51ºÚÁÏ

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Sorry, Missouri: There won’t be a playoff spot for you this year. But would you be interested in a bowl game instead?

The Tigers’ Saturday loss to Texas A&M, which dropped Mizzou to 6-3 overall this season and 2-3 in Southeastern Conference play, means MU will not be making the College Football Playoff and instead head to a plain ol’ bowl again this season.

If Mizzou indeed yearns to be a top-tier — or, if anything, top 25 — college football program, the administration must make certain coach Eli Drinkwitz doesn’t leave.

Now, of course, this is an interesting topic this particular week, considering Drinkwitz and the Tigers just lost — for the third time, with this one extinguishing hopes for the College Football Playoff. But now that he’ll be available to leave after the Nov. 29 finale at Arkansas — instead of preparing in December for the playoffs — it’s imperative that Mizzou takes the proper steps to keep him in Columbia long term.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — So what do we know?

Missouri men’s basketball played three games in the first week of its season, winning all of them: passing a road quiz at Howard 88-67, surviving SEMO in the home opener 89-84, then squeezing out the Virginia Military Institute 106-68 on Sunday afternoon.

This Pro Football Focus picture isn't going to be pretty. After Missouri's latest gridiron humbling, how could it be anything other than ugly?

This week's dive into the PFF data drove highlights the metrics behind freshman quarterback Matt Zollers' debut start, a surprise shakeup to the snap counts in the receiver room and a heavy workload for the Mizzou defense.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — If comparison is the thief of joy, then this is about to be grand larceny. But the contrast in quarterbacks during Missouri’s 38-17 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday is too important to ignore.

Fighting to push the Aggies to the Southeastern Conference championship game and a high-flying seed in the College Football Playoff was Heisman Trophy contender Marcel Reed, a 21-year-old redshirt sophomore. He finished the day 20 for 29 for 229 yards and two passing touchdowns, plus 29 rushing yards. It was, by his standards, actually rather pedestrian — even as A&M strolled easily past Mizzou.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Friday night’s Missouri men’s basketball home opener fell somewhere between the unflinchingly positive vibe of head coach Dennis Gates’ initial postgame assessment and the sky-is-falling feeling that crept into Mizzou Arena at various times throughout the game.

Well, then there was Mark Mitchell just refusing to be stopped by a Southeast Missouri State team that had no matchup with more than a hope and a prayer of guarding him.