Revisiting this while watching the NCAA tourney this week. I think expectations for Missouri—and yes I'm including the upcoming 24-25 season—are for the Tigers to be in the tournament every year, or 9 out of every 10. If they are doing that, good things are happening through the season. They ought to be in the sweet 16 with some regularity, and some elite 8s along the way. A final four may even pop up finally along the way.
Look at the math. There are 14 SEC teams. Eight of them made the tourney this year and 7-8 is pretty normal. If Mizzou can't make itself one of the top 6-7 teams in the conference with regularity, it has to be considered a mediocre program.
My 'target' program for Mizzou isn't Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, etc., it's Gonzaga. Mark Few has taken his program in this little school of less than 8,000 students to the tournament 25 straight years (every year he has coached them), and 9, count 'em, 9 straight sweet 16s. You can credit them being in a mid-major conference for their run of 25 straight years in (but remember, that conference doesn't get 8 spots like the SEC), but 9 straight sweet 16s, that's something altogether different. That is high-quality basketball.
As I said above, they need to start being in the tournament regularly starting next season.
Look at the math. There are 14 SEC teams. Eight of them made the tourney this year and 7-8 is pretty normal. If Mizzou can't make itself one of the top 6-7 teams in the conference with regularity, it has to be considered a mediocre program.
My 'target' program for Mizzou isn't Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, etc., it's Gonzaga. Mark Few has taken his program in this little school of less than 8,000 students to the tournament 25 straight years (every year he has coached them), and 9, count 'em, 9 straight sweet 16s. You can credit them being in a mid-major conference for their run of 25 straight years in (but remember, that conference doesn't get 8 spots like the SEC), but 9 straight sweet 16s, that's something altogether different. That is high-quality basketball.
As I said above, they need to start being in the tournament regularly starting next season.
Statistics: Posted by California Cardinal Fan — 24 Mar 2024 11:07 am
