With the latest issue of Bracketology from Joe Lunardi at ESPN, Missouri has lost a spot to fall to a No. 8 seed in the East Region. The only issue with that is it came one day before the Tigers loss to the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday. What will this mean for the Tigers heading into the last week before Selection Sunday?
The question is this: is it remotely possible for Missouri to fall out of tournament contention? That might seem like a tall order given Missouri's ranking in the Top 25 for much of the season, yet the Tigers continue to fall lower and lower and are now losers of three straight games. Their strength of schedule is not impressive at 71, and they have a losing record against teams in the Top 100 of the RPI rankings.
You can only wonder if a first round loss in the Big 12 tournament would leave the Tigers tense come Selection Sunday, but even in a worse case scenario, there are still some impressive wins in-hand against Vanderbilt, Kansas State, Illinois and Old Dominion. Winning at least one game in the Big 12 tournament would definitely erase any doubts. Most will point to other Big 12 teams on the bubble and believe Mizzou has no reason to worry. Perhaps they're right, but some momentum could be used any way you view the scenario.