Bracketology 2023: Penn State, Marquette and Utah State among biggest winners
By Joey Loose
Missouri
Dennis Gates has worked wonders in his first season in Columbia and his impact on these Tigers can certainly be seen. It hasn’t always been pretty, there have been blowout losses to the likes of Kansas and Auburn, but these Tigers have also beaten Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa State, and got another sweet win over a conference rival on Friday.
In the SEC Tournament quarterfinals, the Tigers earned a 79-71 victory over Tennessee, their second win this season over the Volunteers after beating them at the buzzer in an offensive showdown back in February. This time, the combination of D’Moi Hodge (26 points) and Kobe Brown (24 points, 9 rebounds) was too much for Tennessee to handle, especially with Missouri shooting 53% from the field. Tennessee is not at full strength, but a Quad 1 win is a win.
Now up to 6 of those Quad 1 wins, Missouri’s resume is in an even better place and they should feel even better about their position in the bracket. Their NET was 48 at the start of the day, but the Tigers were already solidly in the field; this win makes them look more likely for a 6 or 7-seed than to fall back into a more difficult first-round matchup. However you slice it, Gates is pushing most of the right buttons in his first season with the Tigers and they won’t go down without a fight.