Marching Mizzou, M2, or The Big 'M' of the Midwest is the performing

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...

for the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, founded in 1885 as a college

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

. Originally consisting of only 12 members, it is now the largest student organization on the MU campus, drawing students from nearly every major. Marching Mizzou performs at all home

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

games of the

Missouri Tigers football The Missouri Tigers football program represents the University of Missouri (often referred to as Mizzou) in college football and competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). History Mis ...

team, in addition to other university events; and expanded Mini Mizzou travels to two away games per season, while the entire band regularly follows the team to conference championship games and

bowl games In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

. Marching Mizzou's signature drill "Flip Tigers" has been a well-known tradition of its pre-game show since 1960. It is instructed by

University of Missouri School of Music The School of Music is an academic division of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Its focus is the study of music, awarding baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees as part of the College of Arts and Science. The instituti ...

faculty.

History

Cadet Band

Marching Mizzou began as the University of Missouri Cadet Band in 1885, founded by Frederick Pannell from the encouragement of Lt. Enoch H. Crowder. Initially, membership was limited to members of the school's Corps of Cadets. The band made only one appearance in the 1885 season, at a football game against the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

and was so well received by the assembled students and alumni that they were asked back to the next season's football games. The Corps obliged, and applications for membership grew quickly. Being a military band, the group performed at both Cadet Corps events and school events, playing music from composers like

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

and

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

Growing and opening up

In 1903, a student band was created to supplement the military band. Under George Venable, director from 1910 to 1946, the band eventually moved away from military marching and acquired the characteristics of a show band. The big "M" formation appeared in the 1920s, and the band won highest honors in the Big 6 Conference in 1934. Following the dissolution of the Corps of Cadets in 1944, membership was opened to every male in the university and the group moved into the Department of Music under the direction of George Wilson. The band's first annual "High School Band Day" was held in 1945, inviting high schools to participate in a massed performance during

halftime In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

. In 1956, The University of Missouri Cadet Band split into a concert band, a university band, and the marching band, resembling the current structure. Charles Emmons became director in 1957, and under his direction, women were allowed to join the band in 1958; most bands at the time remained male-only. By 1966, over 50 bands and 4,000 students were participating in Band Day, requiring two sub-conductors to relay cues to the entire group. Membership swelled up to 231 in 1969 under Alexander Pickard, and the one credit-hour course counted toward Mizzou's physical education requirement.

The Golden Girls

In 1957, director Charles Emmons added a group of baton-twirling majorettes and two feature twirlers to the band. The group became known as the Golden Girls after purchasing now-iconic gold sequined uniforms in 1965. When Alexander Pickard became director of Marching Mizzou in 1966, he began adding dancing to the Golden Girls' routines. Patty Kespohl was hired as the first coach for the Golden Girls in 1968. For the next decade, the majorettes evolved into a dance team as their popularity across the campus grew. By the time they ceased carrying their batons in 1976, the group almost entirely was performing as dancers and had only kept the batons out of tradition. Under Kespohl's coaching, they adopted white boots and also performed as cheerleaders for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

from 1976 to 1981. Starting in 1978, they also faced criticism from new chancellor

Barbara Uehling Barbara Staner Uehling Charlton (June 12, 1932 – January 2, 2020) was an American psychologist and academic administrator. She served as the 4th chancellor of the University of California, Santa Barbara from 1987 to 1994, as the 3rd chancellor ...

for perceived sexism and lack of diversity during the ongoing

Women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resulted in g ...

. Despite administrative resistance, the Golden Girls continued to be featured prominently by Marching Mizzou under Norm Ruebling, who was Marching Mizzou director from 1988 to 1993. They began performing as a

pom squad A dance squad or dance team, sometimes called a pom squad or song team, is a team that participates in competitive dance. A dance squad can also include: a jazz squad, ballet squad, or any kind of religion dance squad. Dance squads are a type of ...

at basketball games and started competing in dance and cheer competitions. Kespohl led the Golden Girls to a national title, winning the 1991 NCA Collegiate Cheer and Pom Dance competition. They were invited to perform at the 1991 Japan Classic, and went on to win the NCA Championship again in 1992. Patty Kespohl resigned as coach later that year, and the Golden Girls became a separate entity from the band; a few feature twirlers remained a part of Marching Mizzou. The dance team joined the athletics department in 1993 and were directed by Korene Ousley for a year and a half. Kespohl returned to coach the Golden Girls until 1997. Shannon Fry became head coach of the Golden Girls in 1997, and led them to a United Spirit Association national title in 2003. Under Fry's coaching, the Golden Girls continued to perform at halftime alongside Marching Mizzou. Fry was fired in 2019 when the Missouri Athletics Department decided to restructure its spirit squads, announcing that the Golden Girls and Cheer programs would be merged into a single organization. Cayla Timberlake became head coach in 2019.

Notable appearances

Marching Mizzou was invited by

President Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th Vice president of the United States, vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Frank ...

to lead his Inaugural Parade in 1949; however, the Missouri legislature refused to fund the trip. As a consolation, the legislature allowed the band to march at the governor's inauguration in

Jefferson City Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Missouri. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 United States census, ranking as the List of cities in Missouri, 16th most popu ...

. Marching Mizzou performed at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

in England in 1975 to 100,000 spectators. In January 2001, Marching Mizzou succeeded in traveling to

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

to perform in the inaugural parade for President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. In March 2012, and then again in 2016, Marching Mizzou traveled to Dublin and Limerick, Ireland to perform in the St. Patrick's Day Parade and an International Marching Competition, respectively. Marching Mizzou was scheduled to return to Ireland in March 2020 for the St. Patrick's Festival Parade in Dublin and the 50th Annual International Band Championships in Limerick, but the trip was initially postponed to 2021, then ultimately cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In April 2021, Marching Mizzou earned an invitation to perform in the 96th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 24, 2022. Marching Mizzou was part of the NBC Broadcast's opening number with Lea Michele and the Cast of Funny Girl, then led the parade. During their featured performance on 34th Street, they performed Sheryl Crow's hit song 'All I Wanna Do'; Crow was an alumnus of Mizzou. The day before, members of Marching Mizzou performed on the Today Show, performing a range of Mizzou traditional selections throughout the entirety of the broadcast. In January 2023, it was announced that Marching Mizzou earned an invitation to perform in the 2024 St. Patrick's Festival Parade in Dublin and plan to travel to Ireland in 2024. After their performance in Dublin, Marching Mizzou was named "Best Overall Band" of the parade out of 14 bands from Ireland, France, and the United States. For several years joining the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

, Marching Mizzou would send a reduced band to every away conference game. Despite receiving substantial boosts in funding in 2014, Dr. D. Bradley Snow, director from 2010 to 2016, claimed that Marching Mizzou is the least-funded marching band in the SEC. Today Marching Mizzou has returned to sending an expanded Mini Mizzou to two away football games per season.

Marching Mizzou Today

Marching Mizzou today is directed by Dr. Amy M. Knopps, Dr. Christian Noon, and Dr. Pete Zambito, with 350 band members, including a full

color guard In Military, military organizations, a colour guard (or color guard) is a detachment of soldiers assigned to the protection of Colours, standards and guidons, regimental colours and the national flag. This duty is highly prestigious, and the mil ...

, Drumline, three feature twirlers, and the Golden Girls. Before every season, the band spends a

week A week is a unit of time equal to seven days. It is the standard time period used for short cycles of days in most parts of the world. The days are often used to indicate common work days and rest days, as well as days of worship. Weeks are ofte ...

learning its pre-game show, preparing stands music, and starting on its normally first of seven halftime shows. The voices of Marching Mizzou are Greg Crocker and Brandt Crocker, who is also known as "The Voice of DCI". The MU Bands hosts three annual events for high schools. "Marching Mizzou Band Day" brings in marching bands from across the state, to practice and perform with Marching Mizzou at the season's first halftime. The pieces for the performance are often specifically composed to match a variety of experience levels. Marching Mizzou also hosts a marching competition called "Champion of Champions" and a Homecoming Parade, both open to high school bands. Select members of Marching Mizzou audition to form Mini Mizzou, a pep band founded in 1973 by Tim Lautzenheiser that attends other events on and around campus, including sporting events and requested appearances. Mini Mizzou will follow the Missouri Tigers Volleyball and Basketball teams to selected championship and tournament games.

Pre-game

The Block "M" formation is a tradition which has existed since the 1920s. For five years upon joining the SEC in 2012, Marching Mizzou would form the Southeastern Conference's logo. In 2017, Marching Mizzou returned to forming the outline of the state of Missouri when playing of the

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

of the University of Missouri, Old Missouri. Marching Mizzou's Flip Tigers is a drill performed to MU's second fight song, "Fight Tiger". The band sequentially forms the word "MIZZOU" and then completes a rapid, 8-count transition into the word "TIGERS". This move was created by director Charles Emmons and his assistant John Christie for the 1960 Orange Bowl.

Bowl game appearances

Marching Mizzou has supported the Mizzou Tigers at all of the team's bowl games since the marching band was first founded, except for 1979: * 2024 Music City Bowl * 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic * 2022 Gasparilla Bowl * 2021 Armed Forces Bowl * 2018 Liberty Bowl *

2017 Texas Bowl The 2017 Texas Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 27, 2017, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. Sponsored by the Academy Sports + Outdoors sporting goods company, it was officially known as the Academy Sports + Outdo ...

* 2015 Citrus Bowl ( 2014 season) *

2014 Cotton Bowl Classic The 2014 Cotton Bowl Classic was a college football bowl game between the #9 Missouri Tigers of the Southeastern Conference and the #13 Oklahoma State Cowboys of the Big 12 Conference. The 78th edition of the Cotton Bowl Classic took place on Jan ...

( 2013 season) * 2011 Independence Bowl (reduced band due to funding and low cost: 80 members) * 2010 Insight Bowl * 2009 Texas Bowl * 2008 Alamo Bowl *

2008 Cotton Bowl Classic The 2008 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2008, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, USA. The Cotton Bowl Classic was part of the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season and one of 32 games in t ...

( 2007 Season) * 2006 Sun Bowl * 2005 Independence Bowl * 2003 Independence Bowl * 1998 Insight.com Bowl * 1997 Holiday Bowl * 1983 Holiday Bowl * 1981 Tangerine Bowl *

1980 Liberty Bowl The 1980 Liberty Bowl, a college football postseason bowl game, was played on December 27, 1980, in Memphis, Tennessee. The 22nd edition of the Liberty Bowl saw the Purdue Boilermakers football, Purdue Boilermakers defeat the Missouri Tigers footb ...

*: money was not offered to send the full band, and Marching Mizzou chose not to attend the game with a reduced band. * 1978 Liberty Bowl * 1973 Sun Bowl * 1972 Fiesta Bowl *

1970 Orange Bowl The 1970 Orange Bowl was the 36th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, January 1. The final game of the 1969–70 bowl game season, it matched the independent and second-ranke ...

( 1969 season) * 1968 Gator Bowl * 1966 Sugar Bowl ( 1965 season) * 1962 Bluebonnet Bowl *

1961 Orange Bowl The 1961 Orange Bowl was the 27th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Miami Orange Bowl in Miami, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1960–61 bowl game season, the No. 5 Missouri Tigers of the Big Eight Conference defea ...

( 1960 season) * 1960 Orange Bowl ( 1959 season) * 1950 Gator Bowl ( 1949 season) *

1949 Gator Bowl The 1949 Gator Bowl was a college football post-season bowl game that featured the Missouri Tigers and the Clemson Tigers. Background Missouri went 8-2, an improvement of two games from last season, with a five-game winning streak occurring afte ...

( 1948 season) * 1946 Cotton Bowl Classic ( 1945 season) *

1942 Sugar Bowl The 1942 edition of the Sugar Bowl featured the Missouri Tigers and the It was played at Tulane Stadium on New Orleans, Louisiana, on Thursday, Those who watched the game were concerned by the entry of the United States into World War II follow ...

( 1941 season) * 1940 Orange Bowl ( 1939 season) * 1924 Christmas Festival

References

External links

* {{Southeastern Conference marching band navbox University of Missouri University of Missouri School of Music College marching bands in the United States Southeastern Conference marching bands Musical groups from Missouri Musical groups from Columbia, Missouri Musical groups established in 1885 1885 establishments in Missouri