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After a week in the First Four Out wilderness, Missouri surged its way back onto the right side of the NCAA bubble by beating Alabama on the road and Kentucky at home. Cuonzo Martin’s Tigers are obviously just another bad week from living perilously again, but for now, let’s take a moment to check in on the Tigers’ tourney projections.
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We of course begin with ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. His Monday bracket projection had Missouri back on the No. 10 line.
You’ll never believe who the No. 2 in Mizzou’s region is. (You’ll totally believe it. It’s Kansas.)
Lunardi remains enamored with the SEC, again placing eight league teams into his bracket, including Mizzou victims Tennessee (4-seed), Kentucky (5-seed), and Alabama (9-seed). Auburn is a 2-seed, Texas A&M is a 9, and two teams with ultra-tight wins over Missouri (8-seed Florida, 10-seed Arkansas) linger around the same portion of the T-curve.
At CBS, Jerry Palm thinks pretty highly of Mizzou after the Tigers’ big week. He has them up to an 8-seed, facing Texas in the first round in the East. For that matter, he has them as the top eight seed. Pretty big shift for a single week.
In essence, here are the teams Mizzou is jostling around with. (RPI provided by RealTimeRPI.com) Approximately 20-22 of the 32 teams listed will make the tournament. Root against all of them, just in case.
Mizzou and Bracketology (Feb. 6)
| Team | Lunardi seed | Palm seed | Record | KenPom Rk | RPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Lunardi seed | Palm seed | Record | KenPom Rk | RPI |
| Missouri | 10 | 8 | 15-8 | 35 | 33 |
| Alabama | 9 | 9 | 15-8 | 49 | 38 |
| Arizona St. | 9 | 8 | 17-6 | 32 | 44 |
| Arkansas | 10 | 11 | 15-8 | 48 | 41 |
| Boise St. | Last 4 in | First 4 out | 19-4 | 47 | 35 |
| Butler | 7 | 7 | 17-7 | 19 | 26 |
| Creighton | 7 | 7 | 17-6 | 21 | 23 |
| Florida | 8 | 10 | 15-8 | 38 | 49 |
| Florida St. | 8 | 6 | 17-6 | 22 | 40 |
| Houston | 11 | 11 | 17-5 | 34 | 39 |
| Kansas St. | Last 4 in | First 4 out | 16-7 | 52 | 69 |
| Louisville | 8 | 10 | 16-8 | 37 | 42 |
| Marquette | First 4 out | 13-10 | 51 | 60 | |
| Michigan | 7 | 6 | 19-6 | 24 | 31 |
| MTSU | 10 | 12 | 18-5 | 40 | 22 |
| NC St. | Last 4 in | Last 4 in | 16-7 | 57 | 63 |
| Nebraska | First 4 out | 17-8 | 61 | 58 | |
| Nevada | 7 | 8 | 20-4 | 18 | 12 |
| NMSU | 12 | 9 | 20-3 | 36 | 46 |
| Providence | 11 | 9 | 15-8 | 58 | 27 |
| Seton Hall | 6 | 7 | 17-6 | 29 | 17 |
| SMU | First 4 out | Last 4 in | 15-8 | 50 | 70 |
| St. Bonnie | First 4 out | 16-6 | 73 | 48 | |
| TCU | 9 | 10 | 16-7 | 25 | 30 |
| Texas | 8 | 9 | 15-8 | 33 | 36 |
| Texas A&M | 9 | 10 | 15-8 | 26 | 29 |
| UCF | First 4 out | 14-8 | 100 | 72 | |
| UCLA | First 4 out | Last 4 in | 16-7 | 59 | 54 |
| USC | 11 | 11 | 17-7 | 43 | 45 |
| Va. Tech | Last 4 in | Last 4 in | 16-7 | 41 | 67 |
| Washington | 10 | 7 | 17-6 | 89 | 37 |
| Wichita St. | 5 | 8 | 17-5 | 20 | 28 |
Among these teams, Mizzou ranks 13th per KenPom and 11th per RPI. The Tigers are very much on the right side of the bubble and would remain on the right side with a loss to either Ole Miss or Mississippi State this week. Go 0-2, however, and we’re back on the “screaming uncontrollably” portion of the roller coaster ride.