I would say the two teams I was most afraid of coming into the tournament were Kansas and Texas A&M. With A&M it is pretty clear: we are fresh off losing to them. I just didn’t like the way Donald Sloan, B.J. Holmes and the rest of their guards handled the pressure defense. They seemed to be one of the better teams all year in getting the ball quickly down the court and leading to open three’s and easy lay-ups. I guess what I am getting at is that they played pretty efficiently while being forced into a fast-paced game.

Kansas I just didn’t want to play because out of all the teams we have lost to all year, they had the easiest time getting the under-the-defense buckets that can be a side-effect of the press. I just have nightmares of Alrich catching a long pass, ducking under the rim and throwing it down. 

Hey Singletary, you won't get 43 against this man.

The cards really have fallen in the Tigers favor so far. Here is why:

• Mike Anderson is winless in conference tournament games so far (0-2), so saying that Texas Tech will be an easy win would be wrong. However, Tech is clearly less talented than A&M, especially in the front court. DeMarre and more so Leo should have a field day tonight in OKC against undersized and under-skilled big men. Also, Tech is coming off a game in which they had to play hard for 40 minutes, so their legs shouldn’t all be there.
• If, and a hypothetical if at that, Mizzou can deal with Tech, they would play either OU or OK-State. I am not quite sure who I think will win this game (something tells me OK-State will), but either way I think it is an opponent that would be acceptable to lose to. No team has more on the line in this tournament then OU does with their #1 seed hanging in the balance. If it were OK-State, it would more or less be a home game for them and they have been really hot lately. It also doesn’t hurt that Mizzou has beaten both of these teams already this year. 
• If, and a hypothetical if at that again, Mizzou is to somehow get to the championship, each team they could conceivably play is very beatable among Texas, K-State, and Baylor. Let’s hope they can get to that point

A final thought, something tells me that Kimmie English is going to have a big game tonight. I don’t know why, but maybe he will envision himself playing against Iowa State and hitting a bunch of three’s. Go Tigers.

Texas - 19-9 (8-6), RPI: 38, SOS: 32

Currently ranked #25, their win over #3 OU should be the giant cherry atop non-conference wins against Villanova and UCLA. However, they really need to split their remaining games against Baylor and kU because a .500 record in a down conference is not a comfortable place to be when Greg Gumbel is reading out the bracket.

Baylor is clearly the disappoint of the Big 12 this year, but Texas may not be far off. They were supposed to be an elite team and have not at all lived up to those expectations. Their point guard play has been really inconsistent this season and in my opinion, been their achilles heel. None of A.J. Abrams, Justin Mason, or Dogus Balbay have been able to consistently produce the way point guards on some of Rick Barnes’ great teams have (D.J. Augustin, T.J. Ford). 

 Kansas State - 20-9 (8-6), RPI: 73, SOS: 88

This does not look like a team that is going to get in to me. They have one good win (Mizzou at home) and two REALLY REALLY bad non-conference losses (vs. Iowa, @ Oregon). To even have a chance they will need to win their remaining games (@Ok-State, Col.) and then win at least two games in the conference tournament. One of those wins will pretty much have to come against Mizzou, OU, or kU as well. 

Frank Martin has done a great job (even though he is pretty scary with his constant screaming) to get this team where they are in conference play considering how much they’ve lost since last season. However, there are too many losses, not enough eye-catching wins, and a poor RPI and SOS. For example, some teams with a better RPI include: Rhode Island, Wisconsin Green-Bay, Baylor, and New Mexico. 

 Oklahoma State - 19-9 (8-6), RPI: 30, SOS: 12

Oklahoma State is a really intriguing team. Out of those nine losses, not one is really all that bad. Their worst loss is probably an early-season shootout at Baylor. They should get to 20 wins with their next game against K-State. Though they lack a real signature win (take your pick out of Siena/Rhode Island/Texas), they haven’t done anything to ruin their shot at the tournament. Their RPI and SOS are hard to ignore. 

 Texas A&M - 21-8 (7-7), RPI: 35, SOS: 37

The Aggies are a lot like the Cowboys in that they are a team flying under the proverbial radar that has quietly put together a very solid resume that lacks flash. Their SOS, RPI, and win total are all pretty safe. So is a non-conference win against SEC-champion LSU, which looks better and better every week. With Colorado still on their schedule, and an easier opponent in the first round of the Big 12 tournament, getting to 23 wins should be a given. They only thing that can be held against them is their .500 record in a down Big 12.

 Nebraska - 16-11 (6-8), RPI: 74, SOS: 42 

Putting them on this list is very generous. Their record isn’t good and neither are their numbers. However they have two winnable games left against ISU and Baylor and solid non-conference win against Creighton. Maybe a run to the Big 12 title game will make them sweat in anticipation on Selection Sunday? I doubt it. 

So there you have the resumes, here are my opinions. 

Texas: In, but that doesn’t make them any less of a disappoint this year. 

K-State: Out, it is pretty simple, the numbers and wins just aren’t there. 

Ok-State: In, it is hard to ignore their stats.

Texas A&M: In, for same reason as above.

Nebraska: Out, they made it interesting for awhile, but it just isn’t there.

Where to start… I don’t want to go too much into the game because frankly it pretty much explains itself. Mizzou shot 35% this afternoon while kU connected on better than 55% of their shots. I thought that the tone for the game was pretty much set on two different occasions early in the first half.

The first ominous event: J.T. Tiller’s steal, break-away, and missed lay-up with the Tigers trailing 7-5. The “Jayhawks” then went down and got another awkward, non-jumping dunk from Cole Aldrich (who looks more and more like a Soviet Bloc extra from a Bond film every time I see him) to go up 9-5. Only a four point swing, but it really fed the beast that was their crowd, and this was bad as early as it was. You also don’t want to give up easy opportunities when you absolutely, positively have to get off to a quality start. 

Yeah...that about sums it up.

The second ominous event: At just under the 14 minute mark, Matt Lawrence fouled Mario Little, sending him to the stripe with the Tigers trailing 13-5. Little made the first, missed the second, GOT HIS OWN REBOUND, and kicked it out for a Sherron Collins three. Allowing a four point possession, awful rebounding, and finding yourself down by 12 in a flash are not things that are conducive for a Tigers win against a very good oppenent like the “Jayhawks.” The team was struggling to find any kind of offensive flow at this point, and with the deficit extended so rapidly, it was harder for them because they started to press even more. 

As much as this one stings, when you take away the heart-strings and rivalry undertones, nothing really has changed. Yes, the Tigers need to virtually climb Mt. Everest now to win the Big 12 regular-season title, but let’s be realistic, if you honestly thought Mizzou SHOULD have won the conference title you are kidding yourself. 

Asking a young team to win in Lawrence with the “Jayhawks” coming off their biggest win of the year last Monday over OU is asking too much. Then expecting them to turn around and beat a full-strength OU team that has been among the finest in the nation is a little too much as well. Even if they had done all that incredible stuff they would still have had most likely a must-win game on the road against a decent team in Texas A&M that would be adamant on improving its seed in the conference tournament.

It just wasn’t realistic. Instead of being disappointed in what this team didn’t do on Sunday, Tiger fans should take a tough step back from the emotion and realize how great this season has been already. Many “experts” picked them to finish 7th in the conference. Mizzou will finish 3rd, maybe even 2nd. This in itself means a successful season to me. 

All I ask for in this final week is for the team to come out and compete with OU, and maybe steal a game in the latter portion of the second half on Wednesday. Winning in College Station I would say is a big deal right now to create some momentum and confidence going into the conference tournament. 

-Greg M.

I hope USC wins the rest of their games. That'd be cool.

USC lost its first game to Seton Hall by 2 points. Seton Hall is by no means a stellar team, but they are currently sitting pretty with a 7-1 record with wins over presumably solid teams Virginia Tech and obviously USC. I would categorize losing by 2 points to a power conference team, early season, with a freshman a crucial role, and in a strange setting like Puerto Rico as “kind-of understandable.” 

USC’s other loss besides Mizzou came at Oklahoma by 1 point in a game that they no doubt had many opportunities to win. OU currently checks in at #5 in the country (I personally think that is a bit high), which makes that loss perfectly understandable and in my opinion, encouraging for Mizzou fans. 

In the OU game, freshman sensation DeMar DeRozan scored 10 points in 37 minutes. Those number aren’t bad for a freshman, but with his supposed talent I can only assume they will continue to improve over the course of the year. OU already showed it can play with a top 5 team on the road, even without DeRozan playing at the level he very well could be during conference play. 

I believe in a rebuilding Pac 10, with only a somewhat disappointing (2 losses already) UCLA being an established power, USC can get 10 or more conference wins. This would surely put them back in the top 25 and in the NCAA tournament. 

Come tournament time, if Mizzou (pray they aren’t) is on the bubble, how great would that USC win look. I believe that that win in Puerto Rico was Mike Anderson’s 4th biggest at Mizzou, only behind Texas and K-State last year and Ok-State two years ago. 

USC plays a tough non-conference against Georgia Tech on Dec. 22, so that will be a good litmus test to see where they are at. Let’s hope that they have continued to improve.

I was having a great time, basking in the praise…until Hubert began to explain why. 

He said that he likes Mizzou because they  have “Keon Lawrence and Leo Lyons, 6-8 guys who can score and rebound” and then went on to name JT Tiller as one of the best point guards in the Big 12, and a guy who can really control floor.

Hmm…seems to me that Keon Lawrence is a guard who is currently sitting in street clothes for Seton Hall. It seems to me that he meant DeMarre Carroll. It seems to me that JT Tiller (though a good guard) is a defensive shooting guard. Finally, it seems to me that anyone, even a casual fan, who has watched the Tigers even for a half this season, would know that JT is a defensive minded off-guard and that DeMarre is a big 6-8 guy who can score or rebound.

I think it is rational to believe Hubert Davis, a “college basketball expert,” has not watched Mizzou this year and doesn’t know anything about the team. Why he would decide to make a fool out himself and pretend like he knows the team is simply odd.

The two comments he made about Mizzou are completely false, and I would guess he makes false statements about other currently non-spotlight programs, I personally just do not know because I am only  fan of Mizzou.

Do your job Hubert. Congratulations, you played basketball at UNC. However, you are clearly not qualified to be an analyst. I find it hard to believe that ESPN can’t find someone better than a 6’5 former Tar Heel and middle of the road NBA player whose analysis consists of misreading an old roster. 

Had to get that off my chest. Go Tigers. 

-Greg M.

Well, Mizzou did not beat kU in football. So by some math property which I don’t know the name of, Mizzou will beat Kansas in basketball at least once.

It’s science. (I think.)

-Ken Boehlke

Mizzou has 10 non-conference games remaining.

8 of them are at home, all but 1 of the home games are against non-power conference teams. So that’s 7 games against mid-major (at best) teams. The toughest of those 7 is probably Oral Roberts (sorry Stetson), so I expect Mizzou to win all 7 of these games. If they lose 1 of those 7 I will probably be deleting this post and crying myself to sleep for a week or so. Mizzou wins all 7, they have 11 wins (I’m just keeping a running total)

That leaves 3 other non-conference games. 1 at home (Cal), 1 away (Georgia), 1 in St. Louis (Illinois). The way I see it Mizzou wins 2 of the 3. Worst case they win 1. My guess is that it will be Cal and Georgia are the wins and Illinois is the loss. I think this is Mizzou’s best chance to beat Illinois, but I feel like if the Tigers knock off the mascot-less wonders they will probably fail against Cal or Georgia. So let’s just be safe and say somehow, someway Mizzou will win 2 of the 3. That brings the running count to 13 wins.

I’m not going to go into Big 12 play, but I’d say it’s safe to say Mizzou should win 7 to 8 games in the Big 12 (maybe more, wouldn’t that be great). Running total with 7 to 8 wins is 20-21 wins.

Tack on 1 more in the Big 12 tournament (Mizzou probably goes in as a 5/6/7 seed and play a 10/11/12 seed in the tourney). I would have to think that Mizzou could win a game against one of the bottom 3 teams in the Big 12. That brings the running total to 21-22.

The resume would have wins against USC, Cal, Georgia, Illinois (Maybe), and then some wins in the Big 12 (hopefully kU is one of those). Not a bad resume.

Usually 20 wins is enough for a major conference team. 21 to 22 wins in a somewhat weak Big 12, should put Mizzou at number 5 or 6 as far as resume’s in the conference. I don’t have the stats on this, but I don’t think there have been too many times where a power conference gets only 4 teams in and one with 20+ wins is left out.

So under that logic, we should experience post-season basketball for the first time since 2002. And heck if it’s not the real tournament we almost have to make the NIT.

-Ken Boehlke

Mizzou showed a lot during that game. They showed they could pressure a good team, they showed they could learn from mistakes (especially missed free throws), and they showed they could adjust to their competition.

I can’t say enough about how good DeMarre was in that game, so I will just leave it at this… Dude’s a Animal.

One person I want to make sure doesn’t go unnoticed is J.T. Tiller. He knocked down a number of big shots, came up with some key steals, and attacked the basket in some big situations. Fran Fraschilla did all he could to make sure all 12 of us that watched that game on ESPNU knew how well J.T. played, but I want to make sure that performance doesn’t go without recognition.

Another huge play in the game that I thought did not get enough coverage on TV or in the stories I read about the game is Mizzou attacking Taj Gibson. Gibson was in foul trouble early, and the Tigers did an amazing job making those fouls count. With 3 fouls in the first half Gibson entered the game with about 17 minutes left in the game. About 2 minutes later Leo took the ball from the top of the arc, drove in, and forced Gibson to foul him. Great recognition, great execution, all around great play by Leo. The one play I would say won the game for Mizzou.

One other quick note I want to make sure gets in this post. Matt Lawrence, 11 minutes, 0 points. I’m just posting his line from the game. take it how you want may.

After watching the 3 games in Puerto Rico, I am officially on the Mizzou to the Tournament bandwagon. A ranked win against USC coupled with a loss against the eventual champions leaves Mizzou walking out of Puerto Rico feeling good. I didn’t think any good could come out of this tournament after the loss to Xavier, but without a doubt, more good than bad came out of the trip.

Learn from your mistakes, adjust, and learn how to win. That’s what the out of conference schedule is all about, and Mizzou is well on their way to making the first half of this season count.

-Ken Boehlke

Nothing is worse than watching a game you feel you should be in. And I couldn’t stop thinking about missed free throw after missed free throw after missed free throw as I watched Xavier/VT. Xavier ended up beating VT in overtime on a half court shot as time expired. Which led me to realize if Mizzou didn’t miss 24 free throws and 8 critical ones down the stretch, that it would have been us hitting that last second shot. We would be going to the final.

But I hope this team learns from that. This team needs to learn how to win, and I think the best way to learn how to win, if to learn and gain experience from your failures. See your shortcoming, and fix them. Also you have to sit through games you feel you should be in, and experience the pain. Because if you know what it feels like, you will do anything you can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

So hopefully the Tigers feel the pain and can step up and beat a very good USC team tomorrow afternoon. If Mizzou walks away from PR with a ranked win and a loss against a good team, it will be a successful trip.

If not, I’m sure I’ll be writing something trying to find some sort of silver lining out of this trip.

-Ken Boehlke