Mizzou Links: A No. 1 ranking and the search for 1 more win

Mizzou Wrestling reaps the rewards of its duals title, and Mizzou Hoops looks for one more win. Just one! That's not too much to ask!

By Bill Connelly@SBN_BillC Feb 24, 2015, 5:12am CST

#1

WIN Magazine: Missouri takes over No. 1 spot in WIN’s Tournament Power Index Rankings

The Reggie McClain Award

MUTIGERS.COM: Mizzou's McClain Earns SEC Pitcher of the Week, Again
The Missourian: Reggie McClain awarded back-to-back SEC Pitcher of the Week

Or maybe just name all pitching awards the Mizzou Award
MUTIGERS.COM: Mizzou's Lowary Named SEC Pitcher of the Week

Two more chances for a home win

So Florida's coming to town tonight without a couple of its best players, and I find myself in an odd, rare Debbie Downer role. As the end of the season approaches, I think we're finding ourselves desperate for just one more win, and we're walking ourselves into odds being better than they are. A trip to 13th-place Vanderbilt? They're in 13th place! That means we have a chance! (We really didn't.) A visit from depleted Florida? They're depleted! And they're 13-14! That means we have a chance!

Mizzou always has a chance, yes, and to be sure, Florida's offense could be pretty sketchy without Michael Frazier II and Dorian Finney-Smith. But of Florida's 14 losses this season, 13 have come to teams ranked 63rd or better in Pomeroy's rankings. The Gators' schedule has been brutal, so brutal that, at 13-14, they still carry a No. 35 Pomeroy ranking. Maybe without Frazier and Finney-Smith, that's more like No. 60 or No. 75 (though that's a pretty aggressive demotion).

Mizzou's No. 212.

Pomeroy says Florida has a 78% chance of winning tonight, but I'm actually a bit encouraged by that because I thought it would be higher. Without the two scorers, that maybe gets bumped down into the 60-70% range ... and hey, that means a 30-40% chance for Mizzou. There's hope there. But ... not too much hope. [/debbiedowner]

MUTIGERS.COM: Tigers Set to Host Florida for Blackout Game on Tuesday
Post-Dispatch: Gators' top scorers won't play at Mizzou
Post-Dispatch: Florida, like Mizzou, having a down season as teams meet Tuesday
Post-Dispatch: Missouri-Florida preview
The Missourian: Missouri basketball might catch a break against Florida on Tuesday

(A reminder, as always, to only open one of those P-D links at a time. Open al three, and the combination of three pop-up ad, with three surveys and three auto-play videos, might crash your browser. It almost did mine, anyway, though my computer's pretty old.)

The Trib: Freshmen have shown potential but continue to search for consistency
The Trib (Courtside View): Freshmen producing in line with many other MU rookies