Eye on the Tigers

Mizzou football coach Barry Odom has a critical hire on his hands.

The Tigers are in need of an offensive coordinator now that Josh Heupel has taken the head job at UCF.

Where will Odom, a defensive mastermind, turn for points?

In this week's edition of the 'Eye on the Tigers' podcast, Post-Dispatch Mizzou beat writer Dave Matter and sports columnist Ben Frederickson ponder possible candidates for the open offensive coordinator position.

Would it make sense to bring back a former Tigers coordinator? What about a former Texas Tech quarterback? Is it best to continue the Baylor-style spread, or move on to another style?

And, the big question: How will Heupel's departure affect Drew Lock's NFL draft decision?"

Then the topic shifts to basketball, as Matter and Frederickson explain why Tigers coach Cuonzo Martin was so upset after a big win against Miami (Ohio).

The Missouri football team is headed to a bowl game for the first time since 2014.

Problem is, it still doesn't know which one.

In this week's edition of the 'Eye on the Tigers' podcast, Post-Dispatch Mizzou beat writer Dave Matter and sports columnist Ben Frederickson explore the available options and pick which bowls they think would be the best fit for Barry Odom's team.

Other football-related topics include why Mizzou is working on an extension for Odom, and which of Odom's coaches could become targets for other teams' hires. Example: offensive coordinator Josh Heupel.

On the basketball front, Matter and Frederickson recap the Tigers' trip to the championship of the Advocare Invitational, where they squandered a 16-point lead to West Virginia and lost heart-breaker.

How quickly can Blake Harris become the point guard this team needs him to be? How impressive has Jontay Porter's start been? And what was going on with Michael Porter Jr.'s much-discussed Instagram post?

It's time to tackle the what-ifs.

Michael Porter Jr., the most celebrated Mizzou basketball recruit in program history, is expected to miss the rest of the season after his back surgery.

What if he tried a different treatment plan? What if he attempted to come back after surgery? What if he returned as a sophomore?

In this week's edition of the 'Eye on the Tigers' podcast, Post-Dispatch Mizzou beat writer Dave Matter and sports columnist Ben Frederickson discuss these theories, and attempt to put the team Porter leaves behind in the proper perspective moving forward.

Also, the two preview the Mizzou football team's regular-season finale at Arkansas and look forward to the biggest questions for coach Barry Odom in 2018.

The Missouri men's basketball team is 2-0 after convincing wins against Iowa State and Wagner.

But those victories have come without two minutes of playing time from star freshman forward Michael Porter Jr., who checked out after a brief appearance in the season-opener, then watched Monday night's game from the locker room.

What's the latest on Porter's leg issue? Why wasn't he with his team on the sideline Monday night? How worried should Mizzou fans be about the likely lottery pick's health, and how soon might he play?

In this week's edition of the 'Eye on the Tigers' podcast, Post-Dispatch Mizzou beat writer Dave Matter and sports columnist Ben Frederickson break down a rather massive weekend in Mizzou athletics.

They start with Friday's season-opening men's basketball game against Iowa State, and the point-guard news that first-year coach Cuonzo Martin broke earlier this week. What does Kassius Robertson at the point mean for this team? And what should fans expect defensively from this group?

Then the attention turns to Barry Odom's football team, which has spent the past three weeks proving it still has a pulse. Tennessee comes to town with its tail tucked between its legs, and a head coach hanging by a thread. Blake Toppmeyer, Tennessee beat writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel, calls in to offer his view of the game.

The first STL Sports on Tap, on Wednesday at the Schlafly Tap Room, drew a crowd of sports enthusiasts to listen to Post-Dispatch sportswriters and columnists tell stories and answer questions.

A bowl game is there for the taking. And none of the teams standing in the way have more wins, today, than this embattled Missouri football team. It's hard to believe, but it's true.

Missouri has four games to salvage a season, and the SEC opponents on the schedule have been bruised as badly -- some worse -- than the Tigers. Florida doesn't have a head coach. Tennessee appears to be on the verge of losing one. Same for Arkansas. And Vanderbilt? Losers of five straight games.

We are about to find out if back-to-back wins against Idaho and Connecticut were more than a mirage. We are about to learn which team is the worst in the down-and-out SEC East.

In this episode of the 'Eye on the Tigers' podcast, Mizzou beat writer Dave Matter and sports columnist Ben Frederickson set the table for a season-defining stretch, dive deep on growing concerns about the state of the program's recruiting, and ponder Drew Lock's NFL future.

What did the Missouri basketball team's six-point exhibition loss to Kansas teach us about the much-anticipated season ahead?

In this week's edition of the 'Eye on the Tigers' podcast, Post-Dispatch Mizzou beat writer Dave Matter and sports columnist Ben Frederickson sort through the real and the fake from a game that didn't count. They weigh in on the point-guard debate, and cite moments and plays that impressed.

Then the topic turns to football, and the turbulence Tigers coach Barry Odom's 2018 recruiting class has experienced lately. What should athletics director Jim Sterk make of multiple de-commitments?

To wrap things up, the two call upon the expertise of NFL player and CBS Sports analyst Corey Chavous, who will be on the call for Saturday's football game between Mizzou and Connecticut.

Chavous, an NFL draft guru, shares his notes on the Tigers who have a shot to play in the league.

So many Mizzou topics, such little time.

With SEC basketball media days in motion, homecoming fast approaching and two chances to get an sneak peak of Mizzou's highly-hyped hoops team, Ben Frederickson and Dave Matter spend this week's edition of the 'Eye on the Tigers' podcast catching you up on everything you need to know coming out of CoMo.

Can Barry Odom's football team win five of its next six games? Should he be fired if it can't?

Where should Cuonzo Martin's basketball team rank in the preseason SEC standings?

Oh, and about that Mizzou-Kansas exhibition Sunday afternoon in Kansas City ... any chance it's the start of something more?

All of this, along with Matter's pick for SEC preseason player of the year, on this week's episode.

In this week's edition of our 'Eye on the Tigers' podcast, Ben Frederickson and Dave Matter call upon Seth Emerson of the Atlanta Journal Constitution to brainstorm a blueprint that might help the Tigers compete.

Hint: Air it out.

The three break down Georgia's rise under second-year coach Kirby Smart, opine on the state of the SEC East and suggest hypothetical realignment within the divisions.

Matter and Frederickson also sort through the controversial ending of Mizzou's loss at Kentucky last Saturday, and what the officials got wrong.