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1) I'm not going to make the same mistake I made last Monday and think today will be a slow day. I did that a week ago and by noon Mizzou needed a new Director of Athletics. If you care enough to read this, I assume you know by now that Desiree Reed-Francois is off to Arizona (she'll officially start on Sunday).
The main question for Mizzou fans is the same as it was a week ago: Why?
At this point, we don't know for sure. Reed-Francois did her introductory press conference in Tucson and talked about coming home and how Arizona was there for her at a difficult time in her life (she was in law school when her brother, Roman, was paralyzed in a junior college football game). And I'm sure that's true. But it doesn't seem like a reason you take a step back in your career. Likewise, some of the things we've talked about at Mizzou don't seem like reasons to walk away. Yes, there may have been some friction over the contract extension for Eli Drinkwitz in 2022 (there was none over the one in 2023). And maybe the relationship between the football coach and the AD wasn't all sunshines and roses. But is that a reason to take a job at a debt-riddled school in a subpar conference? Sure, there's the recently formed Curator oversight committee on athletic spending. But Arizona is planning similar things.
The buildup and non-delivery on a master facilities plan in October and November was odd. Sources have told us there was friction over the release of numbers that showed the athletic department making a $1 profit when that happened largely because of a multimillion dollar loan from campus. But, again, are these reasons to walk away from a better job than the one for which you're leaving?
Maybe one of these things was just too much for Reed-Francois. Maybe they all piled up until the total weight was just beyond her tolerance. And maybe there were things going on that we don't yet know. If I'm a betting man, there were. Will they eventually come to light? Maybe. I hope so. Because right now, it looks like the second time in a decade Mizzou has lost an athletic director to a job that is, by all appearances, worse. And that's not a great look.
2) The other question everyone still wants to know is who's next? We published a list of names we've heard (and a few others that would make sense in The Chamber on Friday. There's been nothing to change our thoughts on that list since. We don't expect this to be a particularly expedited process. A source told us the word around Mizzou is that a new AD will be in place by the time spring break starts. That's March 23, which is still nearly four weeks away. We wouldn't think it will take that long. The span from Jim Sterk's resignation to Reed-Francois' hiring was just 13 days. It's possible something happens by the end of this week, but we think it likely takes just a little bit longer. However long it lasts, we'll be following and will provide updates as we can.
3) At least the AD search gave us something to talk about besides basketball. It's not going particularly well in Columbia. The men lost to Tennessee and Arkansas and have now lost 14 consecutive games for the first time in school history. Not exactly the record you start the season hoping to break. They're now 8-19, 0-14 with four regular season games to go. The women lost at Arkansas and Florida to fall to 11-15, 2-11 with three games to play in the regular season, beginning tonight against Ole Miss. The two programs have combined to win just 19 games. The women's program joined NCAA play in 1981-82. The fewest combined wins for the men and women in that period of time is 24 (the men won 15 and the women 9 in 2019-20). With just nine guaranteed games left, the teams need to combine for six wins to avoid the worst collective basketball season since women's basketball became a thing. It seems unlikely.
4) On the diamond, it was a good, not great week for Mizzou. Softball went 3-2 at the Mary Nutter Classic in California. The Tigers entered the week undefeated and ranked 11/13 in the country. They're still 13-2 and will be in the top 20 when the poll is released early this week, but they won't go undefeated. The Tigers are back in action with doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday at the Big Red Classic in Lincoln, NE. They'll play Nebraska and Wichita State both days.
On the baseball side, Missouri sits 4-3 overall after a 2-2 weekend at the Tony Gwynn Legacy tournament in San Diego. Mizzou beat UC-Bakersfield, lost to San Diego State and then split two with UC-San Diego. They're home this week, opening Tuesday night against SEMO on a potentially record-warm day in Columbia. They'll then host Northern Kentucky for three games over the weekend. This is the part of the schedule Mizzou needs to start racking up wins. Asking for an NCAA Tournament in Kerrick Jackson's first season might be unrealistic, but it should always be the goal. If Mizzou wants to head into the brutally tough Southeastern Conference with a chance, it needs to pad the win total in the non-conference season.
5) Championship season is nearing for what have been Mizzou's two best programs in recent years. The wrestling team wrapped up the regular season getting thumped by Iowa State 41-3 in Ames on Sunday. Mizzou is battling major health issues and lost four of its last six dual matches. The Tigers started last week at No. 7 in the country, but will slide after losses to the Cyclones and Northern Iowa by a combined score of 72-9. They have nearly two full weeks to get healthy for the Big 12 Championships in Tulsa on March 9-10 and the NCAA Championships in Kansas City on March 21-23.
Gymnastics is ranked 13th after a narrow loss to Auburn on Friday night. The Tigers will wrap the SEC regular season with a home match against Arkansas on Sunday before quad meets the next two Sundays in Columbia and Champaign, Il. The SEC championships are less than a month away on March 22-23 and NCAA Regionals open on April 3.
6) The most anticipated event of the spring for Mizzou fans begins on Tuesday. That's when the Tigers will open spring football with the Black and Gold game set for March 16. You can see the full schedule here. This is my annual disclaimer that we're not really going to learn anything over the next few weeks. It's a good chance to get a look at the transfers and early enrollees, but we probably won't see much actual live football. They may release a depth chart, but it doesn't mean anything. Eli Drinkwitz is more honest than most coaches about spring ball. It's used for individual development and team building, but the decisions that impact the season don't get made until fall camp in August. But we'll be there to cover it all beginning with Drink's press conference at 1:30 this afternoon. We'll talk to coordinators Corey Batoon, Kirby Moore and Erik Link tomorrow.
