May 16, 2003
Columbia, Mo. - It has been a banner year on the field of play at the University of Missouri. Seventeen of our 20 teams either participated or were represented in post-season competition. As the academic calendar winds down, I thought this would be a good time to share with you some of achievements.
-Football- Brad Smith became just the second quarterback in college history to throw for 2,000 yards and run for 1,000 yards in the same season.
-Men's Basketball- Earned our fifth straight trip the NCAA Tournament, and won a first round game for the third straight year, which marked the first time Mizzou has ever done that.
-Women's Basketball- Advanced to the Quarterfinals of the Women's NIT.
-Volleyball- Made our third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
-Gymnastics- Ranked #26 in the national polls and Alisha Robinson qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second straight year.
-Men's Swimming- Senior Matt Ferrarelli scored in the NCAA Championships marking a first in school history.
-Women's Swimming- Finished third in the Big 12 Championships and had individuals qualify for NCAA competition.
-Softball- Finished third in the Big 12, under conference Coach of the Year Ty Singleton. In his first season, Coach Singleton led the Tigers into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999.
-Baseball- Has qualified for the Big 12 post season tournament, and appears to be on pace to receive an NCAA berth for the first time since 1996.
-Track & Field- Both men's and women's teams scored at the NCAA Indoor Championships, and have 18 qualifiers for NCAA Outdoor Regionals, while 37 athletes were recently named to the Big 12's All Academic Teams.
-Women's Cross Country- Won the NCAA Midwest Regional and finished 16th at the NCAA Championships.
-Men's Cross Country- Finished eighth in the region.
-Tennis- Had best-ever conference record (4-3) in Big 12 play, and appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
-Wrestling- Finished 16th in the nation, and Scott Barker finished second in the nation. Beat Iowa State & Oklahoma in duel competition.
-Women's Golf- Finished in second place in the Big 12 Championships, and advanced to the NCAA Regionals.
-Men's Golf- Advanced the NCAA Regionals.
A couple of other ways we like to measure our competitive success include some different sets of rankings. One is what is called the Big 12 All-Sport Standings, something which you might occasionally see in various newspapers around the region. According to our calculations, we are heading into the final weeks of the season in second place, and hope to finish no worse than fourth place overall, which would equal our best finish ever in this ranking.
On a national basis, we currently stand at 34th in the NACDA Director's Cup, which rates a program's overall strength based on how schools fare nationally in as many as 20 sports. We are on pace to eclipse our previous best finish, which was 49th in 2001-01.
And last, but certainly not least in many Tiger fans' eyes, is the Midwest Ford Dealers' MU-KU Border War Series, which is a scoring system that has compared head-to-head competition this season between Mizzou and Kansas. I'm very proud to report that heading into the final weeks of the season, we have long since clinched the trophy, as we lead Kansas by a substantial 29.5 to 8 lead.
On the final "Mike Alden Show," heard on the radio around the state on the PMG Sports Network, we recently revealed the results of an Internet fan poll, of what our fans felt were the Top 10 memorable moments in Mizzou Athletics throughout the 2002-2003 school year. Here are the results, as posted on MUTigers.com.
1. Quarterback Brad Smith becoming just the second player in the history of college football to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.
2. Missouri gymnast Alisha Robinson qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the vault for the second straight year.
3. Missouri's run to the championship game in the Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament.
4. Missouri's softball team beating 4th ranked Oklahoma and 5th ranked Texas in the same week.
5. Missouri's season opening win in football over defending Big 10 champ Illinois.
6. Missouri posting the highest graduation rate in the Big 12 Conference.
7. Missouri's football team winning at Texas A&M.
8. Missouri's baseball team winning 13 straight early in the season.
9. Missouri's men's basketball team making a 5th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
10. Missouri wrestler Scott Barker finishing second in the nation.
As we mark the fifth anniversary of my hiring as Director of Athletics, we are extremely proud of the progress that we've made across the board in our program. There have been bumps in the road, and certainly some down times. But we have learned from those experiences and continue to move forward to bring you an athletics program at your state's institution of which you can be proud.
One thing we need to continue to build upon is our "grass-roots" support across the board. It is the people of the state of Missouri that can have the biggest impact on our future growth. I would ask you to consider joining the Tiger Scholarship Fund to help us in our efforts to become the best program in the Big 12 Conference. For was little as just $50 dollars a year (that's only 13 cents a day), you can have a direct impact on our student-athletes at Mizzou. For more information on the Tiger Scholarship Fund please call (573) 882-0704 or visit our website at MUTigers.com.
As always, thank-you for your support of the Tigers, we look forwarding to seeing you in Columbia soon. If you have any questions or comments on this column, or anything regarding Mizzou Athletics, please contact me by e-mail at AldenM@missouri.edu.