#Mizzou junior PG Phil Pressey is declaring for the NBA Draft and signing with Creative Artists Agency.

— Steve Walentik (@Steve_Walentik) April 10, 2013

Pressey averaged 11.9 points and 7 assists per game this season, and was named first-team All-SEC.  Pressey will leave Mizzou as the all-time leader in assists, with 580 career assists in three years.

In a statement, Pressey said, “I love my teammates, my coaches, Mike Alden and all of our fans, and I’m so glad I had the chance to play for coach Haith these last two years. He had such a big impact on my career and because of that relationship I will help Missouri basketball anyway I can going forward.

“I wish we could have brought home a national championship banner, but coming to Mizzou was the best decision of my life. This is a special place and I will always be a Tiger.”

Draftexpress.com has Pressey being selected in the mid-second round, and ESPN’s Chad Ford list Pressey as the No. 81 ranked player on his big board.

Pressey’s departure at Mizzou, leaves Jabari Brown as the only returning starter for the Tigers.  Mizzou’s 6th man, Earnest Ross, will also be returning for the 2013-2014 season, and the Tigers will be adding Tulsa transfer, Jordan Clarkson, who should slide into the starting lineup.

Nothing changed in this category after Friday night. The Florida Gators rolled LSU 80-58 in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. The Gators definitely weren’t playing their best basketball heading into postseason play, so we will see if they can turn things around and get on a roll heading into the NCAA’s. Florida looks to be a lock for a 3 seed, but if they lose to Alabama and K-State or Syracuse win their conference titles, they could possibly fall to a 4 seed.

Missouri continued their maddening season on Friday. The Tigers blew a 14 point lead in the 2nd half against Ole Miss and lost 64-62. Mizzou is still a lock for the NCAA Tournament, but they lost any chance they had of moving off that 8/9 seed line.

Bubble Teams

P Photo/Dave Martin

Wow what a cluster we have in this category. Two of the bubble teams we thought were in as of yesterday ended up losing, and the two teams that looked like they were going to be on the outside looking in, ended up winning.

Losing to Vanderbilt 64-48, should be the final nail in the coffin for Kentucky. The Wildcats are 0-4 in road or neutral site games without Nerlens Noel, and I think the committee will look hard at that.

The other team I believe that is currently on the outside looking in, is Alabama. The Tide got a huge win yesterday against Tennessee, but I’m not sure it’s enough. An 0-5 record against Top 50 RPI teams is the biggest issue with Alabama’s resume. Other then that, they are 8-4 in their last 12 games and have a 7-8 record in road or neutral site games. If they beat Florida today then they are in.

I like Tennesse’s resume but yesterday’s loss to Alabama definitely puts them in a tough position. The Vols are 9-3 in their last 12 games and have several good wins this season. Tennessee has beaten Wichita State, Florida, Mizzou, Umass, and Kentucky, and their worst loss came against Georgia (137). In my opinion that’s a good enough resume to get them in, but they need to keep a close eye on Bama/Florida, Southern Miss/Memphis, and Maryland/North Carolina. If the wrong teams win those games, it’s going to knock out teams like Tennesee who can no longer improve their resume.

Ole Miss is a tough one. They have a very good record but their Strength of Schedule (SOS) is poor compared to a lot of the other bubble teams. They also have 2 very bad losses, South Carolina (220) and Mississippi State (229). Much like Tennessee, Ole Miss fans need to be cheering for Florida, Memphis, and North Carolina today. A win against Vanderbilt isn’t going to officially punch the Rebels ticket to the dance, so they need to hope the right teams keep losing.

Photo by Ben Walton

The No. 5 ranked Missouri Tigers defeated the No. 7 ranked Texas A&M Aggies 2-0 on Friday night. Sophomore, Kelsea Roth, broke a 0-0 tie in the 7th inning with a walk-off two run homerun.

The Tigers improve to 10-1 overall and 1-0 in the SEC. The Aggies drop to 22-2 overall and 0-1 in conference. The victory was the 2nd victory this season against a Top 10 opponent. Mizzou also defeated No. 4 Florida back on February 22.

Senior, Chelsea Thomas, pitched 7 shut out innings and had 11 strike outs. Thomas only allowed one hit in the game. Thomas has 30 strike outs and has given up 0 earned runs in 19 innings versus Top 10 opponents.

The Tigers and Aggies will play again tomorrow at 2:00pm in Columbia.