Missouri

The Missouri Tigers hadn't beaten rival Illinois since 1999, losing games in which they've been favored as well as those they weren't expected to win. Wednesday's game was more of a toss-up with a slight edge going to Bruce Weber's team, who had already won at Clemson thus far. But the Tigers were able to control the flow of play, forcing 22 Illinois turnovers on their way to an 81-68 win. While Illinois outrebounded the Tigers 44-32 and all five starters reached double figures Missouri forced 22 turnovers and held the Illini to 39.7% shooting from the field.

It may not feel like it to the respective conferences, but it has been over six years since the ACC raided the Big East, taking with them Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College to reach the mandatory 12 team minimum for a conference football championship game. The Big East, caught flat-footed by the move, promptly raided Conference USA, which in turn raided the Western Athletic Conference, which then invaded the Sun Belt Conference – leading to one of the most dramatic re-alignments in college sports since the expansion of the “major” conferences themselves in the early 90’s.

Each day (just about), CollegeHoops.net features a Cheerleader (or Dancer) of the Day. Today's picture is courtesy of Icon Sports Media. Check out the archive for more

Columbia, Mo. - Head Coach Mike Anderson rounded out the early signing period in a big way on Tuesday, when he announced that "Five Star" wing Tony Mitchell (Dallas, Texas / L.G. Pinkston) has signed a National Letter of Intent to play at the University of Missouri next season.

While Kansas may be too much for the rest of the Big 12 too handle, no league features as many intriguing individual stars (young & old) on a nightly basis. Arguably the best conference in the country.

 

Columbia, Mo. - Mizzou Basketball Coach Mike Anderson announced the signing of three student athletes to National Letters of Intent on Friday, as Kadeem Green (Charlotte, N.C./United Faith), Rick Kreklow (Columbia, Mo. / Rock Bridge) and Phil Pressey (Dallas, Texas / Episcopal) inked to play for the Tigers beginning with the 2010-11 campaign.

Ranking players is more art then science. How do you compare the potential of freshmen with seniors who have already peaked? How much does physical talent come into play versus intangibles and experience? How big a role do numbers play?

 

BIG 12 FIVE-YEAR STANDINGS

 

CHN's annual 5-year ranking answers a simple question is in a simple manner: Who has been the best team in the Big 12 over the last five years?

 

Kansas

Kansas State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Texas

Texas A&M

Other (Baylor, Iowa State, Missouri, etc)