and downs and, now if it's not a good, healthy environment, that feels different to me, but it's hard to predict what is going to flip the switch on what day for different kids."
Two days later, we found out Akira Levy was transferring. Akira told Dave Matter she wanted to play in a faster system. We'll take her at her word. Sure, it hurts to lose someone you didn't think you were going to lose, especially someone who showed the promise Levy did (she was a huge reason the Tigers won at Mississippi State and came up big in a couple of other games). But it happens everywhere. You just move on. The hope in the program is that Aijha Blackwell coming in minimizes this loss. But it is a loss without question.
5. Game sevens are both the best and the worst things in sports. I know Blues fans would have preferred we didn't get to this point. But we now know there is only one hockey game left in the season, regardless of who wins it. When you're not really invested in who wins, a decisive game in the championship round is the most exciting thing in sports. When you are invested, it's either the best thing or the worst thing. There is no in between. I've said that I think I know how Blues fans feel during this run because I was in the same place in 2014. Midway through that season, there was more talk that the Royals should fire everyone than that they'd be playing for a championship. The Blues were in the same spot...and actually did fire the coach. Now you're one game away from something you've never experienced (some Royals fans had experienced a title, but a lot hadn't). I was in the stadium for Game 7 in 2014. And while it was soul-crushing to lose it, I appreciated even in the moment that they'd gotten there. Now, that's easier to say because they went on to win one the next year. I'd encourage Blues fans to appreciate that you've gotten to take this ride, regardless of what happens in Game 7. That said, opportunities to win don't come along that often (unless you root for teams from Boston). There's no guarantee you'll get back. So getting this close, you sure hope your team goes ahead and gets it done.
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