Last March, the Missouri Tigers entered the NCAA Tournament as a 6-seed in the West Region, their highest seeding since the 2011-2012 season, dating back to when the Tigers were a member of the Big 12 Conference.
The 2024-25 season was one to remember for the Tigers as they put together their best season since joining the SEC.
If you had to pick one aspect of Missouri’s season last year that stuck out, it would likely be the fact that they took down 3 Top-5 ranked opponents across their schedule. With marquee wins over Alabama, Florida, and #1 ranked Kansas, those games were the narrative of that Tiger team and it became their identity for the remainder of the season.
It’s been 228 days since the Tigers took the floor against Drake, where they fell 67-57 in a game where the Tigers had one of their worst shooting performances of the season.
Since then, the Tigers have changed a lot. With the departures of Caleb Grill, Tamar Bates, Tony Perkins, and Josh Gray amongst others, Head Coach Dennis Gates made a splash in the transfer portal and this roster looks to be just as deep as it was last year.
With the additions of Sebastian Mack, Shawn Phillips Jr., Jayden Stone, Jevon Porter, and Luke Norweather via the transfer portal and a strong incoming freshman class, the potential for the 2025-26 season is off the charts for this roster.
While a lot has changed for the Tigers since their loss to Drake, a piece to the puzzle that has remained consistent has been the presence of Anthony Robinson II and Mark Mitchell, their 2 returning starters from last season.
Starting off with Mitchell, he was the leading point-scorer for the Tigers last year and an overall matchup nightmare for most SEC bigs as he plays with a tenacious level of intensity along with the fact that he can blow by larger defenders at ease. Coming off his first season under Gates, a lot of what we saw and more is to be expected out of Mitchell this year as he will likely be the number 1 option offensively.
Similarly, the Tigers can’t be any more thankful than they already are with Robinson running the point for this team. As one of the conference's premiere defenders, Robinson was named to the SEC’s All-Defense Team last season.
All throughout last year, there was a noticeable difference in the identity of this Tiger team when Robinson was on the floor versus when he was not. Robinson led the team in steals last season and the same is to be expected again for this upcoming season.
Looking ahead to the upcoming year, the Tigers open their season on the road at Howard as the Bison are the first Tiger foe of a very weak non-conference schedule.
Outside of a couple quick trips to Kansas City and St. Louis—where the Tigers will face their biggest non-SEC rivals, Kansas and Illinois—the Tigers will see just two more Power Five opponents (Minnesota and Notre Dame) before SEC play begins when the calendar flips from 2025 to 2026.
Last year, the SEC had the best season by any conference in the sport’s history, sending 14 of its 16 teams to the NCAA Tournament.
While it's unlikely to see another 14 SEC teams in the “Big Dance” this upcoming year, the conference is still expected to be the best in all of college basketball and you can expect them to hover around the middle of that pack come February when conference play is in full swing.
Now, the real question that needs to be addressed: What should we expect from the Tigers? The short answer — a lot.
Last season, the Tigers played a really good brand of basketball and that showed, losing to ZERO teams that ended up missing the tournament. Granted, 13 of the other 15 SEC schools made the tournament, but impressive nevertheless.
WIth one of the deepest rosters in all of college basketball, you can expect the Tigers to play a fast paced game, looking to push the floor in transition.
In order to do that, it starts defensively and Anthony Robinson is the key to that. When Robinson and the Tigers apply pressure to opposing defenses, it leads to scoring and the Tigers will rely on their defensive effort to generate quick and effective looks.
There is a true buzz surrounding this roster. Expectations in Como are sky-high. Fans hope that the Tigers make their second NCAA Tournament in a row, something that hasn’t been done by a Mizzou team since they made 5 tournaments in a row back from 2009-2013.
The excitement in Columbia is earned. This Mizzou Tigers roster has the depth, talent, and leadership to stay near the upper half of the SEC. If that is the case, expect the Tigers to dance into March.
This article was written by Aaron Marks.