Last year, Mizzou students didn’t even fill the stands in the Mizzou arena. This year, people are fighting over tickets on Snapchat stories. But why?
In the 2023-2024 season, the Tigers went 0-18 in the conference’s regular season; the first winless season in over a century.
That’s zero wins in the SEC for a whole season. ZERO.
In that overall season, they gained eight non-conference wins out of 24 games. The team graduated two undergraduate seniors and six graduate seniors at the end of that year, meaning half of the roster was gone. Only seven of the same guys carried over into this season, most notably, guards Caleb Grill and Tamar Bates.
Dennis Gates, coach of the Mizzou Tigers, was extremely optimistic for the team’s success after getting new transfers this season, while keeping the same coaching staff. Everyone in the sports world doubted their optimism; success didn’t even seem possible.
His strong faith in his team landed him a spot on the coach of the year watch list.
Right now, the Tigers are 10-6 in the SEC conference and 21-8 overall. Each week is filled with resilience for the team and it’s inspiring. There is no such thing as an “easy” win in SEC basketball.
One of the most notable wins that gained the Tigers attention and confidence, was the border war win against no. 1 Kansas Jayhawks in December. This was the first and biggest upset of the season… and they were just getting started.
Then in mid-January, the Tigers played no. 5 Florida Gators in a nailbiter, winning 83-82 on the road.
Soon after that, Mizzou earned themselves another headline.
The win against Mississippi State 88-61 became their biggest on-the-road win against a ranked team in school history. It’s safe to say the team is feeling the heat now.
Currently, the team is ranked 11th in the country for offensive efficiency and second in the SEC. Another statistic that’s hard to ignore is Mizzou’s almost in the top 30 for both offensive and defensive efficiency.
Why is this important?
Every NCAA tournament champion has entered the tournament with those stats. This means that the Mizzou Tigers have a good shot at making the March Madness tournament this year and being seeded highly. Making the tournament this year would be an extraordinary end to their crazy turnaround success.
The Tigers have jumped seven rankings in the AP polls since the beginning of their season. Right now, they sit at no. 14 in the conference. The win against the Alabama Crimson Tide secured this jump for Mizzou and caused Alabama to drop from no.4 to no. 6.
This shook things up for the SEC.
In a press conference interview on Wednesday, Coach Nate Oats of Alabama acknowledged how much the crowd has an impact on the games, especially at home. The student section or “The Zou” at Mizzou arena is known for having students who bring insane energy and some serious trash talk.
“Crowd was into it. Obviously, we helped with that, giving up the 12-0 run, but they got the crowd into it.”
Coach Nate Oats of Alabama
In a high scoring game, the Tigers held the lead for the entirety of the game and finished with a score of 110-98. This is the third, top five win of the season. What Coach Gates has been able to do for this team and how the players have responded is truly remarkable.
Making headlines is something that’s becoming familiar for Missouri Tiger basketball.
Most recently, Mizzou beat South Carolina on Wednesday 101-71, the thirty point win became their largest SEC win since 2013!
The next game for the Tigers is the Oklahoma Sooners on the road, Wednesday, March 5. But, that’s not the super important battle. Kentucky on Saturday, March 8, will be insane. The Kentucky Wildcats are currently ranked at 17 in the SEC, the Tigers just ahead at no. 15.
Back in January, the Tigers lost to the Wildcats on the road, 77-90. But that was a completely different team than the one we see now. Mizzou is tied for fifth place with Texas A&M in the conference, with only three games remaining.
If the Tigers could pull off three wins this week, they will be at amazing standing. The game will be over at a sold-out Mizzou arena and available for streaming on ESPN at 12:00 p.m..
Buckle up for the last games of the Tigers regular season!