Mizzou

Hi, old time Tiger fan here. One of my earliest memories was the Tigers beating Notre Dame in South Bend in 1978. This is coming off a decade where I believe Mizzou was the winningest football program of the 1960s. Dan Devine left Mizzou for Notre Dame, so 1978 was especially sweet. Mizzou defeated Bear Bryant's Alabama team in the 1968 Cotton Bowl. Mizzou doesn't claim the 1960 national championship despite going undefeated because one of the wins was by forfeit when KU used an ineligible player.

Then we entered a really dark era where sports were not prioritized by the Mizzou administration. From the early 1980s to 1996 the program floundered. Larry Smith brought the team out of the wilderness and we got back to a bowl game in 1997. Under Gary Pinkel Mizzou averaged over 8 wins per year for about 10 years and was twice a game away from playing for the national championship.

I think it's a shame about conference realignment. I'd prefer we were still in the old Big 8. We lost a lot of history and regional rivalries. I've grown to like the SEC pretty well although it gets old feeling unwelcome. We were a founding member of the Big 6 that expanded to the Big 8 and eventually the Big 12. We've been around since 1890, so we're not exactly an expansion team.

Anyway, happy to have a home even if we're adopted and sleep in a guest room.