Here's a look back at the best 12 moments for Mizzou sports in the conference:
#12 Mizzou wins Big 12 Tourney baseball championship: The Tigers had no business rolling through the Big 12 Tourney after finishing mid-pack in the regular-season. Mizzou's play should give the program confidence going into next season's brutal SEC slate.
#11 2002 Elite Eight Basketball Run: Quin Snyder's team entered the NCAA Tournament with a 21-11 record and a No. 12 seed. It rolled through the first two rounds. It then defeated UCLA in the Sweet Sixteen. The Tigers lost to Big 12 Conference rival Oklahoma, falling short of the school's first Final Four.
#10 The Coming Out Party of Brad Smith: Most Mizzou fans consider the 2005 Independence Bowl against South Carolina as the greatest comeback in Mizzou history. Brad Smith led the Tigers to a 38-31victory, despite the Gamecocks opening the game with a 21-0 run. Smith threw for 282 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 150 yards and three scores.
#9 Softball Puts Mizzou on National Map: Mizzou Head Coach Ehren Earlywine took over the softball program in 2007. In two years, he turned it into a national power. The Tigers earned trips to the College World Series in 2009, 20010, and 2011.
#8 NFL First Round Draft Choices: Talk about a recruiting tool. Missouri football had five first round NFL Draft choices between 2009-2011. In 2009, receiver Jeremy Maclin (No. 19) and defensive lineman Ziggy Hood (No. 32) started the draft run. The Atlanta Falcons took linebacker Sean Weatherspoon (No. 19) in 2010. Defensive lineman Aldon Smith and quarterback Blaine Gabbert went No. 7 and No. 10 in the 2011 NFL Draft.
#7 The Fastest Forty Minutes: Mike Anderson got Tiger nation to buy into his up-and-down tempo in the 2008-2009 season. After finishing just .500 the season before, Mizzou rolled off 31 victories. It advanced to the Elite Eight, losing to UCONN 82-75.
#6 Heisman Contender: Quarterback Chase Daniel threw for 4,306 yards and 33 touchdowns in the 2007 season. Daniel's play earned him a trip to the Heisman presentation in New York City. His fourth-place finish was the highest finish by a Tiger since Paul Christman in 1939.
#5 Basketball Tourney Champions: Mizzou sent a final hoops message to the rest of the Big 12 in 2012. Missouri defeated Baylor 90-75 to claim the title in Kansas City.
#4 Mizzou Arena Opens: November 15, 2004 the University of Missouri opened the state-of-the-art Paige Sports Arena. The Laurie family donated the biggest chunk of money to build the basketball arena. The university allowed the Laurie family to name the arena after their daughter Paige. A week after it opened, the school removed her name after an ABC 20/20 report accused the 22-year-old Wal-Mart heiress' of cheating her way through college. The younger Laurie attended the University of Southern California. The school renamed it Mizzou Arena.
#3 Border War Finales: If Missouri never plays Kansas again in basketball, we can definitely say they ended on two good ones in 2012. Mizzou won the first game 74-71 at the Mizzou Arena. The Tigers outscored the Jayhawks 11-0 over the final two minutes and change. Then, Kansas got its revenge in overtime in Lawrence three weeks later. Kansas erased a 19-point second-half deficit to just force extra five minutes. Too bad the two cannot work out this off-the-court dispute.
(Melissa Schaller videotaped the post-game celebration after the first game at Harpo's in Columbia)
#2 Game Day @ Mizzou: Mizzou welcomed ESPN's Game Day to Columbia October 23, 2010. Oh yeah, and No. 1 Oklahoma too. Mizzou football defeated OU 36-27. Fans broke Game Day's record for attendance with an estimated 18,000. It broke the previous record set by Nebraska by 3,000 fans. Again, Mizzou beat No. 1 Oklahoma 36-27.
#1 Number 1 in the College Football Polls for a Week: The 2007 season was full of excitement, then heartbreak. The Tigers fell at Oklahoma midway through the season. Then, Mizzou started rolling. The then No. 3 Tigers defeated the undefeated No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks 36-28 in front of a packed partisan crowd at Arrowhead Stadium. Mizzou moved to No. 1 after Arkansas upset LSU that same weekend. That was the first time Mizzou had been ranked No. 1 in any poll since 1960. The heartbreak came in San Antonio the next weekend. Oklahoma beat Missouri 38-17 in the Big 12 Championship game. It ended fans' hope of playing for the national championship. To make matters worse, Kansas was awarded the Orange Bowl. Missouri took out its frustrations against Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. http://www.trbimg.com/img-4fec8c1d/turbine/ky3-gabbert-20120628/600
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