Should Missouri Invest More Money Into Baseball?
Since winning the Big 12 in 2012, the Missouri Tigers have not made an NCAA Regional appearance.
And things have been stagnant ever since.
There have been glimmers of hope for the program under coach Steve Bieser though, who was hired prior to the 2017 season.
While the Tigers have not finished above .500 in SEC play since Bieser's hire, they have finished with an overall record above .500 in five of his six seasons at the helm.
The Tigers are on the brink of being a contender in the SEC, as well as the college baseball world, having finished 2022 one game short of the SEC Tournament.
Not only that, but the Tigers are also excelling on the recruiting front in recent years.
All things considered, the Tigers are right there in terms of competing again.
However, former Tiger first baseman Peter Zimmerman believes that to really take that next step, Missouri needs to invest more in its baseball program.
“I don’t think people realize just how much more money is put into the programs at other SEC schools and how much of a disadvantage that often puts the team (at) at Mizzou,” Zimmermann said in an interview for the Columbia Missourian.
“Now, I’m not trying to sit here and create excuses; the results do need to be better. But I do know that with a better investment comes a better product, and Coach Bieser is a great coach, and that staff does a great job.”
The pieces are there for the Tigers to compete again in college baseball, with a solid coach and a group of players that have shown they can compete. However, if they want to compete on a yearly basis and not just occasionally, Zimmerman is right.
“I think that you’re gonna see a regional-, super-regional-, world-series-level team,” Zimmermann said. “They do have to have a great coaching staff in place.”
Baseball in the SEC features some of the best programs in the country, from LSU to Vanderbilt and resurging Texas A&M. On top of that, the SEC is set to add college baseball blue blood Texas and an Oklahoma team that is set to spend a good amount of money on their program in the coming years.
If the Tigers want to keep up and not fall by the wayside in the world of college baseball then the administration better see what's to come and open the checkbook to help fund a team that has the potential to be something great.
You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98
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