July 17, 2003
Columbia, Mo. - As hard as it might be to believe, the football season is nearly upon us, and this means that tickets are on sale for our season opening game. On August 30, at 11 a.m. in St. Louis, Mizzou and Illinois will meet in the 2nd State Farm Showdown at the Edward Jones Dome. Like last year, it promises to be a great weekend in the Gateway City! Fans from both schools will venture to St. Louis that weekend, adding millions of dollars to the local economy. The future of this game, though, is still up in the air.
This is the final year of a two-year contract between the two schools. Any further competition depends on the NCAA. The evolution of a 12th game dates back to 1998 when the NCAA's Football Issues Committee recommended that a 12th regular season game be permitted in years in which there are 14 playing dates from the first permissible playing date through the last playing date in November. In addition to 2002 and 2003, this is scheduled to occur in 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2019. A proposal to permanently expand the regular season to 12 games ultimately rests with the Division I Management Council and Board of Directors.
Big 12 Athletic Directors are unanimous in our support of adding the 12th game on a permanent basis. There is no medical evidence, nor is there any evidence of the game having an adverse affect academically on our student-athletes. And in these tough economic times, the financial impact has been staggering, on the positive side of the ledger. According to figures released by the NCAA, the addition of the 12th game helped Division I-A football to attract more than 44 million spectators in 2002, the highest total in history. That represents a jump of four million from 2001, and is the largest one-year leap since the NCAA Statistics Service began compiling national football attendance in 1948. Fans obviously love it, and coaches are in favor of increasing the length of the regular season, as well. University Presidents will need to endorse the idea, before it becomes a reality.
This year's game against Illinois on August 30 will present a tremendous showcase for our programs. The game will again be televised by ABC. Both teams enter the 11 a.m. kickoff with plenty to prove. A year ago, Illinois struggled early, but by season's end Coach Ron Turner had the Illini playing extremely well. Just ask national champion Ohio State, who needed overtime to beat Illinois late last season. This year's edition is a group that is poised to battle for their second Big 10 title in three years.
It has been interesting to travel around the state of Missouri and witness the excitement that surrounds our football program. For the first time since 1998, Mizzou fans have a genuine expectation to see their team in post-season play. Ticket sales reflect this optimism. We are currently on pace to soon surpass the number of season tickets that we sold for the entire 2002 season. Brad Smith returns as a sophomore who is being mentioned as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate. Center A. J. Ricker and offensive tackle Rob Droege have received preseason All-America mentions in various media publications. Our team, for the first time in memory, is ranked in the preseason top 25 by at least three different publications. These are exciting times in Mizzou Athletics. Coming off a season in which 17 of the 20 sports we sponsor were represented in post-season competition, our expectations are equally high for the coming athletic year.
I would encourage you to join us in St. Louis for the Illinois game on August 30. There are plenty of tickets available, and several outlets where you can purchase your seats for the game. Call the Mizzou Athletic Ticket office at 1-800-CAT-PAWS or buy them online by logging on to MUTigers.com or call Ticketmaster at 314-241-1888 or log on to Ticketmaster.com. If you are looking for a hotel for your visit to St. Louis, let me suggest The Westin-St. Louis, located across the street from Busch Stadium. Mike Jorgensen, the general manager at the Westin, is making a donation to the Tiger Scholarship Fund of $5.00 for every room booked that weekend! I look forward to seeing as many Tiger fans as possible at the Edward Jones Dome on August 30, and hopefully to the opportunity for many more season opening battles against our rivals from the University of Illinois.
As always, thank-you for taking the time to read this column. If you have any questions about this topic, or anything else related to Tiger Athletics, please feel free to contact me by e-mail at aldenm@missouri.edu.