Mike AldenMike Alden
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Tiger Talk Top-10 Moments of 2013-14

April 2, 2014

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The final Tiger Talk radio show of the 2013-14 season took place Monday night with Director of Athletics Mike Alden, and as is tradition, Mizzou's A.D. reviewed a “top-10” list of major events that took place in the Tiger Athletics program.

Alden, and Tiger Talk show host Chris Gervino, discussed myriad topics during the one-hour visit, and the 10 items they included on the list are listed below.

Mizzou fans can vote on their top story of the year on the Mizzou Athletics Facebook page, and the list will be re-ranked next Tuesday, April 8. Alden's top 10 stories are:

  • CBSiApp.embed({width:'320px',partner:'miss',title:'Mizzou Football Top 5 Offensive Plays of 2013',flash:'rtmp://cp98724.edgefcs.net/ondemand/open/miss/13-14/video/m-footbl/01jan/foot_tigertop5_offense.mp4',hls:'http://iosvod.cstv.com/open/miss/13-14/video/m-footbl/01jan/mobile/foot_tigertop5_offense_master.m3u8',mediaid:'426400',imgurl:'http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/miss/sports/m-footbl/auto_vipgiant_w/9592233.jpeg',fullDomain:'http://www.mutigers.com'});

    Resurgence of the football team

    Mizzou rebounded from a tough SEC debut season in 2012 to win a school-record 12 games, claim the SEC Eastern Division title, and win the AT&T Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma State. The Tigers finished the season ranked 5th in the final polls, after not receiving a single vote in the pre-season polls.

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    Volleyball program reaches unprecedented heights

    The volleyball team made history when they won Mizzou's first-ever SEC championship in any sport, as the Tigers went a perfect 34-0 in the regular season, and finished 35-1 overall. Mizzou became the first SEC volleyball team in the league's history to go undefeated in the regular season.

  • CBSiApp.embed({width:'320px',partner:'miss',title:'J\'den Cox National Championship Interview',flash:'rtmp://cp98724.edgefcs.net/ondemand/open/miss/13-14/video/m-wrestl/03mar/wrst_cox_natltitle_interview.mp4',hls:'http://iosvod.cstv.com/open/miss/13-14/video/m-wrestl/03mar/mobile/wrst_cox_natltitle_interview_master.m3u8',mediaid:'441881',imgurl:'http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/miss/sports/m-wrestl/auto_vipgiant_w/9853039.jpeg',fullDomain:'http://www.mutigers.com'});

    Wrestling crowns its newest, and youngest, national champion

    True freshman, and Columbia, Mo. native J'den Cox burst onto the national scene and capped his amazing rookie season by winning the 197-pound national title at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Oklahoma City in March. Cox became only the 14th true freshman in NCAA history to win a wrestling national title. The Tigers finished 14th as a team at the championships, and earlier in the year, they won MU's third-straight wrestling conference championship.

  • CBSiApp.embed({width:'100%',partner:'miss',title:'Alden goes up in construction crane',flash:'rtmp://cp98724.edgefcs.net/ondemand/open/miss/12-13/video/m-footbl/06jun/foot_alden_crane_pkg.mp4',hls:'http://iosvod.cstv.com/open/miss/12-13/video/m-footbl/06jun/mobile/foot_alden_crane_pkg_master.m3u8',mediaid:'394041',imgurl:'',fullDomain:'http://www.mutigers.com'});

    Facility growth at Sports Park takes big steps

    Following its move to the SEC, facility improvement and expansion went to the next level, and this past year saw many exciting changes to the landscape of Mizzou's athletic grounds. The east side addition to Faurot Field was a year-long project that will be completed this summer, and will add a spacious new upper deck seating area and premium seating options for fans. Additionally, the iconic north end zone hill and Rock M were reconfigured in the offseason to present a pristine, clean new look. The Walsworth Family Golf Center opened up in the fall at Old Hawthorne, providing Mizzou's golf programs with one of the best indoor training centers in the country. A new locker room facility opened for the baseball program, as well as other aesthetic improvements to Taylor Stadium. The brand new Mizzou Tennis Center facility will open officially on April 12th, in time for MU to host the SEC Championships. And there's plenty more on the way in the future, with a new softball stadium, football indoor facility and MU Welcome Center all on the docket, pending approval from the UM Board of Curators.

  • CBSiApp.embed({width:'320px',partner:'miss',title:'Reaction to Michael Sam\'s Announcement',flash:'rtmp://cp98724.edgefcs.net/ondemand/open/miss/13-14/video/m-footbl/02feb/foot_sam_comingout_pkg.mp4',hls:'http://iosvod.cstv.com/open/miss/13-14/video/m-footbl/02feb/mobile/foot_sam_comingout_pkg_master.m3u8',mediaid:'434184',imgurl:'http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/miss/sports/m-footbl/auto_vipgiant_w/9693372.jpeg',fullDomain:'http://www.mutigers.com'});

    Mizzou stands for Sam

    It was an off-field story that made Mizzou an international name shortly after the season ended, when first-team All-American defensive end Michael Sam became the first major collegiate football player to announce that he is gay. Mizzou drew rave reviews for how the team, the program, the University and the community embraced Michael and supported him.

  • CBSiApp.embed({width:'320px',partner:'miss',title:'Mike Alden Discusses Sasha Menu-Courey Story',flash:'rtmp://cp98724.edgefcs.net/ondemand/open/miss/13-14/video/genrel/01jan/gen_alden_smc_interview.mp4',hls:'http://iosvod.cstv.com/open/miss/13-14/video/genrel/01jan/mobile/gen_alden_smc_interview_master.m3u8',mediaid:'431160',imgurl:'http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/miss/sports/genrel/auto_vipgiant_w/9389309.jpeg',fullDomain:'http://www.mutigers.com'});

    Tragic tale of Sasha Menu-Courey revisited

    The tragic passing of former Mizzou swimming student-athlete Sasha Menu-Courey was chronicled by ESPN Outside the Lines in January. The show reported its take on the situation and circumstances surrounding Sasha's time at Mizzou and the tragic taking of her own life.

  • Impressive academic showing by Mizzou

    It doesn't draw the headlines the topic deserves, but Mizzou had plenty to be proud about related to the success of its student-athletes in the classroom. Mizzou finished 2nd in the SEC in Academic Progress Rate, behind only Vanderbilt. Twelve of MU's 20 sport programs finished in the top-3 in the league, including football, gymnastics, men's swimming and diving, and women's swimming and diving, who each finished in first.

  • CBSiApp.embed({width:'320px',partner:'miss',title:'Haith Southern Miss Postgame Interview',flash:'rtmp://cp98724.edgefcs.net/ondemand/open/miss/13-14/video/m-baskbl/03mar/mbb_haith_somiss_post.mp4',hls:'http://iosvod.cstv.com/open/miss/13-14/video/m-baskbl/03mar/mobile/mbb_haith_somiss_post_master.m3u8',mediaid:'441886',imgurl:'http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/miss/sports/m-baskbl/auto_vipgiant_w/9853272.jpeg',fullDomain:'http://www.mutigers.com'});

    Men's basketball misses first NCAA Tournament since 2008

    The Mizzou men's basketball team matched its 23 wins from the 2012-13 season, but it wasn't quite enough to extend the program's record streak of five straight NCAA Tournament appearances. The Tigers missed out on the NCAAs for the first time since 2008, but reached the round of 16 in the NIT.

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    Pro Day brings huge exposure for Mizzou Football

    Mizzou's football program had a record seven players invited to compete in the 2014 NFL Combine in Indianapolis in February. That continued into March, when Mizzou hosted its annual Pro Day for NFL scouts. All but one of the 32 NFL teams came to campus, and the event was covered live from start-to-finish by ESPN3, with ESPN SportsCenter, NFL Network and FoxSports1 also covering live for some amazing, positive exposure for the program, department, University and community.

  • All-Americans galore

    Mizzou had some amazing individual performers across the board this season, with many standout student-athletes earning All-American recognition. Those who achieved first-team All-American status included:  David Bonuchi (men's swimming and diving), J'den Cox (wrestling), Lisa Henning (volleyball), Drake Houdashelt (wrestling), Molly Kreklow (volleyball), Kearsten Peoples (women's indoor track and field), Jill Rushin (women's indoor track and field), Michael Sam (football), and Sam Tierney (men's swimming and diving).

As a reminder, Mizzou fans can vote on their top story of the year on the Mizzou Athletics Facebook page. We'll re-rank the list next Tuesday, April 8.