A day late but never a dollar short, here we go
1) Welcome to the last month without football activity until next April. Missouri will hold some recruiting camps over the next month and the players are going through offseason workouts and such, but there are no organized activities in June. The next big football event on the radar is SEC Media Days (in Dallas!??!) on July 15-18. Then when you go through the season, the postseason, throw the Super Bowl and spring football, there's something to satisfy your football appetite every month for the next nine months. It always catches me off guard how much of a year-round business football has become and then every year we hit early June and I realize things are six weeks away from getting going again and I try to figure out where the offseason went.
2) I can't remember an offseason that had this much excitement from Mizzou fans. There's probably some recency bias there. I'm sure 2014 and 2008 there was a lot of hype. But I just don't remember this much buzz around it all the time back then. Maybe it's because the chatter and the echo chamber is just much more exaggerated than it was even 10 or 15 years ago. But I can't go a day without someone bringing up their excitement for Mizzou football and the season ahead. Obviously, that's a great thing.
Eli Drinkwitz spoke briefly at the Tiger Club golf tournament in St. Charles yesterday. In his introduction, there was a recap of all the highlights from last season. Drinkwitz started out by saying it was a great year, but last year no longer matters and he's looking at what's ahead. He told the crowd: “We understand the expectations are at an all time high. They should be.”
I've had some conversations with people around the program since last year ended. They're not shying away from the spotlight that's going to be on them. At the same time, they understand it won't be easy. They know that a season like last year doesn't happen without a 62-yard field goal, a fake punt for a touchdown and 4th and 17. In other words, the margin is thin between average and great. Great seasons rarely happen without a bit of good luck involved. And I want to be clear, I'm not trying to minimize last season in any way. Two years ago I frequently said on this board that good teams find a way to win games like that and bad teams find a way to lose them. Two years ago Mizzou was a 6-win team that could have been a 9-win team because it wasn't good enough to make those plays. Last year, Mizzou was an 11-win team that could have been an 8-win team because it was good enough to make those plays. So it's not taking any credit away. It's just pointing out the fact that even in great seasons, you can find 2 or 3 plays that change everything if they go the other way.
3) All that said, I'm fully on board with the playoffs or bust mentality for 2024. That doesn't mean it's a terrible season or anyone has to be fired if Missouri ends up with eight or nine wins and doesn't make the 12-team field. But this just feels like a chance that you don't know how often it will come around.
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