Missouri has been right on the bubble for the entire season, and it's very likely they'll find out their NCAA Tournament fate on Selection Sunday. The Tigers are 15-7, and boast wins against Kentucky and Florida, but their weak non-conference schedule didn't do their resume an favors.
ESPN isn't very confident the Tigers can outlast some of their other competition, and grueling February with three-straight ranked opponents may be too much too handle. Here's what ESPN's Neil Paine had to say.
The Tigers recently went cold, losing four of six to drop to 11th in the league in the résumé average, though they did beat Mississippi State on Saturday. They are projected to finish with 18.5 wins, though they do have a pair of Quadrant 1A wins (Florida and Kentucky) and four against the BPI top 50. But even if their résumé is on par with that of Texas, Missouri is much lower in the predictive metrics, so outdueling the Longhorns with more wins might be easier said than done.
Tigers continue to ride the bubble all the way to March
Missouri is a wildly inconsistent team, sometimes half to half, and there's no predicting what might happen down the stretch. They'll face No. 15 Vanderbilt, No. 21 Arkansas and No. 25 Tennessee over the span of seven days in mid-February, and it's possible those three games make or break their entire season.
Strangely, one of the biggest issues for this Tiger team has been their inability to make free throws. They rank 333rd in the nation at just 67.4 percent, and their missteps at the foul line have already cost them in several games.
While head coach Dennis Gates continues to be an elite recruiter, securing a top-five class for 2026, that same success off the court has yet to translate to the hardwood. Missouri likely needs to win at least five of their last nine to feel comfortable about a tournament bid, but four of those will be against ranked opponents.