The Missouri Tigers are still comfortably in the NCAA Tournament picture. That’s important to note. And in the grand scheme of things, losing to a bubble team in Ole Miss isn’t going to hurt Mizzou a ton, but losing at home and four out of their last five games will. The goal for the remainder of this season should be to avoid an eight or nine seed, but they are dangerously close to falling to that dreaded spot.

The good news is….those six Quadrant 1 wins aren’t going away, still keeping Missouri far away from the bubble territory at this point. But at 14-7 (7-7), that will be damaging enough to drop Mizzou to a No. 7 seed in the latest edition of Rock-M-Tology.

Missouri got some favorable scheduling news on Thursday afternoon as LSU will come to Columbia on Saturday, March 6th for the regular season finale. Mizzou will close the regular season at Florida, then home vs LSU. At the moment, that’s two Quadrant 1 opportunities (LSU is ranked 29th in the NET rankings). Either way, those games are going to help Missouri’s resume. Right now, Mizzou is 6-3 in Quadrant 1 games and they could end up playing 11 Quadrant 1 opportunities in 23 regular season games when it’s all said and done.

Now, if Mizzou loses out the rest of the way (which is certainly a possible scenario) ESPN’s Joe Lunardi still believes that they will be in.

That’s cool (but still, don’t lose out, Mizzou). Editor’s note: Sammy, don’t put statements like this into the world

TRENDING UP:

• West Virginia (16-6): The Mountaineers have won five out of their last six games and are threatening to move up to a No. 2 seed.
• Creighton (17-5): The Blue Jays are taking care of business, having won four in a row with a win over Villanova in there.
• San Diego State (19-4): The Aztecs have won nine in a row including the all-important first meeting over Boise State on Thursday night.
• Colorado (18-7): The Buffaloes are 5-2 in their last seven games and got a much-needed resume-bolster win over USC on Thursday night.

TRENDING DOWN:

• Seton Hall (13-10): Back-to-back losses to Georgetown and Butler isn’t great.
• North Carolina (14-8): The Tar Heels added a non-conference game on Wednesday night against Marquette and it came back to haunt them.
• Saint Louis (11-5): Back-to-back losses to Dayton and VCU probably means the Billikens will need to win the Atlantic-10 Tournament.
• Oklahoma (14-6): The Sooners suffered what was a pretty bad loss on Tuesday night against Kansas State.

Last Few In

These would be among the last in without their conference’s automatic bid.

• Michigan State (13-9)
• Indiana (12-11)
• North Carolina (14-8)
• Saint Bonaventure (12-3)

First Few Out

• Xavier (12-5)
• Ole Miss (13-9)
• Duke (11-8)
• Saint Louis (11-5)

TOP 16 SEEDS:

1. Gonzaga (23-0)
2. Baylor (18-0)
3. Michigan (17-1)
4. Ohio State
5. Villanova (15-3)
6. Illinois (17-6)
7. Alabama (18-6)
8. Iowa (17-7)
9. Houston (19-3)
10. West Virginia (16-6)
11. Florida State (14-3)
12. Creighton (17-5)
13. USC (19-5)
14. Texas (14-6)
15. Oklahoma (14-6)
16. Kansas (17-8)

BY CONFERENCE:

Big Ten: 10

Big 12: 7

ACC: 6

SEC: 6

Big East: 4

PAC-12: 4

Mountain West: 3

Atlantic-10: 2

Missouri Valley: 2

WCC: 2

American: 2

THE BRACKET:

FIRST FOUR (Assembly Hall):

• North Carolina A&T (10-10) vs Prairie View (9-4)
• Michigan State (14-10) vs North Carolina (14-8)
• Wagner (11-5) vs Grand Canyon (13-4)
• Indiana (12-11) vs Saint Bonaventure (12-3)

[REGIONAL 1]

• No. 1 Gonzaga (23-0) vs No. 16 North Carolina A&T/Prairie View
• No. 8 Loyola (19-4) vs No. 9 Boise State (18-5)
• No. 5 Arkansas (18-5) vs No. 12 Western Kentucky (15-5)
• No. 4 Kansas (17-8) vs No. 13 Belmont (24-2)
• No. 6 Wisconsin (16-8) vs No. 11 Drake (23-2)
• No. 3 Creighton (17-5) vs No. 14 Furman (16-7)
• No. 7 UCLA (17-5) vs No. 10 UCONN (11-6)
• No. 2 Iowa (17-7) vs No. 15 UMBC (14-5)

[REGIONAL 2]

• No. 1 Ohio State (18-6) vs No. 16 Cleveland State (16-7)
• No. 8 Clemson (14-5) vs No. 9 LSU (14-7)
• No. 5 Virginia (15-6) vs No. 12 Indiana/Saint Bonaventure
• No. 4 USC (19-5) vs No. 13 Winthrop (20-1)
• No. 6 Oklahoma State (15-6) vs No. 11 Seton Hall (13-10)
• No. 3 Houston (19-3) vs No. 14 Texas State (16-6)
• No. 7 San Diego State (18-4) vs No. 10 Maryland (14-10)
• No. 2 Alabama (18-6) vs No. 15 Eastern Washington (12-6)

[REGIONAL 3]

• No. 1 Baylor (18-0) vs No. 16 Wagner/Grand Canyon
• No. 8 Oregon (15-5) vs No. 9 BYU (18-5)
• No. 5 Purdue (15-8) vs No. 12 Toledo (18-6)
• No. 4 Oklahoma (14-6) vs No. 13 Siena (9-3)
• No. 6 Texas Tech (14-8) vs No. 11 Wichita State (13-4)
• No. 3 Florida State (14-3) vs No. 14 UC-Santa Barbara (16-3)
• No. 7 Rutgers (13-9) vs No. 10 VCU (17-5)
• No. 2 Illinois (17-6) vs No. 15 James Madison (13-5)

[REGIONAL 4]

• No. 1 Michigan (17-1) vs No. 16 South Dakota
• No. 8 Florida (12-6) vs No. 9 Colorado (18-7)
• No. 5 Tennessee (16-6) vs No. 12 Michigan State/North Carolina
• No. 4 Texas (14-6) vs No. 13 Liberty (19-5)
• No. 6 Virginia Tech (14-5) vs No. 11 Colorado State (14-4)
• No. 3 West Virginia (16-6) vs No. 14 Abilene-Christian (19-3)
• No. 7 Missouri (14-7) vs No. 10 Lousiville (12-5)
• No. 2 Villanova (15-3) vs No. 15 Colgate (11-1)

First Glance At A Final Four:

Gonzaga, Houston, Baylor, Michigan

Second glance: Gonzaga, Ohio State, Baylor, Villanova

Missouri’s inevitable path to destiny:

Louisville, Villanova, West Virginia, Michigan, Baylor, Gonzaga........Yeah, that’s going to be tough!