I'd just like to point out that it's only about 63 hours to kickoff...
- Stop me if you've heard this one before: Mizzou Volleyball jumped out to take the first two games at Colorado last night (live on Fox Sports Midwest!), looking unbelievable in the process. They then proceeded to let up and lose the next two games before regaining their footing and pulling things out in Game 5. That's the third time in Big 12 play that they've blown a 2-0 lead (the fourth time this season), and the second time they've gone ahead and won anyway. The big news in the 30-20, 30-19, 26-30, 28-30, 15-9 win was that freshman Weiwen "Wendy" Wang had one of the best matches I've ever seen from a Tiger: 19 kills (0 errors!), a .559 kill %, and a Mizzou record 12 blocks. That's sick! Since moving to middle blocker (where she's undersized at 6'0, but makes up for it with a Jamonte Robinson-like wingspan), she's really taken off. Her play, combined with the efforts of Megan Wilson and Catie Wilson, has allowed the Tigers to begin to move on from the loss of Julianna Klein. Mizzou is now 2-4 in Big 12 play (they've won two in a row), and they get lowly Texas Tech at Hearnes, 2pm on Saturday.
- According to mutigers.com, W.I.N. Magazine has Mizzou Wrestling #6 in the nation in their preseason poll. Not bad considering they'll be replacing their best wrestler of all-time. A VERY strong recruiting class comes in, and.......yeah, I'm treading on The Beef's territory here. I'll just say they're going to be really good.
- It's "Cut to the Chase" time once again! Woohoo!
- We've got a fun disagreement between our two main recruiting services. Inside Mizzou says "Tigers Play Down Importance of Nebraska Game", while PowerMizzou says "Yes, Tigers Admit, It's a Big Game." Good times. They're both right, by the way...it is a SUPER-important game, but it's going to take more than one big win to win the North this year.
- And while we're linking on PM, Gabe says Mizzou has an opportunity to "catch" Nebraska Saturday. He makes a good point, though tradition and history still matter...and as long as NU is doing just well enough to continue selling out that giant stadium of theirs, they've probably got a 'bigger' program than we do.
- And while we're linking to IM, here's a Nebraska Scout.com article talking about NU's preparations for handling Mizzou.
- Dave Matter has a nice feature on Tony Temple's development from moody and inconsistent to...well, not moody and inconsistent. Matter also goes "Inside the Numbers" on Nebraska.
- Mike Dearmond features Van Alexander, making his first Big 12 start on Saturday after a couple of injury-plagued seasons. My 'Beyond the Box Score' pieces really don't like Van very much...here's to hoping he has a career game Saturday.
- Vahe Gregorian, fresh off a nice Chase Daniel piece, decided he needs to be fair and balanced, I guess. Here's his piece on Sam Keller. Meanwhile, Graham Watson takes a look at the Mizzou offense and its week-to-week wrinkles.
- Finally, Pinkel says, "No rushing the field!" I agree with him. You don't rush the field for beating a team ranked lower than you.
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