The field of 68 has been selected, and for the first time since 2018 and just the second time since 2013, Missouri will participate in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers will be one of four No. 9 seeds. They will play Oklahoma on Saturday in the first round of the tournament. The time and venue for the game have not yet been finalized.
Missouri's selection marks the second NCAA Tournament appearance in four years under head coach Cuonzo Martin. Prior to Martin's arrival, the team had missed the postseason each of the past four seasons.
The Missouri team is already in Indianapolis, where the vast majority of this year's NCAA Tournament will be played, having traveled directly there from the SEC Tournament in Nashville. The Tigers beat 10th-seeded Georgia on Thursday before being knocked out of the league tournament by second-seeded Arkansas. Missouri finished an unusual season with an overall record of 16-9, 9-9 in league games.
Missouri has seen its postseason stock decline a bit over the past month or so. The Tigers climbed as high as No. 10 in both the AP and Coaches' polls during the regular season and were ranked as the No. 16 overall team, a 4 seed, when the NCAA selection committee released its top 16 teams on Feb. 13. The team finished its season with six losses in its final nine games.
Thanks to seven Quadrant I victories, however, including marquee wins over Illinois and Alabama, Missouri remained safely in the field. The Tigers have not won an NCAA Tournament game since March 19, 2010, when it upset seven-seed Clemson in the first round. The program has lost its past four NCAA Tournament games.
Saturday's matchup will mark Missouri's 143rd ever matchup against Oklahoma, its former Big 12 foe. The Sooners leads the all-time series 75-67. Should Missouri advance to the round of 32 it would almost certainly face No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga, barring a massive upset in the first round.
Stay tuned for more coverage of Missouri's inclusion in the NCAA Tournament at PowerMizzou.com.
