The Tigers will take on the Texas Longhorns Saturday night, and the outcome may have one of the biggest impacts on the NCAA Tournament field. Ok, maybe not the biggest. But both the Tigers and the Longhorns are battling for one of the last remaining spot in the field, and tonight's matchup will give a huge edge to the winner.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has this game circled in his calendar as one of the biggest games of the day (year) in terms of the overall bubble picture. He currently has both Texas and Mizzou in his group of Last Four In teams.
Missouri and Texas will have huge implications for the bubble picture
While most viewers outside of the SEC may not be tuning in to see Mizzou and Texas, you can be sure that any team eyeing a spot near the bubble will be paying close attention to the outcome of this game. Missouri enters the game at 17-7 overall and 7-4 in SEC, while Texas is just 15-9, but has some quality wins over Alabama and Vanderbilt.
Both teams are enjoying a three-game win streak at the moment, and both could desperately use another win to help secure a tournament berth. The Tigers have slight edge as the home team, and also the benefit of super star Mark Mitchell, who Texas' head coach Sean Miller is very adamant on stopping.
“He is a one-man wrecking crew," said Miller. "I’ll call him a bully in the most kind and good way I can — I mean that in a sports-specific way, like he just imposes his will on the opponent, rebounding, physicality drives, living at the free-throw line, playing both the five and the four, using his quickness at the five, using his physicality at the four."
Mizzou and Texas will tip-off at 7:30 central on ESPN2.