I shudder to think of how this season would have gone without Mark Mitchell.
That’s the cleanest way to frame Missouri’s year, because Mitchell didn’t just meet the preseason hype - he carried it, then pushed past it. He was the Tigers’ most valuable player by a wide margin, and when the rest of the roster didn’t always hold up its end, he took on even more.
A year earlier, Mitchell had already established himself as the best player on one of the strongest Mizzou teams in recent memory. He was the leading scorer, and as that season went on, the offense increasingly revolved around him. This time around, with several key pieces back, the expectation was that he’d again be the top guy on a tournament team.
Instead, the supporting cast let him down in a lot of spots, and Mitchell had to absorb the extra load. His minutes climbed, his usage climbed, and somehow his efficiency still improved. In conference play, Mizzou leaned on him even harder, and he ended up playing the third most minutes in the league.
The production was elite. Mitchell’s 18.3 points per game were the highest scoring average for a Tiger since Jabari Brown’s junior season.
And if you want to find another Missouri player who carried that kind of offensive burden while still staying efficient, you have to go back to Brown again. Brown posted a 119.4 offensive rating in his final season; Mitchell topped that with a 121.3.
Brown’s team reached the NIT. Mitchell’s got to the NCAA Tournament.
What made Mitchell so valuable wasn’t just the scoring. He handled the ball well, too, finishing with a 13.6% turnover rate. He also ranked second on the team in assist rate at 21.1%, and that number might have been even better if Mizzou had knocked down more of the jumpers he created.
His fingerprints were all over the biggest moments. Trent Pierce’s three-pointer that put Mizzou ahead by four with two minutes left against Florida came off a Mitchell drive and kick.
The comeback at Kentucky started with Mitchell finding Pierce, then continued when Mitchell made the short-roll pass to Jayden Stone. Against Oklahoma, he delivered the assist to tie the game late, then hit the three-pointer in overtime to beat them.
At Texas A&M, he set up the game-winner with a perfectly placed lob for Shawn Philips.
Even in the NCAA Tournament loss to Miami, when Missouri’s offense was fighting through a packed-in defense, Mitchell still found a way to matter. He hit three second-half threes and gave the Tigers a chance.
The season had plenty of frustrations, but Mitchell wasn’t one of them. He was excellent from beginning to end, and for all the parts of this team that won’t be remembered fondly, his game absolutely will be.
In Other News...
Eli Drinkwitz May Have Crossed A Line With Latest SEC Joke
At SEC Media Days, Eli Drinkwitz managed to turn a routine offseason segment into something far less harmless, and the Missouri coachs latest joke immediately drew attention for all the wrong reasons. The moment came during a televised appearance while he was discussing Cayden Green, giving the comment a national stage and making it impossible to separate from the broader conversation around the Tigers.
The issue is bigger than a bad punch line because it lands in the middle of Ahmad Hardys recovery, with the reigning SEC Newcomer of the Year still working his way back after a shooting earlier this year and no clear timetable for his return. Hardy, a Mississippi native who underwent surgery after the incident, has already been through enough without becoming the target of a joke that many around the program are likely to see as ill-judged. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Just Got The O-Line Update Fans Were Dreading
Missouris offensive line picture took another hit this week, and it comes at a spot the Tigers were counting on to stabilize. Transfer tackle Josh Atkins was expected to step in at right tackle, but his recovery from a leg injury that first surfaced in March has not gone as smoothly as hoped, leaving the coaching staff to keep adjusting its plans up front.
Eli Drinkwitz said Atkins has had a setback in his rehab, which makes his return less certain as the season moves along. For now, Missouri is leaning on other options to hold things together, including Luke Work and Logan Reichert, with Jack Lange also in the mix, as the Tigers try to protect the edge while waiting to see how much more progress Atkins can make. [Read more 🡒]
Eli Drinkwitz Takes Another Shot At CFP Power Brokers
Eli Drinkwitz is back on the College Football Playoff debate trail, and his message is the same one he has been pushing for Missouris sake and for the sport at large: let teams earn their way in on the field instead of leaving those decisions to a selection committee. With expansion still being hashed out, the SEC is aligned behind a 16-team model while the Big Ten is pushing for 24, and Drinkwitz is using the moment to argue for a format that would put conference contenders in play-in games rather than in front of a room of decision-makers.
He is also drawing a line on another piece of the conversation that could reshape the postseason. Drinkwitz does not want conference championship games taken away, a stance that matters in a league like the SEC where those title games bring in major revenue and remain a central part of the calendar. So while the playoff format fight keeps moving toward a bigger field, Missouris coach is making clear he wants expansion to preserve the stakes that already exist, not replace them. [Read more 🡒]