Matheny’s early success as the Cardinals’ skipper seems to be a bit of a trend in Missouri sports as of late.

Left to right: St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock, St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, University of Missouri men's basketball head coach Frank Haith

First-year Missouri Tigers men’s basketball head coach Frank Haith lead the experienced squad to its best record in school history (30-5) and a Big XII Tournament Championship.

The St. Louis Blues, who are in the Stanley Cup playoffs for only the second time in seven seasons, have played some of their best hockey in years under new head coach Ken Hitchcock.

Now that the St. Louis Rams have a new head coach in Jeff Fisher, perhaps the correlation between new leadership and success will carry over to them as well. We can only hope.

New Branding:

Missouri’s much anticipated move to the South East Conference (SEC) came one step closer this weekend. The Tigers revealed their newly designed Nike uniforms at the Black & Gold spring football game. The new look focuses more on the Tiger logo, rather than the block “M”.

The gold alternates.

The road whites.

The Mizzou athletics website, mutigers.com, emphasizes the importance of the new branding: “The Tiger Head logo is the primary representation of the brand and is used as the main identifying device for athletics. It is an instantly recognizable symbol representing Mizzou Athletics.”

Reaction to the new look was mostly positive. While Mizzou’s new uniform branding is recognizably different, it still represents the remarkable heritage of the university.

Alex Oriakhi:

In other news, University of Connecticut center, Alex Oriakhi, made a visit to Mizzou this weekend. Oriakhi, a 5-star recruit, was released from his scholarship, due to Connecticut’s NCAA violations which prevent them from competing in the NCAA tournament in 2013. This made him immediately eligible to play for the university of his choice. On Friday, April 13, during his campus visit, Oriakhi announced his decision to come play for Missouri. As a 6’9″ senior, he will contribute significantly to Mizzou’s physical presence on the floor. Oriakhi’s move to MU will also reunite him with long-time friend, point guard Phil Pressey.

While the addition of Oriakhi will certainly strengthen the Tigers as they join the SEC, Haith’s team was already poised for a competitive season. As previously mentioned, point guard Phil Pressey will be back for his junior year. Senior Lawrence Bowers, a 6’8″ forward, will be returning after sitting out for a full season with an ACL injury. Another returning player is point guard Michael Dixon Jr., who was named this season’s Big XII sixth man of the year.

Mizzou’s impressive transfers, who practiced with the team throughout the 2011-2012 season, while sitting out during games, will all be eligible this season. The list of transfers includes: Keion Bell, a 6’3″ guard from Pepperdine with some impressive dunking skills, Earnest Ross, a 6’5″ guard from Auburn, Danny Feldmann, a 6’9″ forward from Columbia University in New York, and finally, 5-star recruit Jabari Brown, a 6’5″ guard from Oregon, who will be eligible mid-season, starting in January of 2013.

Additionally, there will be seven players in the 2012 recruiting class. Five members of the recruiting class are incoming freshmen, and the other two are coming from junior colleges.

Head coach Frank Haith had only seven scholarship players for the 2011-2012 season. One of the Tigers’ only weaknesses was bench depth. Now Coach Haith will be faced with an entirely new situation: an abundance of players. Finally, a good problem.

SEC Future:

Missouri’s athletic program has a lot to look forward to as they will be entering the SEC with an impressive resume.

• The football team has gone to seven consecutive bowl games under head coach Gary Pinkel.
• Dorial Green-Beckham, one of the nation’s top football recruits, will be playing for MU next season.
• Mizzou is producing an increasing number of NFL players each year.
• The basketball team just had its best season record ever with a record of 30 wins and 5 losses.
• On their way to the SEC, Mizzou Hoops won the Big XII Championship.
• Frank Haith was named Coach of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers’ Association.

Mizzou’s athletic department is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. This weekend’s unveiling of the TIgers’ new brand, as well as Alex Oriakhi’s announcement to transfer to Missouri, have only increased the positive momentum of Mizzou’s athletic program ahead of its move to the SEC.

Considering all of the improvements and accomplishments this year, one thing remains clear:

Missouri has every intention of being a competitive force in the South Eastern Conference.

When a team suffers an upset like the one last Friday, it can be difficult for fans to focus on the positive aspects of the season. But what the Tigers accomplished this year was truly special. First-year-coach Frank Haith was faced with the tremendous challenge of proving himself to a fan-base full of many doubters and skeptics. Matters were further complicated when Nevin Shapiro, a former athletic booster from Haith’s previous job at Miami, reported Haith (among many other students and coaches) for NCAA violations. As if these obstacles weren’t challenging enough, Laurence Bowers, a senior 6-8 forward, suffered a season-ending ACL injury before the first game was even played. Miraculously, none of this drama seemed to faze Coach Haith. He led this Missouri team to its best record in school history and was awarded Coach of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers’ Association. Haith should also be recognized for his commitment to recruiting. He lured in four impressive transfers, who served as tough practice opponents for this year’s squad. In addition to that, Haith acquired a talented class of incoming freshmen. The term “Faith in Haith” has become a mainstay in the vocabulary of Mizzou fans. And Frank has earned it.

Throughout every obstacle, Mizzou has maintained its integrity, despite what its rivals may say. The Athletic Director at Kansas even commented on Missouri’s early tournament loss, saying, “karma, karma, karma” (in reference to MU leaving the Big XII). Some of the biggest programs in the Big XII were considering moving conferences, so Missouri decided not to be left standing alone. The university was given the opportunity to leave a conference that was falling apart. While admittedly biased, my take is that Kansas is anxious because athletic programs across the country have been playing a big game of musical chairs with conference realignment. And due to the lack of prestige within their athletic program (aside from basketball), Kansas is worried they will be left without a chair when the music stops.

Conference realignment aside, all fans of the Missouri/Kansas rivalry should want to keep it alive. If the Jayhawks continue to decline the preservation of this rivalry, it will be a shame for basketball fans everywhere. The Big XII’s instability along with Kansas’ complaints only reinforce MU’s decision. Mizzou has every reason to be excited about their move to the South Eastern Conference.

The SEC has a great football culture and their basketball reputation is growing. While Mizzou may face some challenges, this move should help their already-elite athletic program to continue to expand and improve.

Missouri has a lot to be proud of. And even more to look forward to…

M-I-Z

For more on KU’s Athletic Director’s quote, click here:

Kansas AD calls Missouri’s loss ‘karma, karma, karma’ | The Dagger: College Basketball Blog – Yahoo! Sports.

Now that it is officially Spring, I wanted to share my favorite things about this season:

• I will start with the obvious: the weather is fantastic. While this winter was much more tame than last, better weather is always welcome. I love being able to walk outside without having to suit up for the elements (with the exception of rain).
• Baseball is back. Spring training games are underway and opening day is approaching. Baseball is a fantastic American tradition and it doesn’t hurt that my hometown St. Louis Cardinals are reigning World Series Champions.
• The NHL season is reaching an exciting end. This year is particularly entertaining because the St. Louis Blues are playoff-bound and are in the hunt for the President’s Trophy (for non-hockey fans, this is an award given to the team with the best regular season record in the NHL). The race for teams to get into the playoffs is always exciting near the end of the season. While other teams fight for playoff spots, the Blues are currently playing their best hockey with great performances from both goalies (Halak & Elliott) and the new addition, 19 year-old, Jaden Schwartz, has scored in each of his first 2 games.
• The NCAA Basketball Tournament is in full swing. While I’m bitter that my Mizzou Tigers suffered an early exit from the big dance, there is certainly something exciting about the tournament. My bracket is already very busted, but that doesn’t take away from the fun of bracket pools. No matter the level of expertise on college hoops, filling out brackets allow even the most casual fans to have heightened interest in the games. Buzzer beaters and upsets are just a few examples of why this tournament is called March Madness.
• Golf! I am a very new fan of golf, but I already love it. Watching PGA tournament conclusions on Sundays is one of my favorite new activities. And while I don’t condone some of his personal choices, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t rooting for a Tiger Woods comeback. Something about the way he plays the game is exciting to watch, and the game is more thrilling when Tiger is on the leader board.
• The NFL off season. I don’t normally associate the NFL off season with spring, but after this year, that may change. Without getting too much into detail, Roger Goodell and the rest of the NFL have put on quite a show: Peyton Manning to the Broncos, Tim Tebow to the Jets, the New Orleans Saints’ bounty punishments, not to mention all of the free agency moves.
• Tennis. I have always loved playing and watching tennis. I was a competitive tennis player through high school and I still love to play the game. Spring’s arrival means that professional tennis tournaments are approaching. Any tennis fan knows how special the Grand Slam Tournaments are and this is the time of the year that the players are getting more active in competitions.
• Concert season is getting started. Spring and summer are prime times for bands to tour. My first concert of the season came on March 9th, in St. Louis at the Edward Jones Dome. Radiohead came through town and Thom York brought his dance moves with him. I was raised listening to the likes of Blur, Pulp, PJ Harvey, David Bowie, Radiohead, etc… My parents’ impressive taste (and all-around-coolness) has given me a significant appreciation for music. Spring is a great chance to see some of our favorite acts live.
• Finally, this spring means that Mad Men has returned. The series has taken what feels like an eternity to start its 5th season. I have never seen a show that so perfectly captures American culture in the late 50′s and early 60′s. I’m also rather proud of the fact that Jon Hamm, star of the series, went to Mizzou and is a St. Louis sports fan. Needless to say, I’m happy to welcome Don Draper and company back to television.

In an interview Tuesday on Rivals Radio, Tuberville said that he didn’t think the new Big 12 would have staying power.

“That doesn’t happen here in the Big 12. We have some teams that get a little bit more money and have a little bit more stroke than some of the other teams. And when that happens, you’re gonna have teams looking for better avenues to leave and reasons to leave.”

Tuberville coached in the SEC at Ole Miss (1995-1998) and Auburn (1999-2008) before being hired earlier this year to replace Mike Leach at Texas Tech.

In the recent wave of conference realignment, Nebraska decided to leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten, and Colorado accepted an invitation from the Pac-10.

The Big 12 almost dissolved when when Tech, Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were on the verge of joining Colorado, and Texas A&M was pondering heading to the SEC or the Pac-10.

But on the strength of Texas’ commitment and the promise of lucrative television deals, the Big 12′s remaining 10 teams reached an agreement to stay togther.

Tuberville, however, is skeptical.

“We have a 10-team league right now, but I just don’t know how long that’s gonna last, to be honest with you,” he said in the Rivals Radio interview.

Mike Wilcox is a 1992 Mizzou graduate and owns http://www.mizzouspirit.com.

Mike Wilcox is a 1992 Mizzou graduate and owns http://www.mizzouspirit.com.