NCAA Basketball: Ranking the final 10 unbeaten teams for 2022-23 season
By Joey Loose
8. Missouri
New head coach Dennis Gates engineered a quick and fantastic turnaround at Cleveland State and is hoping to pull off similar magic with Missouri. The 9-0 Tigers have gotten this season off to a hot and fast start, but the level of competition is quite concerning.
The Tigers have played one of the very weakest schedules in the entire nation. The only really impressive win is an overtime road victory at Wichita State, and these aren’t exactly the Shockers from a decade ago that were regulars in the Big Dance. Every other game has come at home, with wins over teams like Penn, Coastal Carolina, and most recently Southeast Missouri State, while only a few have been truly impressive blowouts.
On the court, a number of faces are getting the job done, led by D’Moi Hodge, the leading scorer who came with Gates over from Cleveland State. This program is leaning heavily on the transfers, but Kobe Brown (14.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg) is a returning face who continues to get the job done. Throw in Noah Carter, Sean East, Isiaih Mosley, and a few others and you have a Missouri squad with decent depth and definite talent.
The question is how this team will fare when truly tested. The meat and potatoes of their schedule is coming up and it’s hard to imagine these Tigers will be undefeated for too much longer. Their next game is a home date with Kansas and they’ll still play a decent UCF team and a very talented Illinois squad in the coming weeks. Make no mistake, Missouri has played great and Gates is doing a fantastic job, but don’t just look at the record and expect these Tigers to be a national contender this year.