Jan. 8, 2008

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The 19th-ranked Missouri men's swimming and diving team (5-1, 1-0 Big 12) will open the 2008 portion of its season by welcoming Missouri State to the Mizzou Aquatics Center, Saturday at 1 p.m. The Tigers look to ring in the New Year with the same success they garnered in the first half of the season.

After falling to national power Indiana to open their 2007-08 campaign, the Tiger men roared back the following day to capture their third consecutive Show Me Showdown title. Mizzou traveled to Ames, Iowa, the following week to take on conference foe Texas A&M in neutral waters. Here, the Tigers knocked off the Aggies by a count of 132-111 to avenge their four-point loss from a year before.

Along with November's cooler weather came a hot streak for the Tigers. The men broke out the brooms in knocking off four teams in three days at the Mizzou Dual Challenge, an event highlighted by the Tigers' triumph over a top-25 caliber Virginia Tech squad. Mizzou carried this momentum into the Boilermaker Invitational two weeks later. The men, leaders of the meet following the first days of action, notched a second-place finish after being edged for the title by 12th-ranked Purdue on the third and final day.

The 5-1 Tigers now look to carry their fall success into the 2008 portion of the season. Saturday's meet against an always-tough Missouri State squad (4-2) will be the first test of the New Year for the Tigers. The men have faced the 4th-ranked (Division I Mid-Major) Bears three times this season, but only once in a dual setting. Missouri State took second at the Show Me Showdown and finished fourth at the Boilermaker Invite. They fell to the Tigers by a score of 97-51 at November's Mizzou Dual Challenge.

Mizzou will use Saturday's test and the remainder of its dual season to prepare for next month's Big 12 Championships, set to take place in Austin, Texas, from February 27 through March 1.