After losing three straight games leading up the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers fell to Miami 80-66 in their opening game of the Big Dance.
Despite having a near home-court advantage, Missouri just couldn't overcome a huge rebounding deficit and will take the short drive home after limping through their last stretch of the season. Missouri has been absolutely abysmal in the month of March in recent years, and 2026 was no different.
It's another outcome all too familiar for Mizzou fans, and while his seat isn't very hot, fans were quick to throw head coach Dennis Gates under the bus.
Missouri's struggles in March rears its ugly head again in 2026 NCAA Tournament and fans are fed up
4-16 in March under Dennis Gates. 1-13 over the last 3 years. Decent coach who brought the team back from the absolute bottom but is it time for a change? https://t.co/l5OY4rx2Ja
— Luke Hutchinson (@lukehutch43) March 21, 2026
Fire Dennis Gates
— Drew Crimi (@drewcrimi) March 21, 2026
Dennis Gates just doesn’t win in March. It’s wild. Very disappointing.
— Alex Scherer (@Alex_Scherer93) March 21, 2026
Dennis Gates & Missouri are now 1-13 in the month of March the last three seasons, including 0-4 in March 2026.
— JBR (@JBRBracketology) March 21, 2026
Gates has now led Missouri to three NCAA Tournaments in four seasons, but where's the ceiling? Missouri has finished in the KenPom Top 50 just once the last four…
Gates is good coach, and an even better recruiter, but his lack of success in the month of March is quite disturbing. Despite making the Tournament in three of his four seasons, Gates is just 1-13 during the month over the last three years. Obviously, this is the time to be peaking, but for whatever reason, Missouri continues to fall flat.
As mentioned earlier, by no means is Gates' seat hot or even warm. He's made the Big Dance 75% of the time, and already has a top-10 recruiting class incoming for 2026. Still, it's easy to want more than a few first round exits. Ultimately though, the Tigers do feel like they are building, despite the unimpressive March record.
Missouri had plenty of chances against the Hurricanes, and even led with just minutes to go. But getting outrebounded nearly 2:1 is certainly not a recipe for victory, especially when Mark Mitchell has an off night. The Tigers will go back to square one in 2027 will a very different looking squad, but hopefully they can get the March monkey off their back this time around. On to next year!