Despite an impressive looking record on paper, the Tigers were on track to miss the NCAA Tournament, before the Tigers upset win against No. 22 Florida. Now with the win, Missouri is in much better shape heading into the meat of their schedule.
Before Saturday night's win, Mizzou was ranked 94th in the NET, and far from even sniffing a tournament appearance. But now the Tigers have leaped up 10 spots to 84th, putting them in a solid position to climb with a decent SEC record.
Tigers back on track after win over National Champs
Mizzou hadn't looked good for over a month, but with the return of Jayden Stone and Trent Pierce, the Tigers looked like a completely different team against the Gators. The newly healthy duo combined for 19 points, and provided some clutch shots for Dennis Gates in the 76-74 win.
Now nearly at full strength, Mizzou has an opportunity to turn the tables, and potentially sneak into the tournament with a strong SEC record. They have 10 more quad 1 games, and plenty of opportunity to boost their resume. Florida was Mizzou's first win over a quad 2 team or better this season. They were 0-3 against those teams before Saturday.
While the season seemed all but over just a week ago, the surprising upset has injected new life into the Tigers. Gates had long promised that the team just needed to get healthy, and now that they are, he's been proven right so far.