NCAA Tournament March Madness

#59 Missouri

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Projection: first four out

Missouri’s résumé sits on the bubble because it pairs clear, name-brand conference victories with a few damaging setbacks and nonconference wins that don’t move the needle much. The best moments — a road triumph at Kentucky and home defeats of Auburn, Florida and Oklahoma — show the Tigers can beat solid opponents, yet those highs are undermined by glaring losses such as the neutral-site embarrassment against Illinois and heavy defeats at Kansas and at Alabama plus a surprising home loss to Georgia that will stick with committee voters. Many of the early wins came against weak opposition and therefore offer limited resume currency, while the remaining slate — including road tests at South Carolina and Arkansas, multiple chances against Mississippi State and a home date with Texas — gives Missouri realistic opportunities to replace bad results with resume-building road and neutral victories. When you weigh the quality of the signature wins, the severity of the losses and the concrete chances left to improve, it is easy to see why Missouri projects as a team teetering on the edge of the field.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3@Howard272W88-67
11/7SE Missouri St251W89-84
11/9VMI354W106-68
11/12Minnesota82W83-60
11/17Prairie View332W91-73
11/20South Dakota287W102-68
11/25S Carolina St361W98-66
11/28Cleveland St321W86-59
12/2@Notre Dame79L76-71
12/7@Kansas14L80-60
12/11Alabama St313W85-77
12/14Bethune-Cookman244W82-60
12/22(N)Illinois4L91-48
1/3Florida8W76-74
1/7@Kentucky32W73-68
1/10@Mississippi73L76-69
1/14Auburn26W84-74
1/17@LSU50L78-70
1/20Georgia34L74-72
1/24Oklahoma61W88-87
1/27@Alabama17L90-64
1/31Mississippi St8369%
2/7@South Carolina8749%
2/11@Texas A&M3323%
2/14Texas3545%
2/18Vanderbilt1225%
2/21@Arkansas2217%
2/24Tennessee2133%
2/28@Mississippi St8347%
3/3@Oklahoma6139%
3/7Arkansas2234%