Welcome to February! As the final month of the college basketball regular season approaches, the Missouri Tigers are well into the NCAA Tournament picture for the first time since Cuonzo Martin’s first season. Not only that, but Mizzou is also well-positioned to earn a favorable seed due to their 11-3 overall record, which has produced five Quadrant 1 wins, currently tied for the most in the country.

This means it’s a great time to bring ROCK M TOLOGY BACK, as we draw closer to March Madness – something that we were rudely robbed of last season.

Here’s a look at where Mizzou’s impressive resume stands on the seed line right now, according to (the latest published) other brackets:

• ESPN’s Joe Lunardi: Three seed vs Grand Canyon
• CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm: Three seed vs Sam Houston State
• Our SBNation’s Chris Dobbertean: Three seed vs Siena
• FOX Sports’ Michael DeCourcy: Three seed vs Liberty (Hey, they already won that game!)
• ($$) The Athletic’s Brian Bennett: Five seed vs Western Kentucky

Turns out, losing at Auburn wasn’t all that damaging. The incredible comeback win over TCU doesn’t exactly do much either, but Mizzou finished off a perfect non-conference record for the first time since the 2011-2012 season.

At this point, getting a top four seed should be an attainable goal for Missouri, but the margin for error is slim in not exactly an overpowering SEC. The general consensus right now is around a three to a five seed. The Tigers’ resume has to be rewarded and their overall body of work is certainly worthy of a No. 3 seed right now. That’s where we’ll peg them in the first edition of this year’s Rock M Tology.

Here’s a breakdown of the other contending teams in the 68-team field:

TRENDING UP:

• Oklahoma (11-4): The Sooners are on a roll. Four consecutive wins including victories over Kansas, Texas and Alabama.
• Florida (10-4): The Gators have won four in a row with a 26 point win over Tennessee and a road win over West Virginia.
• Virginia Tech (13-3): The Hokies have won five out of their last six games and made a statement to stay in the ACC race with a win over Virginia on Saturday.
• Purdue (12-6): The Boilermakers have won five out of their last six games with key wins over Ohio State and Minnesota in that stretch.

TRENDING DOWN:

• Saint Louis (7-2): Unfortunately, it’s just been a rough go for the Billikens. It’s not their resume, but their lack of games played. The wins over LSU and NC State in the non-conference are solid, but not overly impressive. In their first game back last Tuesday (they hadn’t played since December 23rd), they dropped a winnable home game against Dayton.
• Kansas (11-6): NOT unfortunately, it has been a rough go for the Jayhawks! I mean, come on. They have lost four out of their last five games with their lone win being a 59-51 victory over TCU, and now they’re coming off a 19 point loss to Tennessee. Woof.
• Wisconsin (13-5): The Badgers are in a mini slump, losing two out of their last three games. They missed an opportunity at home against Ohio State last week and suffered what should be considered a bad loss against an under .500 Penn State team on Saturday.
• Colorado (13-5): The PAC-12 just isn’t all that great, and after an 11-3 start, the Buffaloes are just 2-2 in their last four games. They suffered one of the worst losses of the year in the college basketball season (to a 2-11 Washington team) and lost at home to a .500 Utah team.

Last Few In

Names in italics would be among the last in without their conference's automatic bid.

• Arkansas (13-5)
• Indiana (9-7)
• Loyola-Chicago (14-3)
• LSU (11-5)

First Few Out

• Stanford (10-6)
• Providence (9-8)
• Syracuse (10-5)
• Seton Hall (9-8)

TOP 16 SEEDS:

1. Gonzaga
2. Baylor
3. Michigan
4. Villanova
5. Houston
6. Texas
7. Iowa
8. Alabama
9. Ohio State
10. Virginia
11. Missouri
12. Texas Tech
13. Tennessee
14. Creighton
15. Illinois
16. Wisconsin

BY CONFERENCE:

Big Ten: 10

Big 12: 7

SEC: 6

ACC: 5

Big East: 4

PAC-12: 5

THE BRACKET:

FIRST FOUR (Assembly Hall):

• North Carolina A&T (8-9) vs Prairie View (6-4)
• Loyola-Chicago (13-3) vs LSU (11-5)
• Indiana (9-7) vs Arkansas (13-5)
• LIU-Brooklyn (6-3) vs Grand Canyon (12-3)

[REGIONAL 1]

• No. 1 Gonzaga (17-0) vs No. 16 North Carolina A&T/Prairie View
• No. 8 Rutgers (10-6) vs No. 9 St. Bonaventure (9-1)
• No. 5 Virginia Tech (13-3) vs No. 12 Loyola-Chicago/LSU
• No. 4 Wisconsin (13-5) vs No. 13 Toledo (15-4)
• No. 6 Oklahoma State (11-4) vs No. 11 Maryland (9-8)
• No. 3 Texas Tech (12-5) vs No. 14 Siena (8-2)
• No. 7 Louisville (10-4) vs No. 10 Saint Louis (7-2)
• No. 2 Alabama (14-4) vs No. 15 Northeastern (8-6)

[REGIONAL 2]

• No. 1 Villanova (11-1) vs No. 16 Montana State (9-3)
• No. 8 Boise State (14-2) vs No. 9 Oregon (9-3)
• No. 5 UCLA (13-3) vs No. 12 UAB (14-2)
• No. 4 Creighton (13-4) vs No. 13 Louisiana (16-1)
• No. 6 Purdue (12-6) vs No. 11 Stanford (10-6)
• No. 3 Missouri (11-2) vs No. 14 Belmont (18-1)
• No. 7 Minnesota (11-6) vs No. 10 Colorado State (12-4)
• No. 2 Texas (11-3) vs No. 15 Navy (11-2)

[REGIONAL 3]

• No. 1 Baylor (16-0) vs No. 16 LIU Brooklyn/Grand Canyon
• No. 8 UCONN (8-3) vs No. 9 BYU (14-4)
• No. 5 Florida State (10-3) vs No. 12 Arkansas/Indiana
• No. 4 Illinois (11-5) vs No. 13 UC Irvine (9-5)
• No. 6 Florida (10-4) vs No. 11 Richmond (10-4)
• No. 3 Virginia (11-3) vs No. 14 Liberty (14-5)
• No. 7 Xavier (11-2) vs No. 10 Colorado (13-5)
• No. 2 Iowa (12-4) vs No. 15 East Tennessee State (10-5)

[REGIONAL 4]

• No. 1 Michigan (13-1) vs No. 16 South Dakota (10-6)
• No. 8 Drake (16-0) vs No. 9 North Carolina (11-5)
• No. 5 Oklahoma (11-4) vs No. 12 Winthrop (16-1)
• No. 4 Tennessee (12-3) vs No. 13 Vermont (7-3)
• No. 6 Kansas (11-6) vs No. 11 Utah State (13-5)
• No. 3 Ohio State (14-4) vs No. 14 Sam Houston State (13-6)
• No. 7 USC (13-3) vs No. 10 Clemson (10-5)
• No. 2 Houston (15-1) vs No. 15 Cleveland State (12-5)

Notes:

• Regional 1 and 2 is the left side of bracket (3 and 4 right side)
• The current leaders in the one-bid mid-major conferences earn the auto-bids

First Glance At A Final Four:

Gonzaga, Creighton, Baylor, Michigan

Second glance: Gonzaga, Villanova, Iowa, Houston

Missouri’s inevitable path to destiny:

Belmont, Purdue, Texas, Villanova, Gonzaga, Baylor. LET’S RIDE!