The Mizzou men endured a bit of a soap opera season. The Tigers welcomed a new coach, new stars and new attention. The team also waved bon voyage to numerous players, several via transfers and another due to disciplinary action. Michael Porter Jr.’s well-chronicled back surgery turned the entire season into a guessing a game of whether the future lottery pick would ever suit up again in black and gold. The Tigers team passed the tests and earned its way into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.
Meanwhile, the Mizzou women’s team largely flew underneath the radar. After all, the women’s team had been to the NCAA Tournament for the past two seasons, so a certain level of success was expected.
Junior standout Sophie Cunningham was coming off a sophomore season in which she was designated First Team All-SEC and All-American Honorable Mention by the AP. Big things were also anticipated from sophomore Amber Smith. Smith was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Year a year ago.
What type of hoops buzz would there be without the first gamily is Missouri – the Porters? Junior forward Cierra Porter, yes, the older sister to Michael Porter Jr. and Jontay Porter, also was expected to play a pivotal role in the Tigers success.
Instead wondering if the Tigers would make it to the tourney, the big question was whether the talented team could attain a high enough seed to host the first two rounds at home (a privilege granted to the top four seeds in each region).
The Tigers got another stellar season from Cunningham, who averaged 18 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. She was assisted by senior forward Jordan Frericks (12.1 points, 7.5 rebounds), Porter (9.9 points, 7.7 rebounds) and Smith (9.6 points, 5.5 rebounds).
Together, the ladies lifted the Tigers to a stellar 24-7 record. The Tigers stayed in the Top 25 rankings for the entire season, finishing with a No. 17 ranking and climbing as high as No. 11 in the AP poll on multiple occasions.
The Tigers gathered inside Mizzou Arena, waiting for the official announcement of its NCAA Tournament seeding on Selection Sunday Monday. The players crossed their fingers hoping for a top four seed. When it was announced that the team would be the fifth seed in the Lexington Region of the NCAA Tournament, the team was simultaneously disappointed, excited and motivated for another run in the Big Dance.
“It’s a good feeling, it’s a great feeling, knowing how far we’ve come as a program,” Mizzou coach Robin Pingeton told reporters according to The Columbia Missourian. “A few years ago, we’re on the edge of our seats trying to figure out if we even make the tournament.”
Cunningham doesn’t seem to mind the lost opportunity to host games at home. Like a true baller, she’s anxious to get back on the court, any court, and try to advance as far as the Tigers can.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Cunningham said. “We’re still playing, and I’m so excited. We have a good record out in California. Nice weather out there; I’m not complaining. I’m ready to go win some ballgames.”
The Tigers first round opponent will be Florida Gulf Coast from the Atlantic Sun Conference. The No. 12 seed Eagles finished the season with a 30-4 record. The Eagles are the second most-deadly team from downtown in the NCAA, knocking down 12 three pointers per game.
In order to advance to the second round, the Tigers will need to keep a hand in the faces of the Eagles’ shooters. Mizzou must also use its distinct size advantage to dominate Florida Gulf Coast in the paint on the boards.
Though the Mizzou women may not get the same publicity as the men, it’s clear that Pingeton’s club is one of the best teams in college basketball. Now is the ladies’ time to shine.
Mizzou’s Round 1 matchup will take place in Palo Alto, Calif. on Saturday. The game will be televised by ESPN2 at 2:30 p.m. CT.in Palo Alto on Saturday (2:30 p.m. CT, ESPN2)
RIP to The Six
Michael Smith’s recent departure from SportsCenter confirmed what everybody knew was coming, SC6 aka The Six is officially dead.
What a sad day in SportsCenter history. The Six was formed to rebrand and energize ESPN’s flagship program, which has lost some of its luster in recent years. The network brought Smith and Jemele Hill together on the screen after the two showed amazing chemistry in their His & Hers podcast and television show.
In the beginning, the network pulled out all the stops to promote The Six, which blended the traditional sports highlights and conversations with discussions on politics and current events and variety show-style skits and intros.
It didn’t take too long for the executives at ESPN to get worried about two intelligent black hosts talking freely about certain topics. Hill was suspended twice, once for pointing out the POTUS’ white supremacist ways and another time for suggesting fans boycott Dallas Cowboys’ advertisers after Jerry Jones came out strongly against NFL players participating in protests of the national anthem.
Eventually ESPN producers tried to turn The Six into a more traditional SportsCenter show. Hill left the show in January, choosing to head to The Undefeated, an ESPN microsite that focuses on topics of sports, race and culture.
Smith continued to host SportsCenter without his BFF, but the show lost its key appeal, which was its witty back-and-forth banter between Smith and Hill. In a move that everybody saw coming, Smith announced last week that he would leave the show immediately. Like Hill, Smith is still under contract with ESPN and will fill other roles with the network.
Though the sports world certainly doesn’t lack black personalities, it was nice to see a show as authentically and unapologetically black as The Six. Now that their run on SportsCenter is officially over, maybe the two can rekindle the magic of His & Hers.
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