Mizzou gymnastics has its 2027 schedule in place, and the Tigers will kick things off with a familiar spotlight event.
The season opens Jan. 8 with the Zou to the Lou meet, which will also include Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois in an all-Big 10 field. Mizzou will then begin SEC competition at home in Mizzou Arena, where Georgia comes to town. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 6 nationally at the end of last season.
The Tigers also have a trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth area lined up in early February for the Metroplex Challenge, where they’ll be joined by Georgia, NC State and Oklahoma. Both that meet and Zou to the Lou will be held on a podium, a raised surface used for competition.
The full schedule release is available, and Karen Steger will have more on the Tigers’ slate soon.
Elsewhere around Rock M and Rock M+, there was plenty of Mizzou conversation on Tuesday.
On the football side, Colin Simmons noted that Jamal Roberts helped Kewan Lacy settle into the running back room and learn the details of the position. Roberts said, “He’s a very talented running back, a very talented kid, love the guy,” Roberts said.
“We still communicate to this day/ He’s a very funny guy. He liked to compete a lot.
So I mean, there’ll be a lot of competing on the field Saturday with me.
Simmons also pointed out how striking it is that Mizzou has had Hardy, Lacy and Roberts in the last three seasons, and raised the question of where Curtis Luper stacks up among college football position coaches.
Matthew Gustafson’s Tiger Talk notes included Eli Drinkwitz’s take on the defense’s recent stretch. Drinkwitz said, “Those guys are playing really, really hard, very physical in the trenches and tackling really well, which I think is the hallmark of a really good defense.
I’ve been impressed with these these past two games. This game’s a whole new challenge; it’s a totally different challenge with the quarterback, the running back, wide receiver, and the tempo.
So we have to transition from patting ourselves in the back to getting our cleats in the ground and getting set and making sure we’re ready to go.
Nate Edwards, in Beyond The Box Score, broke down Missouri’s win over Texas A&M and described it as a case of the Tigers doing enough over time. He wrote that Missouri outgained the Aggies by 2.2 yards per play, created one more scoring opportunity, and averaged nearly 4 points more per opportunity while being a little more efficient overall. Edwards also framed the result as a gritty win built on the run game and defense.
There was also a look at Missouri’s defense with an eye toward how well it can keep opponents out of the paint, especially with slighter guards like Jason Crowe Jr. and Aaron Rower in the mix.
And in Sam Snelling’s piece on Mike White and George, he described the program as operating more like it did under Mark Fox, with the stronger league meaning middle-of-the-pack teams are now reaching the NCAA Tournament instead of fighting for NIT spots. Snelling also noted that Missouri will face the Bulldogs again on Feb. 27 in Athens.
The day also included a Reacts survey asking for a prediction on Mizzou’s trip to Ole Miss, and the author’s own pick was a two-score Tigers win.
In Other News...
Kewan Lacy Brings Extra Heat To Ole Miss' Missouri Showdown
The No. 13 Tigers head into a Week 7 road trip to No. 9 Ole Miss with plenty at stake, and the matchup carries an extra layer because former Missouri running back Kewan Lacy is now part of the Rebels attack. Lacy spent his freshman season in Columbia before transferring, and his rise since then has only sharpened the attention around this meeting between two top-15 teams.
Missouri running back Jamal Roberts, who was teammates with Lacy in 2024, said the two still keep in touch even with the game on deck. The connection adds a personal wrinkle to a matchup already loaded with SEC stakes, but once kickoff arrives, both sides know the familiarity should make for a fierce and competitive afternoon. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Faces Its Biggest Road Test Yet Under Eli Drinkwitz
Missouris latest step forward came with a clean result against Texas A&M, a win that finally ended a long run of frustration in that matchup and kept the Tigers firmly in the national conversation at No. 13. Now the challenge gets louder and less forgiving, with Eli Drinkwitzs team heading to Oxford for a meeting with No. 9 Ole Miss and a chance to add a road result that would carry far more weight than another solid home performance.
The backdrop is what makes this trip matter so much for Missouri. The Tigers have not pulled off a ranked road win since Oct. 14, 2023, and the betting market is treating this one like a steep climb, with Ole Miss installed as a 6.5-point favorite. Missouri has already shown it can handle pressure in a big spot, but this is the kind of game that can clarify whether the Tigers are just ranked or ready to keep climbing. [Read more 🡒]
Austin Simmons Returns To Ole Miss With Missouri Facing A Huge SEC Test
Austin Simmons heads into one of the seasons most intriguing SEC matchups with a familiar backdrop, as the No. 13 Tigers travel to face No. 9 Ole Miss and a roster that includes several players who once called Oxford home. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz has framed the game as bigger than just a ranking matchup, noting the added layer for Simmons and the other former Rebels now wearing black and gold. It is the kind of crossover story that gives an already high-stakes conference game a little extra edge.
For Missouri, the timing only heightens the significance, with Simmons continuing to settle in as the teams starter while the Tigers try to keep pace in a crowded SEC race. Ole Miss enters with its own momentum and its own coaching perspective on what this meeting means, which only adds to the tension surrounding a game that has plenty of weight beyond the box score. The only real question now is how Simmons handles the return trip when the spotlight is waiting for him in familiar territory. [Read more 🡒]