Missouri is facing an uphill battle to make the NCAA Tournament after falling to Texas earlier this week, and their schedule will make things even tougher.
Based on ESPN's BPI metrics, the Tigers have the second-hardest remaining schedule in the country, behind only Arizona. Of their six remaining games, three will come against a ranked opponent.
So while the Tigers could see this a a fatal blow to their tournament dreams, they could also see it as a big opporunity to bolster their resume.
The Tigers won't be getting any favors down the stretch as they hunt for a final spot in the tourney
Mizzou has already knocked of Florida and Kentucky this year, so there's no question the Tigers can hang with the best of them. But how many punches can Missouri take? The Tigers will face No. 19 Vanderbilt, No. 20 Arkansas and borderline top-25 team Tennessee over the course of six days, and it might be a miracle just to escape that stretch at 1-2.
Assuming the Tigers can win at least one of those, they'll still need to win two or even all three of the final games, which features another run at the Razorbacks. It's certainly not an ideal stretch of games for a team needing to stack wins to make the Big Dance, but the Tigers have already shown they can beat the elite teams on their best nights.
Mizzou will take on Vandy tomorrow night at 8:00pm on SEC Network in their first game of this brutal gauntlet.