Mizzou seems destined for a bid in March Madness. How far should we expect them to go?
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Ignore the prognosticators. The ones who say Missouri still has only a 60 percent change of making the big dance, or the ones who say their non-conference schedule means they’re deserving of a lower seed. Right now, your Missouri Tigers are one of the best teams in the country.
As is standard practice for such teams, a bid in the NCAA Tournament seems almost a given at this point. We should be clear that it’s not: even with a very impressive resume, the Tigers still need to take care of business in conference play and avoid giving the NCAA committee any reason to consider leaving them out in the cold. By the way they’ve been playing, that seems like a question of “when” rather than “if.”
So let’s just assume things are barreling toward a March Madness bid. As of right now, what are your expectations for this team in March? Gates had the Tigers on the verge of the Sweet 16 a few years ago before they were ousted by the streaking Princeton Tigers. Could he finally get Mizzou to the second weekend this time around? Is that too much to ask one year after going winless in conference play? And, as a bonus question, does this stunning turnaround mean Gates is in line for yet another extension, especially given the recent news that Florida State will be on the hunt for a new head coach?