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Confused? See the glossary at the bottom.

Offense

Receiving Corps

^ Smith was suspended for the 2011 season due to academic ineligibility.
^^ McNeal is a Clemson transfer and will be eligible this fall.
^^^ Phillips is a Boston College transfer and will be eligible this fall.

Offensive Line

Defense

Defensive Line

Linebackers

^ Donohue is a Maryland transfer and will be eligible this fall.

Secondary

Special Teams

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Glossary

Adj. Line Yards: A line measure derived from the formula found here. The idea is to divvy credit for a given rush between both the runner and the blockers.

Adj. Pace: Part of the offensive footprint, this takes into account both the number of plays a team attempts and the type of play. Since passes, on average, take up less time (thanks to the fact that 30-50 percent of them are incomplete and stop the clock), pass-heavy offenses are prone to run more plays, therefore limiting the effectiveness of a general plays-per-game measure. Adj. Pace takes a team's run-pass ratio into account.

Adj. POE: An opponent-adjusted "Points Over Expected" measure for running backs that looks both at what a runner gained and what would have been expected given the opponents involved. For more information, start here.

Adj. Points: A look at how a team would have performed in a given week if playing a perfectly average team, with a somewhat average number of breaks and turnovers. The idea for the measure is simple: what if everybody in the country played exactly the same opponent every single week? Who would have done the best? It is an attempt to look at offensive and defensive consistency without getting sidetracked by easy or difficult schedules. And yes, with adjusted score you can allow a negative number of points. For more, start here.

Adj. Record: See Adj. Points.

Adj. Sack Rate: An opponent-adjusted measure of sack rates.

Adj. Score: See Adj. Points.

Adj. TO Margin: What a team's turnover margin would have been if they had recovered exactly 50 percent of all the fumbles that occurred in their games. If there is a huge difference between TO Margin and Adj. TO Margin (in other words, if fumbles, dropped interceptions, or other unlucky bounces were the main source of a good/bad TO margin), that suggests that a team's luck was particularly good or bad and might even out the next season.

Adj. Yards Per Target: A look at a receiver's total receiving yards divided by the number of times he was targeted. Slight adjustments are made for the percentage of times a receiver was targeted on standard ("%SD") and passing downs. Players targeted more on passing downs are likely to have a lower overall per-target average, since passing is more difficult on passing downs.

Bend-Don't-Break: Part of the defensive footprint, this is a comparison of a team's Def. Success Rate (efficiency) to its Def. PPP (explosiveness). The higher the number, the higher percentage of a team's overall S&P was made up by success rate, i.e. the more willing a team was to sacrifice efficiency to prevent big plays. (The lower the number, the more likely a team was to take aggressive risks.)

Covariance: Covariance is a statistical tool that provides a measure of the strength of the correlation between two or more sets of random variates. For these purposes, it is used to compare a team's performance (using opponent-adjusted Adj. Score) to the quality of the opponent at hand. Some teams play their best games against their worst opponents, and some teams do the opposite. This measure is used for both the offensive and defensive footprint. For more, go here.

Go After the Ball: Part of the defensive footprint, this looks at a team's forced fumbles, interceptions and passes broken up. In other words, it looks at their ability to go after the ball. The higher the number, the more they got their hands on the football.

Highlight Yards: The portion of a given run that is credit only to the running back; after a certain number of yards, the line has done its job, and most of the rest of the run will be determined by the running back himself. For more information, start here.

Need for Blitzes: Part of the defensive footprint, this compares a team's standard downs sack rate to its passing downs sack rate. The lower the number, the more they were able to generate pressure on standard downs, and the less need for blitzes.

Turnovers Luck: Presented in Points Per Game fashion, Turnovers Luck looks at the difference between a team's Turnover and Adj. TO Margins and, using the average point value of a turnover (~5.0 points), projects how many points a team gained or lost per game last season.

Yards Per Point: A measure long tracked by Phil Steele as a means of looking at teams that were a little too efficient or inefficient the previous season. A positive YPP Margin means a team's offense was less efficient than opponents' offenses, and to the extent that luck was involved, their luck might even out the next year.

Fittingly, the Rafters Class of 2012 is a four-guard lineup. Here's your point guard.

Melvin Booker (1990-94)

1990-91: 8.3 PPG, 3.5 APG, 2.2 RPG, 1.0 SPG
1991-92: 11.6 PPG, 3.9 APG, 3.8 RPG, 1.0 SPG
1992-93: 15.8 PPG, 3.7 APG, 4.3 RPG, 1.4 SPG
1993-94: 18.1 PPG, 4.5 APG, 3.8 RPG, 1.3 SPG

Little fanfare accompanied Melvin Booker’s arrival in Columbia. Norm Stewart discovered the unassuming point guard from Moss Point, Mississippi, while recruiting a more heralded peer. Good thing he did, because Booker spent the next four years maximizing his ability as well as any player in the Stewart era. A starter as a freshman, Booker deferred to Doug Smith and Anthony Peeler on the court. But he began to come into his own as a sophomore, averaging 11.6 points and 3.9 assists. With Peeler’s departure after the 1991-92 season, Booker assumed leadership of the team. His 15.8 points per game led the club in his All-Big Eight junior season. But it was Booker’s remarkable senior season that sealed his place among Mizzou’s all-time greats. His averages of 18.1 points and 4.5 assists per game do not begin to tell the story. On his way to becoming the Big Eight Player of the Year and a second team All-American, Melvin Booker imposed his will on each game, hitting every clutch shot in a season that saw the Tigers go a perfect 14-0 in the Big Eight and advance to within one game of the Final Four. Though his career began in virtual anonymity, it ended with Booker ranking among the greats in Missouri Tiger history.

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Commitment No. 13

You know you're a Missouri fan when...

...a commitment from a random, unranked, unheard of Texas defensive end excites you as much as one from a high-three-star recruit.

Mizzou scored a commitment from Marcus Loud, a 6-foot-4, 235-pounder from Houston Wheatley, sight unseen; as I clicked on his profile, I found myself hoping for two things: either a four-star rating (and since I hadn't heard of him, I assumed that was not the case), no rating whatsoever. It was the latter. There is no film of Loud on YouTube or Rivals.com, only some decent offers (Texas Tech, Colorado) and another out-of-nowhere Texan. Loud has solid size for a high school end, though obviously that's the only judgment we can make of him until some film emerges. (Well, that and his name is fantastic.)

Loud's commitment means Mizzou's 2013 class is over half-full. The Tigers have one quarterback (Trent Hosick), one likely running back (Chase Abbington), one receiver (J'Mon Moore, who will probably still be taking other visits), four offensive linemen (Jake Campos, Clay Rhodes, Harneet Gill, Alec Abeln), one defensive end (Loud), one tackle (Antar Thompson), two linebackers (Nick Ramirez, Joe Burkett), one defensive back (Aarion Penton) and a wildcard athlete (Anthony Sherrils). That's strangely well-rounded.

Based on the distribution of offers, I would expect the final nine to 12 spots in this class to focus on 1-2 more defensive tackles and at least one more receiver/tight end (two if Moore goes elsewhere), defensive end and defensive back. Beyond that, I think the focus shifts more toward "best available."

• Hello There, Mr. Loud
  PowerMizzou: Quiet no longer
  Rivals.com: Marcus Loud Profile

Mizzou Football Links

There were a lot of fun tidbits emerging from yesterday's SEC Meetings in Destin, FL, but only one piece of information truly matters in the present tense: James Franklin's recovery is ahead of schedule. We haven't talked a ton about it, but Mizzou's ceiling gets lowered quite a bit if Franklin isn't healthy in 2012.

Beyond that, however, yesterday was pretty fun and informative. We're one step closer to getting to fully hate Arkansas, and we might get to have a fun "THE NEW PHONE BOOKS SCHEDULES ARE HERE!" live thread on Friday.

• QB No. 1
  The Trib (Dave Matter): Pinkel says Franklin's "ahead of schedule"
  ESPN.com (SEC): James Franklin ahead of schedule
• YES!
  Birmingham Times: SEC meetings notebook: Pinkel believes Arkansas & Missouri will be football rivals
  KC Star: Southeastern Conference notebook
  KC Star: Former MU basketball coach Anderson was happy for Tigers' success
  Mr. SEC: Pinkel Says Arkansas-Missouri Will Be Cross-Division Foes
• More Turf Talk
  The Trib (Dave Matter): Faurot Field gets a facelift
  We Are Mizzou: Mizzou Turf Install
• I Smell Live Thread
  CBS Sports: SEC to announce 12-year conference schedule

  SEC consultant Larry Templeton told the Birmingham News on Saturday that the league would go with a 6-1-1 scheduling model.

  Sources told CBSSports.com that the SEC is expected to announce the league's scheduling opponents for the next 12 years and that the rotating cross division game will be a one-year rotation instead of a two-year home and home rotation. However, commissioner Mike Slive said "we'll see what emerges with the schedule."

  The SEC's spring meetings began Tuesday in Sandestin. An official announcement on the league's future schedule could come on Friday, the final day of meetings.

  In other words: an SEC West team would play six games against the other six SEC West opponents, one game against a permanent SEC East rival and one game against a rotating SEC East team.

  That rotating opponent will change every year, meaning each league team will play every other league member at least once every six years. If the league had opted for a home and home series between the rotating teams, it would have taken 12 years for each SEC school to play each other.

(By the way, you definitely want to read the Alden-on-SEC article after the jump.)

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Via Gary Pinkel on Twitter:

Based on what we heard about the new turf before it was officially unrolled, I was a little concerned about the end zones and borders. It will take me a while to get used to the new font in the end zone diamonds, but all I am pretty damn pleased with this. I love that they didn't make the Tiger logo too big at midfield, I (obviously) love the SEC logos, and the "Mizzou Football" on the sidelines are solid.

Your turn: thoughts? Things that particularly impress or annoy you?

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Mizzou Diamond Sports Links

• Next Stop: Tucson
  MUtigers.com: Tiger Baseball Headed to Tucson Regional
  Mizzou Network: Baseball Selection Show Reactions
  SimmonsField.com: MU's NCAA Regional Destination: Tucson, AZ
  The Trib: Missouri to play in Tucson Regional
  The Missourian: Missouri headed to Tucson for NCAA Tournament
  KC Star: Mizzou baseball team gets spot in Arizona regional
  Post-Dispatch: Mizzou will face Arizona
  PowerMizzou: Tigers are Tucson bound
  Dallas Morning News: Longhorns' Augie Garrido: Missouri winning Big 12 tourney, auto bid into NCAA tourney dealt 'final blow' to Texas tourney chances
  SimmonsField.com: MizzouTube: ChampsKBIA Sports: Surprising win and surprising loss for Mizzou baseball and softball
  
• Time To Get To Work On 2013
  The Trib: MU softball team forced to stew in its own juices

  "I’ve been scratching my head all season long," Earleywine said. "We’ve worked so tirelessly with these girls on their mechanics and their mental approach. I think the most frustrating part from a coach’s perspective is that you know they’re capable of having a pretty good mechanical swing. Obviously, every hitter is going to have some things wrong. But if you just line them up in batting practice and watch them hit, they’re pretty sound across the board.

  "But when they get into games, I don’t know what happens. I guess it’s the panic button, but they change. They either get jumpier or longer or they try to swing harder or they stride a different direction. That’s the hurtful part, because you know you’ve created this kid that has a very good swing, but they’re not allowing themselves to be successful because of the panic." […]

  The problem was offense. Earleywine admitted that he was reduced to counting down the at-bats until Fleming’s turn at the plate, because it seemed preposterous that Missouri might string three hits together. Even when MU scored five runs in Game 2, it was the result of exuberant baserunning and botched throws. Missouri’s 12th-inning outburst began with dropped third strike and turned on a not-so-classic three-run fielder’s choice.

  The Missourian: Elimination stings Missouri softball team even more with loss of Fleming

  At times this season, Missouri's No. 3 hitter was the Tiger's only offense. She proved that when she hit a walkoff, ninth-inning home run in the Columbia regional against DePaul that gave the Tigers a 1-0 victory and sent them to the title game.

  "It's unfortunate, but all day long you're going, 'When's Ashley up?'" Earleywine said after Sunday's games. "It's going to be tough to lose that kid, especially the way she's played these last two seasons. ... We'd like to keep her forever, but what are you going to do?" […]

  Fleming was never the vocal presence of this young team, but to a player, everyone considered her a leader. She simply led by example. The lefty with the sweet swing from Silex, who thrived in pressure situations, showed young starters like Kayla Kingsley how to overcome early struggles to become a productive player. She also showed them what she believes are the truly important parts about being a Missouri Tiger.

Football Links

• A Football Nerd's Dream
  CBS Sports (Bruce Feldman): Q&A Talking 'Smart Football' with Chris B. Brown
• PLAYoff?
  Senator Blutarsky: It's so easy...

SEC

• SEC Meetings
  The Trib (Dave Matter): Greetings from Destin
• The New SEC
  Team Speed Kills: SEC 2012: The New SEC
• Scheduling
  ESPN.com (CBB Blog): Figuring out SEC schedule

EXPANSIONAPALOOZA™ 2012

• Part Two
  Bring On The Cats: Conference Realignment: What Matters In Realignment (Post 2)
• The Big 12 Still Has Big 12 Tendencies
  Blatant Homerism: Whoa, DeLoss, light a match (and forget about Notre Dame)
• SECEXPANSIONAPALOOZA™ 201_
  Senator Blutarsky: What we should be talking about with SEC expansion
• EXPANSIONAPALOOZA™ 1991
  Dallas Morning News: Former LSU athletic director: Texas A&M inquired about a move to the SEC in 1991

Other

• Really Nice Pieces From Yesterday
  SB Nation YouTube: Veterans' Favorite Sports Memories
  Shutdown Corner: Things to know about NFL men who served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam
  

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First things first: we seem to have quite a few members of military families on this site, I want to wish everybody a happy, somber Memorial Day. We tend to use the word "ultimate" too much these days, but we don't use it enough in talking about the ultimate sacrifices made by those for whom Memorial Day was created.

Mizzou Baseball Links

As mentioned in comments last night, though Mizzou Softball is done, we should all think about transferring some of our prop bets (or making new ones) to account for the brilliant run Mizzou Baseball made this past weekend, and the one they might continue to make next weekend. Mizzou Baseball loves children too!

And what a well-timed run this was. The Big 12 Tournament has just taunted Tim Jamieson through the years, as Mizzou has lost dramatically in the finals multiple times, including last year, when the Tigers built a similarly large lead (6-0 last year, 7-2 this year) and lost it. Oklahoma evened things up at 7-7 late, but Mizzou prevailed anyway. Great to see. Welcome back to the NCAAs, Coach.

• Big 12 Tournament Champions
  MUtigers.com: Tigers Win Big 12 Baseball Championship
  Big12Sports.com: Mizzou Wins Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship
  Big12Sports.com: Missouri vs. Oklahoma Highlights
  The Trib: Tigers win Big 12 baseball championship
  The Missourian: First Big 12 baseball title special for Missouri's Jamieson
  KC Star: Mizzou takes Big 12 baseball title
  Post-Dispatch: Tigers win Big 12 baseball crown
  Fox Sports MW: Mizzou tops Oklahoma to win first Big 12 title
  Daily Oklahoman: Missouri beats Oklahoma to win Big 12 Tournament
  Daily Oklahoman: Coach Tim Jamieson, Missouri baseball leave conference on top
• Trripleplay's Posting Parade
  SimmonsField.com: We are the champions !!!
  SimmonsField.com: Big 12 Tournament Championship Photos: Celebration
  SimmonsField.com: Big 12 Tournament Championship Photos: Congratulations
  SimmonsField.com: Big 12 Tournament Championship Photos: Dogpile
  SimmonsField.com: Big 12 Tournament Championship Photos: Award Ceremony
  SimmonsField.com: Big 12 Tournament Championship Photos: Trophy
  SimmonsField.com: Big 12 Tournament Championship Photos: The Ultimate Honor
  SimmonsField.com: HI NOTES: Big 12 Champs move on to NCAA Regionals

  The Big 12 win awards the Tigers an automatic berth in the NCAA Regionals. The at-large teams, top-eight national seeds, first-round regional pairings and site assignments will be announced at noon ET, Monday, May 28. The one-hour program will be shown live on ESPNU.

Mizzou Softball Links

• LSU Hates Children
  MUtigers.com: Missouri's Season Ends at Hands of LSU
  The Trib: Same ole same ole -- lack of an offense does in Tigers
  The Missourian: Defeat in home super regional tough end for Missouri
  KC Star: LSU keeps MU softball team out of World Series
  KC Star: MU softball falls short of College World Series
  Post-Dispatch: Mizzou runs out of gas

Mizzou Football Links

• Upgrades
  Mizzou Network: Building The New Faurot
• The Move™
  Post-Dispatch: Mizzou returns to school
• Mailbag!
  The Trib (Dave Matter): The New Nameless Twitter Mailbag Blog

  @novakmchris: What offensive and what defensive player on the team do you think is poised to have a breakout season this year?

  Offense: Marcus Lucas. As a sophomore last year, his production was erratic. Game-winning TD catches against Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Zero catches against Oklahoma, Kansas State, Texas and North Carolina. As far as talent goes, no reason why he can’t be one of the top outside receivers in the SEC this year.

  Defense: Kony Ealy. He has all the tools to be an impact player on the edge.

• Posters
  We Are Mizzou: Football Poster Photo Shoot

SEC

• Scheduling
  Birmingham Times: Meet the SEC schedule guru fitting square pegs in round holes
  SB Nation: SEC Confirms '6-1-1' Scheduling For Future Conference Games
• Recruiting & Development
  Mr. SEC: A School-By-School Comparison Of The SEC's NFL Pipelines

EXPANSIONAPALOOZA™ 2012

• Catching Up
  Bring On The Cats: Conference Realignment: Why Is This Happening? (Post 1)

Other

• USMNT
  Dirty Tackle: Donovan hat-trick powers hooped Yanks over Scotland in friendly
  Pro Soccer Talk: The Big Three: trio of talkers in U.S. romp over Scotland

Chelsea Thomas has thrown approximately 1,734 pitches in 24 hours ... and it JUST. DOESN'T. MATTER. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER.

BONUS SOFTBALL.

#TremendousDelirium

So yesterday featured a huge baseball game and a huge softball game. Today, the stakes have been raised considerably. Thanks to Mizzou's run-rule win over Kansas (tee hee), the Tigers have a chance to win their final Big 12 tournament today against Oklahoma. Meanwhile, thanks to the rare rough outing for Chelsea Thomas, Mizzou Softball must win twice today to make their fourth straight Women's College World Series.

1:05 p.m. CT
Big 12 Baseball Tournament Finals
Missouri vs. Oklahoma
TV: Fox Sports Midwest (full list of outlets here -- warning: PDF)

2:30 p.m. CT
NCAA Softball Super Regionals
Missouri vs. LSU
TV: ESPNU

5:00 p.m. CT (If Necessary)
NCAA Softball Super Regionals
Missouri vs. LSU
TV: ESPNU

Baseball

Mizzou traveled to Norman in mid-April, in the middle of a four-game conference losing streak. They left in the middle of a seven-game conference losing streak. Oklahoma swept Tim Jamieson's Tigers, but one can take solace in two things: 1) Mizzou is playing quite a bit better now than they were then, and 2) two of the three losses in Norman were by one run. They lost the opener, 6-5 in 10 innings, and they lost the closer, 5-4. They absolutely have a chance to pull off a win today. As good as Oklahoma has looked this week in taking out Baylor twice, Mizzou has looked just as good -- they outscored Texas, Texas A&M and Kansas by a combined 22-5.

Some links:

• Mizzou 12, Kansas 2
  MUtigers.com: Mizzou Run Rules Kansas to Advance to Big 12 Championship Game
  Big 12 Sports: Missouri Advances to Second Straight Big 12 Championship Game
  The Trib: Missouri advances to baseball championship game
  The Trib: Border War comes to merciful end for KU
  KC Star: MU wins final Border War
  SimmonsField.com: MU Run-Rules the Border War

Softball

There's a reason why teams don't typically make it to four consecutive World Series: it's really hard to do. It is difficult to pull off four straight years of regionals and super regionals without suffering poor performances at really poor times. Chelsea Thomas simply couldn't find the plate yesterday, and LSU executed its game plan (work the count, run the bases well, kill with defense) better than Missouri did. The good news is simply that LSU didn't do anything surprising; they simply played well. If Chelsea can locate her pitches today (and the odds are good that she will), and if the defense tightens up (LSU scored two runs on a bloop single that two different defenders should have caught, and the Bayou Bengals' fifth-inning explosion began with another iffy defensive play), Mizzou is more than capable of winning two games today. We'll see, huh?

Some links:

• LSU 6, Mizzou 1
  MUtigers.com: Mizzou Drops Opener to LSU, 6-1
  Mizzou Network: Ehren Earleywine Postgame Press Conference
  The Trib: LSU surprises Missouri in super regional opener
  The Trib: Win two ... or go home
  The Missourian: Thomas, Missouri fall to LSU in super regional opener
  KC Star: MU falls to LSU in game one of softball Super Regional
  Post-Dispatch: MU softball team loses opener in super regional
  KBIA Sports: Mizzou softball loses to LSU, must win two to advance to World Series

Alright, Rally Baby, Mizzou is down 2-0 in the fourth. Time to go to work.

It is an interesting present-meets-future day on the diamonds today. Missouri faces off versus Kansas either once or twice on the baseball diamond today (and this really will be the last time the programs face as conference rivals) and in between, Mizzou takes on future conference rival LSU in the NCAA Softball Super Regionals. The stakes are high and getting higher for both programs. A win in either of two games today would put the Tigers in tomorrow's Big 12 Tournament finals (which, if they won, would give them an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, as you probably know very well by now, a win by the softball game would put them within one step of an incredible, fourth straight Women's College World Series bid.

12:30 p.m. CT
Big 12 Baseball Tournament Semifinals
Missouri (2-0) vs. Kansas (2-1)
Watch Live
SimmonsField.com's "Last Grudge Match. Again." HI NOTES post

6:30 p.m. CT
NCAA Softball Super Regionals
No. 9 Missouri vs. LSU at University Field
TV: ESPNU
MUTigers.com Tournament Central
The Beef's Stellar Series Preview

7:30 p.m. CT (if necessary)
Big 12 Baseball Tournament Semifinals
Missouri vs. Kansas
Watch Live

And of course, check in on the Stubble Drive here and buy your Tremendous Stubble T-Shirt for future use here. Do it for Mizzou and Missouri Children's Hospital!

A potentially thrilling (or, technically, devastating) weekend begins at 12:30. And Rally Baby is prepared to intervene if necessary.

M-I-Z...

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Back to Profiles home page.

Confused? See the glossary at the bottom.

Offense

Receiving Corps

Offensive Line

Defense

Defensive Line

Linebackers

Secondary

Special Teams

---

Glossary

Adj. Line Yards: A line measure derived from the formula found here. The idea is to divvy credit for a given rush between both the runner and the blockers.

Adj. Pace: Part of the offensive footprint, this takes into account both the number of plays a team attempts and the type of play. Since passes, on average, take up less time (thanks to the fact that 30-50 percent of them are incomplete and stop the clock), pass-heavy offenses are prone to run more plays, therefore limiting the effectiveness of a general plays-per-game measure. Adj. Pace takes a team's run-pass ratio into account.

Adj. POE: An opponent-adjusted "Points Over Expected" measure for running backs that looks both at what a runner gained and what would have been expected given the opponents involved. For more information, start here.

Adj. Points: A look at how a team would have performed in a given week if playing a perfectly average team, with a somewhat average number of breaks and turnovers. The idea for the measure is simple: what if everybody in the country played exactly the same opponent every single week? Who would have done the best? It is an attempt to look at offensive and defensive consistency without getting sidetracked by easy or difficult schedules. And yes, with adjusted score you can allow a negative number of points. For more, start here.

Adj. Record: See Adj. Points.

Adj. Sack Rate: An opponent-adjusted measure of sack rates.

Adj. Score: See Adj. Points.

Adj. TO Margin: What a team's turnover margin would have been if they had recovered exactly 50 percent of all the fumbles that occurred in their games. If there is a huge difference between TO Margin and Adj. TO Margin (in other words, if fumbles, dropped interceptions, or other unlucky bounces were the main source of a good/bad TO margin), that suggests that a team's luck was particularly good or bad and might even out the next season.

Adj. Yards Per Target: A look at a receiver's total receiving yards divided by the number of times he was targeted. Slight adjustments are made for the percentage of times a receiver was targeted on standard ("%SD") and passing downs. Players targeted more on passing downs are likely to have a lower overall per-target average, since passing is more difficult on passing downs.

Bend-Don't-Break: Part of the defensive footprint, this is a comparison of a team's Def. Success Rate (efficiency) to its Def. PPP (explosiveness). The higher the number, the higher percentage of a team's overall S&P was made up by success rate, i.e. the more willing a team was to sacrifice efficiency to prevent big plays. (The lower the number, the more likely a team was to take aggressive risks.)

Covariance: Covariance is a statistical tool that provides a measure of the strength of the correlation between two or more sets of random variates. For these purposes, it is used to compare a team's performance (using opponent-adjusted Adj. Score) to the quality of the opponent at hand. Some teams play their best games against their worst opponents, and some teams do the opposite. This measure is used for both the offensive and defensive footprint. For more, go here.

Go After the Ball: Part of the defensive footprint, this looks at a team's forced fumbles, interceptions and passes broken up. In other words, it looks at their ability to go after the ball. The higher the number, the more they got their hands on the football.

Highlight Yards: The portion of a given run that is credit only to the running back; after a certain number of yards, the line has done its job, and most of the rest of the run will be determined by the running back himself. For more information, start here.

Need for Blitzes: Part of the defensive footprint, this compares a team's standard downs sack rate to its passing downs sack rate. The lower the number, the more they were able to generate pressure on standard downs, and the less need for blitzes.

Turnovers Luck: Presented in Points Per Game fashion, Turnovers Luck looks at the difference between a team's Turnover and Adj. TO Margins and, using the average point value of a turnover (~5.0 points), projects how many points a team gained or lost per game last season.

Yards Per Point: A measure long tracked by Phil Steele as a means of looking at teams that were a little too efficient or inefficient the previous season. A positive YPP Margin means a team's offense was less efficient than opponents' offenses, and to the extent that luck was involved, their luck might even out the next year.

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Mizzou Softball Links

If you read only one of the links below (and by all means, you should read them all!!), make it the Missourian piece on Corrin Genovese below. Great stuff.

• Super Regional Starts Tomorrow
  MUtigers.com: No. 9 Tigers Eye Fourth Straight WCWS Bid
  MUtigers.com: FAN PRIMER - NCAA SUPER REGIONALS
  The Missourian: Genovese's talent almost got away from Missouri
  Post-Dispatch: Marston's move to catcher helps propel Mizzou softball
  KC Star: Injuries changed Missouri's Muller, but her spirit is unaffected
  Mizzou Network: 1 on 1 with Ehren Earleywine
• NERRRRRRRDS
  MUtigers.com: Three Crowned Academic All-Americans

Mizzou Baseball Links

• One Win From The Finals
  MUtigers.com: Mizzou Advances to Big 12 Semifinal with 5-3 Win Over Texas A&M
  Big 12 Sports: Missouri Upends Texas A&M, 5-3
  The Trib: Missouri advances at Big 12 baseball tournament
  KC Star: Mizzou moves into bracket final at Big 12 baseball tournament
• Other
  SimmonsField.com: HI NOTES: Postseason for former Tigers; SEC Tourney

Mizzou Football Links

• Atlanta = Dallas
  ESPN.com (SEC): Missouri is ready to recruit the southeast

  Pinkel said the main areas of importance outside of the Tigers' home state are Dallas and Atlanta. The good thing for Pinkel and his staff is that it's only about an hour longer drive to Atlanta compared to Dallas. It still accounts for 10-plus hours on the road, but if you're going to take the time to head to Dallas, you might as well make it out to the hub of the South.

  And for Pinkel, it's well worth it.

  "If you look at statistics and analysis of BCS players, they come out of the metroplex around Dallas and then you look at the greater Atlanta area," he said. "The parallels are staggering between those two cities. They produce a lot of athletes."

  Currently, Missouri has just six players from SEC states -- three from Florida, two from Arkansas and one from Louisiana. Mizzou increased that number by two after signing two players from Florida in its 2012 class.

• Gabs
  Big Cat Country: Blaine Gabbert's Footwork Already Improving
  ESPN.com (AFC South): Why the Jags expect better pass protection
• You're A Mean One, Mr. Gr ... Oh, Nevermind
  We Are Mizzou: Alex Grinch

Mizzou Basketball Links

So this is an interesting tidbit. The good folks at PowerMizzou think Mizzou has a good shot at Stevie Clark, a junior point guard from OKC Douglass. Only ... his coach just left, he's not pleased about it, and he's trying to figure out if he can graduate in 2012 instead. If he does so ... then that probably means Missouri is not a player (because of that whole "we have no scholarships left to give" thing).

• 2013 Recruiting?
  ESPN.com (Insider): PG Stevie Clark might graduate early

SEC

Excellent interview, though I'd like to know more about what Alden called the "30-month transition" at the end.

• Alden Speaks
  Mizzou Network: Alden on Stadium, Softball and Conference Realignment

EXPANSIONAPALOOZA™ 2012

• The Train, It Keeps Rolling
  SB Nation: John Swofford Confident ACC Schools Are Trustworthy, Uninterested In Big 12
  SB Nation: Clemson BOT Chairman Says School "Would Listen" To Other Conferences
  Shakin' In The Southland: Wilkins comments following BOT meeting
  Saturday Blitz: Flashback Friday: Conference Moves of Yesteryear
  Black Shoe Diaries: Delany Goes Corleone

Other Mizzou Links

• Mizzou Wrestling
  MUtigers.com: Wrestling Announces Coaching Staff Additions

Other

• USMNT
  SB Nation: USA Vs. Scotland: Jurgen Klinsmann's Squad Begins "Five Match Tournament"

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