NCAA Basketball: Duke, Arizona, Texas rise in latest top 25 power ranking
By Joey Loose
24. Missouri (24-9)
All things considered, this has been a really strong season at Missouri in Dennis Gates’ first season at the helm. The Tigers are nationally relevant again and have some sneaky good wins this season on their resume, including double-digit ones over Illinois, Kentucky, and Iowa State. Life isn’t easy in the SEC, but Missouri is holding its own to this point after an 11-7 finish in conference play.
The 4-seed at the SEC Tournament, Missouri got a great win in the quarterfinals, dispatching of a ranked Tennessee team with a 79-71 win. D’Moi Hodge had 26 points while Kobe Brown had 24 points and 9 rebounds in the victory. Things were far less kind in the semifinals as the Tigers fell 72-61 to a very strong Alabama squad. Hodge had 21 points and 9 rebounds, but Missouri shot just 34% from the field and fell out of the game late.
There are multiple reasons for excitement and confidence in Columbia, and this year’s team has certainly played solid basketball for much of the season. They’ve had some really tough performances this season, but are trending in the right direction in March. When the bracket gets unveiled, they’ll likely be around a 7-seed and could be an intriguing team that could pull one of those big second-round upsets if their shooting gets hot.