The Morning Commute for March 17, 2025.
Welcome to the Morning Commute
Today we’re talking about Drake. Truman, cue the track.
I deeply apologize if you get tired of all the Kendrick jokes this week. Unless you’re a fan of Drake, the institution or the rapper. Maybe try not cheering for a… you know.
Anyway, here are a few facts about the No. 11 seed Drake Bulldogs for your morning knowledge dump:
- Ben McCollum, Drake’s first-year head coach, is a four-time National Champion in Division II. And he’s very familiar with the Show-Me State because, as it turns out, those championships all came in Maryville at Northwest Missouri State. The Bearcats first year without him? 6-22, its worst record since before McCollum showed up.
- Speaking of… Bennett Stritz, a Liberty, Mo., native and the Missouri Valley’s Player of the Year, is also a former Bearcat. He followed McCollum to Drake and has been an impact player, scoring 19.1 points per game while shooting almost 39 percent from three. Have fun, Ant!
- Drake is 18-1 in its last 19 games, its last loss on Feb. 16 to Bradley.
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
Welcome back Tamar Bates! The biggest news of the weekend was the return of the guy who’s gone missing a bit lately. Tamar hasn’t been awful, just kind of missing. He was 11-21 from 2FG, 4-9 from 3FG, 7-7 from FT, with 7 rebounds in the two games combined. For Missouri to be a threat in the NCAA tournament, they need Tamar to be a factor.
You really should read this if you’re feeling at all nervous about Mizzou headed into Thursday. The SEC Tournament was a nice sign of return-to-form for the Tigers.
Despite a solid resume, Missouri has landed on the 7-seed line according to Bracket Matrix with an average seed of 6.67. What’s holding the Tigers back? Struggling down the stretch and poor non-con strength of schedule certainly isn’t doing Mizzou any favors.
It certainly did enough to bump them up on the seed line!
“I think we’re starting to put all three facets of the game together (pitching, defense, offense). You know, if you look at a lot of our close losses, it’s been one inning that burned us, and we have to eliminate that inning,” [Larissa Anderson said,] referencing the need for a term she’s discussed before, failure recovery.
Time to go on a real tear, what say you, Tigers?
Missouri opens as a -6.5 favorite over Drake according to FanDuel’s Sportsbook. That’s right in line with KenPom, which also pegs Missouri as a six-point winner by their metrics.
Mizzou’s been quite good against the spread, he said confidently with no idea of whether or not it’s actually true.
- Over at Rock M+, we’re talking about the Selection Show and the Committee’s decisions. Meanwhile, Watkins is coping with how he, and the rest of the bracketology industry, couldn’t predict the exclusion of West Virginia.
I’m sorry. These people projecting, just like me, are predicting what the Committee will do. Most do great work and look at past precedent to make their decisions. When you have those two facts above, they fvcked up. There’s no other way around it.
No one’s perfect, Watkins. Not even the committee.
Rock M Radio: How right was Dive Cuts about Mizzou’s March Madness placement? Take a look back at their conversation with Blake Lovell last week to find out.
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