I have to be honest, as a die-hard fan since I was basically still eligible for abortion I have found myself developing more of an inferiority complex each passing year. Sports are fun, an unparalleled form of entertainment in my eyes and many of the best days of my life have involved sports in some fashion.
I feel like my grasp on expecting Missouri to achieve at the highest level in men's basketball and football has waned greatly over the past 10 years. '07 football and '08/'09 basketball gave us a small taste of what could be and it was exhilarating to be a part of those situations as well as a few since then (2010 football win over OU, 2012 basketball regular season, SEC East football titles).
Just looking around at March Madness, however, makes it difficult. In KC, we get to watch ku fans celebrate their way to another Final 4 despite this being one of their "worst" teams in recent memory. Kansas State reached their second Elite 8 since Mizzou last made one and I no longer blame those fans that just don't believe it's in the cards for us. Now, I think a lot of March is luck and matchups, which leaves the door open for a magical run some day, but before this season alone, people were talking about a top 4 tournament seed, best player in the country, top recruiting class, etc. Of course, that was not to be and despite a tremendous coaching job by Cuonzo and more excitement added to the program, I don't feel we can expect NCAA second weekend runs next year or anything like that.
So where are we as an athletics institution currently? A 7-5 type fringe bowl team in football, maybe a solid tournament 8-seed type team in basketball (with room for improvement depending on recruiting).
I feel like my grasp on expecting Missouri to achieve at the highest level in men's basketball and football has waned greatly over the past 10 years. '07 football and '08/'09 basketball gave us a small taste of what could be and it was exhilarating to be a part of those situations as well as a few since then (2010 football win over OU, 2012 basketball regular season, SEC East football titles).
Just looking around at March Madness, however, makes it difficult. In KC, we get to watch ku fans celebrate their way to another Final 4 despite this being one of their "worst" teams in recent memory. Kansas State reached their second Elite 8 since Mizzou last made one and I no longer blame those fans that just don't believe it's in the cards for us. Now, I think a lot of March is luck and matchups, which leaves the door open for a magical run some day, but before this season alone, people were talking about a top 4 tournament seed, best player in the country, top recruiting class, etc. Of course, that was not to be and despite a tremendous coaching job by Cuonzo and more excitement added to the program, I don't feel we can expect NCAA second weekend runs next year or anything like that.
So where are we as an athletics institution currently? A 7-5 type fringe bowl team in football, maybe a solid tournament 8-seed type team in basketball (with room for improvement depending on recruiting).
