Joining the Southeastern Conference in 2012 is the very first public school of higher education that is located west of the Mississippi River, the University of Missouri. Established in 1839, the University of Missouri also has the very first school of journalism in the world that was founded in 1908 by Walter Williams. Its 1,250 acre campus is a botanical garden, is a historic district that has many buildings listed on the National Register or Historic Places, and is located south of downtown Columbia. There are two sections of academic buildings on campus, the Red Campus and the White Campus. The Red Campus includes mostly all historic buildings and surrounds the David R. Francis Quadrangle. Jesse Hall, Switzler Hall, the University of Missouri School of Law, and other academic buildings also make up the Red Campus. On the White Campus, you will find the Memorial Union building and The College of Agriculture as well as other schools. On the east and west of campus you can find Greek Life Housing. On Frat Row in East Campus, Sigma Nu, Alpha Gamma Rho, Beta Sigma Psi, Kappa Alpha Order, Sigma chi, and Beta Theta Pi have houses. On the other side of campus, just north or Memorial Stadium, you will find Greek Town where nearly 30 Fraternities or Sororities have houses. Just south of Red and White Campuses is where the athletic facilities are found. Some athletic facilities are Rollins Field, Rothwell Gymnasium, Memorial Stadium, the Hearnes Center, Mizzou Arena, Taylor Stadium, Walton Stadium, Mizzou Athletics Training Complex, University Field, and Devine Pavilion.

Academics at the University of Missouri, or Mizzou, are taken very seriously. The campus is one of six that has a law school, school of medicine, and a veterinary medicine school. Also at Mizzou you can find, the College of Arts and Science, the College of Education, the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, the College of Engineering, the Graduate School, the School of Journalism, the Trulaske College of Business, the Sinclair School of Nursing, the School of Social Work, the School of Music, the School of Health Professions, the School of Accountancy, the School of Natural Resources, the College of Human Environmental Sciences, the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies, and the Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs. Since 1841, the University of Missouri has had twenty-one presidents. The currently school president is Brady J. Deaton. The main campus of the University of Missouri is located in Columbia, but you will also find campuses in Rolla, Kansas City, and St. Louis. Mizzou is the only school in Missouri to be a part of the Association of American Universities. As of Fall 2011, there were nearly 34,000 students and close to 8,000 of those are postgraduates.

During the American Civil War, like most other universities in the nation, Mizzou closed. Students that joined the army formed a militia called the Fighting Tigers of Columbia. For this reason, and their readiness to stand up and fight for their city and university, the Tiger became the mascot of the University of Missouri. Truman the Tiger, named after the U.S. President Harry S. Truman, has been the mascot since 1986, but a Tiger has been the mascot since 1890. During football games he does "tail spins" during the Missouri Waltz, he rides home from football game days in a Boone County fire truck called Truman's Taxi, and he does push-ups when the Tigers score with the ROTC. The colors of the Mizzou Tigers are black and gold. If there is a color we like at SidelineSweetie.com it is Black! Black is one of the easiest colors, or lack of color, for anyone to wear! Black is the most slenderizing color and how easy is it to wear a black dress and pair it with gold shoes and jewelry for that game ready look! Check out all of our awesome black dresses! We love them!

So, who is ready to cheer on the Mizzou Tigers against their new opponents in the Southeastern Conference? At Mizzou, teams compete in NCAA Division I sports which include men's and women's basketball, football, baseball, cross country, golf, swimming & diving, track, tennis, gymnastics, volleyball, soccer, softball, and wrestling. Football games at home are played on Faurot Field. It was built in 1926 and can hold nearly 72,000 people! Basketball games are played in the Mizzou Tigers' Arena. The biggest rival for Mizzou was the University of Kansas but now that the Tigers are a part of the SEC, new rivalries are sure to form.

There are several activities that students participate in each year at Mizzou but none more well known than Homecoming. At the University of Missouri, Homecoming is super important because supposedly it was founded there! Starting in 1911, the Mizzou Homecoming began when the athletic director, Chester Brewer, invited alumni back to the school for the upcoming game against the University of Kansas. Since then, the Homecoming events at Mizzou are some of the grandest in the nation. Most recently, the blood drive that is held during the week has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest in the nation.

Speaking of alumni, the University of Missouri has several people that are quite notable that attended the school. For example, Brad Pitt went to Mizzou! He enrolled in 1982 and majored in Journalism with a focus on advertising. At Mizzou he was a part of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Two weeks before he was supposed to graduate he decided he was not ready to start a career in his degree field so he packed up and moved to Los Angeles! Sheryl Crow also went to the University of Missouri. While there, Sheryl sang in a local band called Cashmere and was a part of Kappa Alpha Theta, the Omicron Delta Kappa Society, and she was in the International Fraternity for Women called Sigma Alpha Iota. When she graduated she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Composition, Performance, and Education. How cool would it be to run into either of these famous alumni at the Homecoming celebrations at Mizzou? Need a great dress or outfit for the Homecoming game or festivities? Check out SidelineSweetie.com for all your wardrobe needs!