The Morning Commute for Wednesday, April 9th
Welcome to the Morning Commute
Today we’re talking about March Madness.
I’m coming at this one without the benefit of hard data, so bear with me if my perception isn’t backed by proof, but now that the NCAA Tournament has concluded, I thought it was one of the better ones in recent years, despite the lack of upsets.
I don’t know how many games would have been considered upsets over the course of the last three weeks, but it sure seemed like the number was low compared to previous years.
Me, personally, I’m a chalk guy when it comes to picking my brackets and it usually comes back to bite me when I pick all four #1 seeds to make the Final Four, and three of them are bounced by the Sweet 16. This year was much different, obviously, with all four #1 seeds reaching the Final Four (for only the second time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985).
I did much better in the pools I entered – not good enough to win, mind you – but at least I looked like less of a dunce than I do most years.
I would also venture that the lack of rampant upsets led to a higher-quality batch of games overall. Yes, the upsets in the first round or two are always thrilling to watch. The downside of that is typically, the Cinderella team gets slaughtered in the next round, as their 15 minutes of fame comes crashing down.
Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy seeing David knee cap Goliath just like everyone, but you can’t argue about the quality of the games we saw in the Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four – those were some well-played, high-level games that truly delivered.
What were your thoughts on how the tournament played out?
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
Drinkwitz on the upcoming season: “The challenge for us is we want to do something that’s never been done before at the University of Missouri, and that’s win an SEC championship, participate in the playoff, and/or be the first time in school history to have three 10+ win seasons in a row. That’s a challenge that’s going to be hard, but we embrace it. We embrace the chase, embrace the opportunity to do something that’s never been done before.”
Drink also gave some insight into the highly-anticipated quarterback race between Sam Horn and Beau Pribula, but you’ll have to read Matthew’s piece to see what was said!
You could argue that the one position that has held Missouri back from extended runs at double digit win seasons and contention for conference championships over the past 30-ish years is the cornerback position. It’s also a potential reason why Eli Drinkwitz is starting to see long-term defensive success in his four-year tenure. He’s already had three corners drafted (Evans, Abrams-Draine, Rakestraw) and while this year probably won’t see that happen, exceeding Missouri’s output of draftable corners of the past 30 years in a mere four years is obvious improvement…
The wave of highly-regarded corners has been really impressive under Drink and company, and Nate is spot on that having pro-level defenders on the back end has been an underrated key to Mizzou’s defensive improvement the past few seasons…
- The Tiger baseball team won a wild one Tuesday night at SIUE, claiming a 11-8 road win despite committing eight errors, as Matthew Gustafson recapped. The news from the previous weekend was bleak, as the rebuilding team took its lumps in a series sweep at the hands of the #2-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. Matthew Gustafson had the rundown…
Mizzou Baseball remains winless 12 games into SEC play, losing all three matchups against Arkansas this weekend in Fayetteville. The losing streak, which was already the longest to begin conference play in program history after getting swept by Texas two weeks ago, was extended with three double-digit losses to the second-ranked Razorbacks in Fayetteville…
Not much insight to add here other than you hope the coaches and kids can find something soon to get some positive momentum going to take them into the off-season…
Judd’s departure marks the first big loss for Mizzou since Kellie Harper was hired as head coach on March 18…
Departures are common place after a coaching change, even if the previous regime left due to lack of success. Judd has only one year of eligibility left, so as long as Harper’s staff can replace her production, then it won’t prove to be a crushing blow…
The first commit of the Kellie Harper era comes straight from the SEC, bringing in junior point guard Saniah Tyler from Kentucky, according to Talia Goodman. The St. Louis native played three years for the Wildcats, playing in 67 games while starting 13. Her most impactful year was as a sophomore, when she averaged 10.6 points on a struggling Kentucky team…
Welcome home, Ms. Tyler. May you be the first of many ballers to join the program!…
Dennis Gates and the Missouri Tigers were active on early Monday morning, landing UCLA guard Sebastian Mack. Seth Davis calls Sebastian Mack to Mizzou a “perfect fit.”
Mizzou was tortured by Texas pitchers all weekend, swinging and missing like MU’s Sophie Smith here. UT pitcher Teagan Kavan no-hit Mizzou in the first game of the series and struck out 11 of the 17 batters she faced…
What’s old is new once again, as Harper continues to fill her staff with those she’s worked with before. In this case, it’s Haley Hall, who will rejoin her staff after spending three seasons with her at Tennessee, where she served as a program director for two years before being elevated to assistant director of operations. She will be in charge of such things as travel arrangements, the coaching staff’s schedule, expense reports, etc. You know…. all the super fun day-to-day type of tasks…
- Over at Rock M+, lots of talk about the men’s hoops transfer get along with a look at returning production for next season, and on the football side there was discussion about upcoming recruiting visits…
Rock M Radio: Before the Box Score talks football transfers!
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