Here’s one. I appreciate college basketball coaches who go big before the turkey is carved, such as third-year Missouri men’s basketball coach Dennis Gates guaranteed when he agreed to a series that sends his Tigers to Memphis to face Penny Hardaway’s team Monday night.
Win or lose, this is a win. Missouri’s key freshmen and transfers will get a season-opening taste of what life will be like in the big, physical SEC. Fans will be shot into hoops season with a matchup worthy of March. It’s the kind of game necessary to remind casual followers the sport does indeed begin before NCAA Tournament brackets are printed.