The worst stretch of basketball in the 111 year history of the Missouri Tigers men’s basketball program is over. The Tigers will be dancing in March once again!
The Missouri Tigers finished the regular season Saturday night with a 77-67 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Tigers finished the season with a record of 20-11 overall and 10-8 in the SEC. That’s good enough to be the fifth seed in the SEC tournament and a virtual lock to make the big dance in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology.
On an average year the team’s record and the ability to make the NCAA Tournament wouldn’t be considered anything more than a solid season. However, this season hasn’t been average by any definition of the word.
The season started with the firing of the worst head coach in school history who had a 27-68 overall record and 8-46 in the SEC. The program was at the lowest point in its 110 year history. Then Mizzou’s own version of March Madness began with the hiring of Cuonzo Martin and the commitment of the number one player in the country; Michael Porter, Jr.
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Jeremiah Tilmon, Blake Harris and Jontay Porter soon followed Porter, Jr as Mizzou recruits. This gave the program the number seven rated freshman class in the country according to ESPN. Fans went from not wanting to watch Mizzou games on TV to selling out season tickets in a matter of a days.
While there were a small minority of fans who went crazy and saw dreams of final four and national titles in the heads, the majority of Mizzou fans were just thinking respectability.
After the worst three years in program history, the average fan wanted the team to simply be competitive every night and make the NCAA tournament. But even at those reasonable goals, it was hard for any fan not to at least think about what could be with Porter, Jr and the rest of the class. Was a final four actually possible?
The hype was so real that even Bill Self thought the team was worth a game. Of course Kansas couldn’t be bothered with a real game, so instead the two bitter rivals went at it in an exhibition game to benefit Hurricane Harvey & Hurricane Maria relief funds. The Jayhawks won the game 93-87, but Porter, Jr led both teams with 21 points and 12 rebounds giving Kansas all they could handle.
The high Mizzou fans were on came down hard though as Porter, Jr left the opening game of the season after playing just two minutes. He was diagnosed with a lower back injury that required surgery that would sideline him for the rest of the season. Mizzou fans couldn’t help but to flash back to their recent history and just sigh. It is their luck that just when they get turned around and get the greatest recruit in program history, he gets hurt for the season.
But the team didn’t feel sorry for themselves, they molded together and won 10 of their first 12 games. The roller coaster season was only just beginning. The team followed that 10-2 first stretch by going 3-6 in their next nine. During that stretch, Harris abruptly transferred from the program and Terrence Phillips was suspended for the remainder of the season.
Just when even the most die-hard fan believed the team had sustained too many losses to compete, the team went on a five game winning streak. During the streak they beat the Kentucky Wildcats for the first time ever and beat #21 ranked Texas A&M. The team was back into being a lock for the big dance and possibly being in the top three of the SEC.
In typical MIzzou fashion though, they went 2-3 in their last five games causing fans to sweat out the rest of the season. But the last two wins at Vanderbilt and the home finale against Arkansas has supplanted the Tigers firmly in the big dance. They have a first round bye in the SEC tournament as the fifth seed and are currently projected as a ninth seed in the NCAA tournament.
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The team has reached the goals set by the majority of fans before the season. They were competitive for the entire season. They made Mizzou Arena a home court advantage again and finished top five in the SEC and will be in the NCAA tournament.
Anything the team does from this point forward is icing on the cake. The icing could taste very good though, if the team gets to play a certain angry ex living a few hours west of Columbia in the second round of the NCAA tourney.