Mizzou’s SEC Tournament is over after one day in Nashville.
Is there another game coming for the Tigers?
Missouri basketball lost 78-72 to Kentucky in the second round of the conference tournament on Thursday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee. The Tigers came all the way back from down 16 points against the Wildcats, but UK had the last scoring burst to get across the line.
Mark Mitchell set a career-high for the second straight game with 32 points in the loss, but is he going to get another shot at the Big Dance?
Here’s what Missouri’s current tournament résumé looks like, and a glimpse at where the experts currently have the Tigers seeded and tabbed to travel for March Madness. All of the outlets’ projections were updated on the morning of Friday, March 13:
Current Missouri basketball NCAA Tournament résumé for 2026 NCAA Tournament
Missouri’s NET ranking: No. 58
Quad 1 record: 5-7
Quad 2 record: 4-5
Quad 3 record: 3-0
Quad 4 record: 8-0
Wins above bubble: No. 41
Because of results elsewhere around the country, Missouri actually moved up two spots in the NET rankings after its loss to Kentucky. The Tigers are now ranked No. 58 nationally.
The quadrant system accounts for the location of the game and the opposing team’s NET ranking. Quad 1 games, for instance, are at home against teams ranked Nos. 1-30 in the NET, on a neutral court against teams ranked Nos. 1-50, and on the road against teams ranked Nos. 1-75.
In the main bubble picture, Mizzou is looking solid in the Wins Above Bubble metric. The Tigers, at No. 41, are ahead of their major competition for the final at-large spots.
USA Today: Missouri basketball still earning bye to R64
Mizzou is really benefiting from a woeful bubble.
Missouri, which was an 11-seed and First Four team in USA Today’s projected field on Tuesday, is now tabbed for a 10-seed in the tournament in the outlet’s newest bracket projection.
As of Friday morning, the Tigers are listed as looking at a game against the 7-seed Saint Mary’s out of the West Coast Conference. The game would be part of the East Region slate and would take place in Buffalo, New York.
A 2-seeded Michigan State or 15-seeded Siena await the winner, with a Sweet 16 site in Washington, D.C. up for grabs.
ESPN: Mizzou headed to First Four
Joe Lunardi hasn’t been quite sure what to do with Missouri this week. After Texas lost to Ole Miss in the first round of the SEC Tournament, he actually moved the Longhorns ahead of the Tigers in his live bracket update.
As of Friday morning, he has both SEC teams going to Dayton, Ohio, as First Four outfits.
ESPN has Mizzou as one of the last four teams into the field and set up for a Tuesday, March 17, matchup against VCU for a spot in the Round of 64. If the Tigers advanced, in Lunardi’s latest projection, they would head to St. Louis for their first-round matchup against the 6-seed Louisville.
The top seed in this portion of the bracket is a projected 3-seed Illinois team, meaning a potential Braggin’ Rights rematch in STL in the Round of 32.
CBS Sports: Get ready to learn Dayton, Ohio
We’re seeing double. CBS Sports also has Missouri projected as a First Four team going to Dayton, and the outlet also has the Tigers taking on VCU of the A10 in the de facto play-in game.
The teams would be playing for a spot in the West region, where 6-seed Wisconsin waits for the winner.
The Tigers are the second-to-last team into the field in CBS Sports’ projections.
Bart Torvik: Essentially a toss-up to make the field
The analytics Torvik currently gives Mizzou a 57.6% chance to make the NCAA Tournament as of March 10, which is based on 10,000 simulations run through its T-Ranketology ‘TourneyCast’ projections. That is enough for a First Four matchup in its projected field, but it’s close.
That number was 63.7% before its loss to Kentucky. It was 71.2% before Mizzou’s loss to Arkansas. After beating Mississippi State and before its three-game slide started against Oklahoma, it was above 95%.
It’s been a bad 10 days for Missouri. Now, it’s looking like a somewhat nervous wait for Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Where is Missouri basketball seeded in latest March Madness projections?