Missouri Tigers news revolves around the football team earning a spot in the Texas Bowl, Josh Heupel departing for UCF, and the basketball team.
The regular season is over for the Mizzou football team, but basketball season is in full swing. The Tigers currently sit at 7-2 on the year after knocking off Miami (OH) on Tuesday evening in Columbia.
After the last three years, the Tigers have already improved mightily. It’s still early in the season obviously and conference play hasn’t even started yet, but there’s definitely a lot to like about this young MU team.
Even with the loss of Michael Porter Jr., there are players stepping up for the Tigers. Kassius Robinson leads the team in points with 114 followed by Jordan Barnett with 99 and Kevin Puryear with 93 (stats before Tuesday’s game against Miami).
As for the football team, things were pretty bleak when the Tigers got off to a 1-5 start. They then rattled off six straight wins to end the year at 7-5 and earn a bid to the Texas Bowl. The Tigers will square off against old Big 12 foe Texas, who finished at 6-6 this season.
The Tigers more than likely will be without their offensive coordinator for the Texas Bowl, as Josh Heupel was named as the new head coach for the University of Central Florida’s football team. Heupel helped turn things around for Drew Lock and it’ll be interesting to see how much this offense changes next year.
The hope was that if Lock did return to Missouri next season that the Tigers could contend for the SEC East. With his offensive coordinator leaving, however, perhaps the junior quarterback will opt to head to the pros? We’ll just have to wait and see.
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South Bound & Down
Mizzou football will face Texas in the Texas Bowl – KC Kingdom
"Drawing Texas in this game also works out well for those Mizzou players that are thinking about the 2018 NFL Draft. Despite no longer being a national power, Texas still draws a ton of national interest."
Missouri Football: Tigers traveling to Houston for bowl game – Truman’s Tales
"Nonetheless, Mizzou will play in a bowl game, as the Tigers were selected to host former Big 12 rival Texas, in the Texas Bowl."
Mizzou football loses Josh Heupel to Central Florida – KC Kingdom
"With the Tigers offensive coordinator leaving the program, it now might make a lot more sense for Drew Lock to pursue the NFL rather than play another year in Columbia."
Mizzou Basketball: Best head coaches of all-time for Missouri – KC Kingdom
"While in the Big 12, however, Missouri was a good basketball squad and they did so behind solid head coaches. Who have been the best in Missouri Tigers history though?"
MISSOURI TIGERS NEWS FROM AROUND THE INTERNET
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Even without Michael Porter Jr., key metrics have Mizzou headed to NCAA Tournament – Kansas City Star
"Missouri’s win against Central Florida on Thursday did a lot to boost the Tigers’ resume — a road win against a team that could be ranked this year. The Tigers are currently ranked No. 3 in the NCAA’s RPI rankings, behind Duke and Texas A&M, and hold the top ranking in strength of schedule."
Meeting Texas in bowl game is another win for Mizzou – St. Louis-Post Dispatch
"There was a point this season — anyone remember 1-5? — when the Tigers would have crawled to a bowl game, any bowl game. This meeting with Texas? This is like winning the bowl-game lottery."
UCF football hires Josh Heupel as head coach – SI.com
"Heupel comes to UCF after serving as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Missouri for the past two seasons. He led the team to become 13th in the nation in total offense in his first year with the program from 124th the previous year."
Next: Five Best Mizzou Quarterbacks of All-Time
There’s a lot going on for the Missouri Tigers at the moment with the basketball team reeling and the football team preparing for their first bowl game since the 2014 season. The Tigers might be doing so without Josh Heupel though, which is a huge loss for the program.
The basketball team will play next on Saturday while the Texas Bowl will take place on December 27th.