The uncertain became agonizingly clear last week for Mizzou basketball fans.

Michael Porter Jr., Mizzou’s five-star freshman and potential No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA draft, underwent surgery on his back Tuesday and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

In the time it took to type up the press release, Mizzou went from potential SEC champion to mediocre.

Without Porter last week, the Tigers nearly lost to Emporia State, a Division-II program that was picked to finish 10th in its conference — behind the likes of Missouri Southern and Lindenwood. Last week, the Porter-less Tigers lost by 18 points at Utah.

With Porter at the helm, Mizzou would have had the best player on the court nearly every game this season while battling for a conference championship.

Without Porter, Mizzou looks lost offensively and has given fans little confidence it can make the NCAA Tournament field.

Cardinals uncharacteristically aggressive

Whether it ends up happening or not, the Cardinals appeared to make a formal trade offer for Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton and his $310 million contract.

The San Francisco Giants are also front-runners, mostly because they are willing to take on more of his salary than the Cardinals, who would give up more prospects but take on less money.

But the Cardinals’ willingness to spend resources (money and prospects) to significantly improve their roster is a good sign for the rest of the offseason.

If they don’t land Stanton but continue to be aggressive, they have the ability to sign or trade for four or five quality players this winter.

They might have the deepest minor league system in the Major Leagues, and money is certainly not an issue.

So while not landing Stanton would hurt, there are plenty of more opportunities to improve the team going forward.

Kudos to the front office for wanting to get better.

Odom on a run

Speaking of kudos, nobody could have seen the turnaround from Mizzou football program this year.

The Tigers have won five straight after starting the season 1-5, and will head to their first bowl game since 2014.

Was the schedule difficult the last five weeks? Of course not.

Florida, Arkansas and Tennessee are in complete turmoil, and all three schools fired their head coaches.

Idaho, UConn and Vanderbilt  are somewhere between “mediocre” and “awful.”

But you can only play the teams in front of you, and winning five straight games is never easy.

Head Coach Barry Odom saved the season — and his job — the last month.