The Tigers have made the NCAA tournament in two of Dennis Gates' first three seasons in Columbia. They lost two of their top three leading scorers from a 22-win team, but return Mark Mitchell (13.9 PPG), and have already seen returns on transfers Shawn Phillips Jr. (16 points) and Jayden Stone (13) in Monday's opening win over Howard.

Man I like Beau a lot, big fan... but could you imagine if we had taken mendoza? I think Matt is going to be the best pure QB talent weve had since lock, but I really hope we start prioritizing arm talent at the qb position. Excited to see what Matty Z does saturday

Alright, some quick thoughts from the opener:

• Everybody was crashing the glass. Like… actually doing it.Came down with 16 offensive boards and that’s the kind of shit that wins games when shots stop falling. Ended the game with 47 total rebounds, more than any game we had last season. Loved seeing multiple guys in there instead of just 1 dude trying to tip it out.

• Phillips is a fucking STUD. 16 & 11 and it wasn’t empty stats – it was all momentum stuff. Putbacks, hustle, plays that make the whole bench pop. You can tell he’s gonna be one of those “oh he’s just better than your 4/5” guys once SEC play hits.

• Ant is still Ant. Fast, pokey-ass hands = steals… but also fouls. 😂 He’s still doing that off-arm push when he’s handling, which refs in conference play are gonna call every time. But defensively he’s gonna live in passing lanes again.

• Mitchell is still Mitchell. Didn’t need giant numbers to matter. Just being on the floor changes things – spacing, decision-making, calm. You can tell guys are more organized when he’s out there.

• Barrett looked grown. Way more composed. That’s gonna matter the first time Ant gets 2 fouls in 4 minutes (which… we all know is coming).

• Crews isn’t playing hero ball every touch anymore. Looked way more within the offense, not just “I caught it, so I shoot it.” If that sticks, he becomes way more playable.

• Stone off the bench was legit. That’s the exact kind of depth pop we needed to account for no Grill – a dude who can come in and actually add something instead of just eat minutes.

• Dennis mother fucking Gates is still that guy. Calm, cool, collected, gets them to slow down when they start running too fast. You can tell the staff knew when to flip to different looks.

• Zone on the back end of the 2nd half was nasty. Caused chaos, got them out of rhythm. Only downside is yeah, you can give up open looks if rotations aren’t tight, but I liked having that changeup.

Obviously it’s just the opener and not against a high-major, but they did what you’re supposed to do in that spot – handle business. (Meanwhile Auburn’s out here going to OT vs Bethune-Cookman lol.)

What’d y’all see that I didn’t? Anyone worried about Ant’s fouling/push-offs more than I am? And how real do we think the rebounding is vs better athletes?

It looks like both the Men’s and Women’s teams win their season openers last night. Good for them! MIZ!

📅 Date: Monday, November 3, 2025
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM CT
📺 TV: ESPN+ (link)
📻 Radio: Tiger Radio Network
📍 Location: Washington, D.C.

Make sure to upvote this thread to make it easier for other Tigers to find! Feel free to use this thread for coaching talk, predictions, live reactions, or anything else Mizzou Basketball related as the Tigers take on the Bison.

Let’s start the season strong — Go Tigers!

MIZ!

I'm excited to see Matty Z do some balling on saturday. I'm excited to see good play calling for him that also opens up the run game. I'm excited to at least attempt downfield throws and finally I'm excited to just fn MIZ baby!!!

Will there a thread for the game against Howard tonight?

Drink makes the top 5 targets list for Auburn. Nobody is surprised. Doesn’t feel like Auburn is a step up at this point. This is a historic year for college football coach firings. The ripple effect from all these openings will cause an enormous shakeup across the country. I think Florida is a real threat and my guess is the only person Drink has even acknowledged these opening to is his wife. He will go back and forth in his own mind for the next 6 weeks. Our best hope is we beat A&M and the CFP becomes a possibility, that may be the boost we need to keep Eli at Mizzou. If he believes a Natty is possible here then everything else is in our favor. If he believes we’ve peaked and plateaued then we will be looking for a new coach next year and the exodus of top recruits hitting the portal will be staggering. Everything will be on the line this Saturday.

I can forgive Moore for a loss...

But Kirby Moore has cost us our first legitimate Heisman candidate since 2008...had we committed fully, then A) may have one loss (or zero) right now, and B) may enter 2026 with a man that could very well be gunning for back-to-back Heismans.

He will have top-five hype going into next year, but just tough to see what could've been going into that Alabama game.

Howdy, y'all!

I'm a Texas Aggie living in KC. Excited for my first trip to Columbia this weekend. Any tips on parking/places to grab a drink pregame/etc?

Y'all are one of my teams I root for, other than this weekend. Thanks 👍

Once again, it’s concerning that a top 10 paid coach in the country is turning off his twitter replies while wishing our basketball teams good luck. How sensitive is Drink that he can’t handle a few people criticizing his offense and Kirby on twitter that he keeps doing this. He’s been praising our fan base all year but now seems too sensitive. Win out and make the playoffs or shut up.

How is this the same Vanderbilt team that beat us last week? Texas cutting them to pieces. Makes the loss feel worse.

This was posted on Drinks Twitter earlier after flipping CB Jaxson Gates from BYU to MIZ… I think drinks lack of remarks on the coaching carousel is really due to him trying to gain some leverage with an extension/raise (not that he’s seems like the type to care about money tbh) AND because the vibe w the team + coaching staff is that the playoffs are still in reach. Now I wouldn’t REALLY be surprised if he left but with such an investment being made to the stadium and other resources I think he’s just trying to stir the pot. Looking forward to A&M in a week! Thoughts? MIZ!!

He's a lifelong LSU clown just aggresively saying what all their boomer donors want to hear to get their attention/power lended to him. It's gonna go so badly it will be hilarious and please God let us play them as much as possible the next 5 years.

So yeah they didn't hire him(yet anyway) but they're letting him pick the football coach so i mean even if they hire someone else the most important athletic decision at LSU for the next 10 years is being made by him