The Missouri Tigers achieved a necessary victory on Saturday over the South Carolina Gamecocks to prevent a streak of three games lost, and are now back to over 0.500 at the conference, heading into the final stretch of the season.
Without even looking at their curriculum, Missouri did exactly what a Power Five conference team needs to do to make the NCAA tournament comfortable. Regardless of what happens on March 3, when the Tigers face the Alligators on the road, the Tigers will have – at least – a record of at least 0.500 away from home, a win on the neutral court and at least 8 wins at home. Add to that six victories in Quadrant 1, and Missouri is essentially a block to the NCAA Tournament.
A victory over South Carolina does not do much to improve Tigers’ sowing, so in the latest version of Rock-M-Tology, they remain the sixth seed. What the victory did, however, was to end any serious discussion about losing the NCAA Tournament altogether. I understand, things are not as lively as they were a few weeks ago, when Missouri beat Alabama to improve to 13-3 this season; at that time, a seed of two or three was in serious dispute. However, it is important to remember the minimum expectations this season – just to do the NCAA tournament was an objective – and we have that; Cuonzo Martin will take this Tigers program to the NCAAT for the second time in four seasons.
There is a lot of basketball left to be played and reach 5th place, a week of 2-0 at home with victories over Ole Miss and Texas A&M (if that game really happens) is certainly necessary. To get back into the top four, I believe that a serious race in the SEC tournament will be necessary.
It is also important to remember that Missouri has 14-4 in the season with Jeremiah Tilmon in the squad and 0-2 when he is not. I think it matters. Will this make a difference to the selection committee? Who knows! It is a promising sign that Gary Parrish and Seth Davis still has Missouri in its top 25 rankings.
And according to the latest updated projections, Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has Missouri as seed # 4 (vs. North Texas), Joe Lunardi of ESPN has seed # 6 vs. Boise State, and Chris Dobbertean of our SBNation has Tigers as a block (and a No. 5 seed against Belmont).
- Duke (10-8): Not yet on the pitch, but Blue Devils have won three consecutive wins, including the victory over Virginia on Saturday night. There are more opportunities coming for them at the end of the path.
- San Diego State (17-4): The Aztecs won eight consecutive victories and jumped to the Top 25, establishing a major race for first place in Mountain West against Boise State on Thursday and Saturday this week.
- VCU (16-5): The Rams suffered a bad at home on Saturday against George Mason. Their résumé is certainly missing, with no wins in Quadrant 1 and two losses in Quadrant 3.
- Tennessee (15-6): The Vols’ inconsistencies continue, with 3-3 in the last six games, the result of a 15-point home loss to Kentucky.
These would be among the latter without automatic conference bidding.
- Wichita State (13-4)
- Colorado State (14-4)
- UCONN (10-6)
- Maryland (14-10)
- Stanford (14-8)
- Syracuse (13-6)
- Duke (10-8)
- St. John (14-9)
- Gonzaga (22-0)
- Baylor (17-0)
- Michigan (16-1)
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Ohio State (18-5)
- Illinois (16-5)
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Villanova (14-3)
- Alabama (18-5)
- Iowa (17-6)
- Houston (18-3)
- Oklahoma (14-5)
- West Virginia (15-6)
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Florida State (13-3)
- USC (18-4)
- Virginia (15-5)
- Creighton (16-5)
- Kansas (17-7)
BY CONFERENCE:
Big Ten: 9
Great 12: 7
ACC: 6
SEC: 6
Grand Orient: 5
PAC-12: 4
West Mountain: 3
Atlantic-10: 2
Missouri Valley: 2
WCC: 2
American: 2
FIRST FOUR (Municipal Assembly):
- North Carolina A&T (8-10) vs Prairie View (7-4)
- State of Wichita (13-4) vs State of Colorado (14-4)
- Wagner (10-5) vs Grand Canyon (13-4)
- UCONN (10-6) vs Maryland (14-10)
[REGIONAL 1]
- No. 1 Gonzaga (22-0) vs No. 16 North Carolina A & T / Prairie View
- No. 8 Loyola-Chicago (19-4) vs No. 9 Boise State (18-4)
- No. 5 Purdue (15-8) vs No. 12 Toledo (18-6)
- No. 4 Kansas (17-7) vs No. 13 Winthrop (20-1)
- No. 6 Wisconsin (16-8) vs No. 11 Xavier (11-4)
- No. 3 Oklahoma (14-5) vs No. 14 UC-Santa Barbara (16-3)
- No. 7 Arkansas (17-5) vs No. 10 San Diego State (17-4)
- No. 2 Iowa (17-6) vs No. 15 UMBC (14-5)
[REGIONAL 2]
- No. 1 Ohio State (18-5) vs No. 16 Cleveland State (16-4)
- No. 8 Oregon (14-4) vs No. 9 BYU (17-5)
- No. 5 Tennessee (15-6) vs No. 12 Belmont (24-1)
- No. 4 USC (18-4) vs No. 13 Western Kentucky (15-4)
- No. 6 Missouri (14-6) vs No. 11 Drake (22-2)
- No. 3 Houston (18-3) vs No. 14 Abilene-Christian (10-1)
- No. 7 Seton Hall (13-9) vs No. 10 VCU (16-5)
- No. 2 Illinois (16-5) vs No. 15 James Madison (13-5)
[REGIONAL 3]
- No. 1 Baylor (17-0) vs No. 16 Wagner / Grand Canyon
- No. 8 LSU (14-6) vs No. 9 Clemson (13-5)
- No. 5 Texas (13-6) vs No. 12 Wichita State / Colorado State
- No. 4 Virginia (15-5) vs No. 13 Liberty (17-5)
- No. 6 Virginia Tech (14-4) vs No. 11 Indiana (12-10)
- No. 3 West Virginia (15-6) vs No. 14 Texas State (15-6)
- No. 7 UCLA (16-5) vs No. 10 North Carolina (14-7)
- No. 2 Alabama (18-5) vs No. 15 Eastern Washington (12-6)
[REGIONAL 4]
- No. 1 Michigan (16-1) vs No. 16 South Dakota (12-9)
- No. 8 Florida (11-6) vs No. 9 Colorado (17-7)
- No. 5 Texas Tech (14-7) vs No. 12 UCONN / Maryland
- No. 4 Creighton (16-5) vs No. 13 Siena (9-3)
- Oklahoma State No. 6 (14-6) vs Saint Louis No. 11 (11-4)
- No. 3 Florida State (13-3) vs No. 14 UNC-Greensboro (16-7)
- No. 7 Rutgers (12-9) vs No. 10 Louisville (11-5)
- No. 2 Villanova (14-3) vs No. 15 Colgate (11-1)
First look at the final four:
Gonzaga, Illinois, Baylor, Villanova
Second look: Gonzaga, Ohio State, Baylor, Michigan
Missouri’s inevitable path to destination:
Drake, Houston, Illinois, Ohio, Gonzaga, Baylor … Come on!