Or, why I spend so much time looking at the rest of the SEC. Also, Happy Halloween!
I can be accused of being a bit of a homer, viewing things with Mizzou basketball with rose-colored glasses. A large part of that comes from me just wanting to enjoy my sports fandom, and doom and gloom
isn’t very much fun. Writing about this program has certain taken me through some lows, but even through the lows I try to keep a sense of humor. It’s not that serious, it’s just sports.
But one thing I’m supposed to do is analyze this team, and in the preseason a large part of that is determining what to think of them.
I think it’s important to spend a good amount of time looking at your rivals if you really want to understand where you are. By rivals, I mean any team you’re competing for the same thing with. In this case, it’s the SEC. I started previewing the entire SEC the first year I started writing about Mizzou Hoops on this here ol’ sports blog. And we’ve run these previews each year since.
They’re never 100% correct, but I like to think we’re getting more accurate with time. And this year I feel pretty good about Mizzou and their floor.
We’ve picked Mizzou to be 6th, which is higher than most other prognostications. The lowest bottomed out around 12th, with Lindy’s weird picks. The lowest of the analytics landed Mizzou 10th in EvanMiya.com’s ratings, but they were still 33rd overall. Over on Rock M+ Matt Harris has been tracking all of the preseason picks, both human and non, and the average pits Missouri 7th. Everyone seems to be solid on the top of the league, and it aligns with our picks. That picks seem to really fall apart right at #6. The writers over at CBSSports.com are a great example of this phenomenon:
Here is a screenshots of their top five:
Here you see all six writers picking the same 5 just in different orders. But next, 6-11 (the lowest spot with which Mizzou was picked):
What everyone seems to believe is that the SEC will be very good again. Everyone seems to think the top of the league is pretty set. Everyone has all kinds of different takes on where things will land after the top 5.
History tells us the preseason picks are usually pretty accurate when creating tiers, and there’s usually one team from the middle tier who breaks into the top 4. But the favorites are that for a reason.
As always though they have to play the games. Mizzou has a range of finishes that could be anything, but I think if you’re underestimating Dennis Gates this season you might be disappointed.
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
Bye week is a slow week? Tell that to us basketball previewers!
- I’m not sure if there’s still time or not, but we published Reacts late so go vote if you can.
- BOWL PROJECTIONS: Mizzou is still out of the playoff picture… for now!
After Missouri’s 17-10 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday, Mizzou’s College Football Playoff chances took a major hit. Are the Tigers officially eliminated yet? Well, not quite — but let’s be honest — it’s a long shot entering their final four games of the regular season.
There’s still a lot to play for, however. Three-straight 10-win seasons is still on the table which has never been done before in Mizzou Football history.
I’m not here to sour or sugar any expectations, but the Tigers are still very much alive. A big test lies ahead against Texas A&M and the Aggies are very good. But not unbeatable. I’m not sure I have a bowl destination in mind if the Tigers miss out, my general take is just win as many of these games as you can.
- BYE WEEK BREAKDOWN: Offense — by Nate G. Edwards
With the completion of Mizzou’s second trimester of the 2025 season, I felt like it would be a good time to take a look at how the Tigers’ offense and defense ranks nationally. And not just in your standard stats like total rushing yards or whatever.
No.
We’re going deeper.
The offense hasn’t been very good, and should have taken better advantage of the opportunity in Nashville. I’d like to see the OL play a little better and more decisive going forward.
- Bye week What’s the TREND from True, on Zollers:
Watching Beau Pribula go down was not ideal. He hadn’t been perfect, but he’d helped the Tigers to a 6-1 record which was good enough. Once he went down, a silence went through Memorial Stadium.
It wasn’t until true freshman Matt Zollers came in and threw for 138 yards and a touchdown that Mizzou fans regained some hope.
Zollers looked good and had a strong connection with freshman tight end Jude James, which could be a potential duo for years to come. Things aren’t looking up for Mizzou right now, but at least it has Zollers.
I think with some time to prep, Zollers could be even better. Still you don’t always want a true freshman QB taking over down the stretch.
The major road block to a repeat as a National Title is replacing the guard production left behind by graduation. The biggest hit will be Walter Clayton, Jr, the Iona transfer who turned into an All American. Clayton’s 122 Offensive Rating as a lead guard helped overcome a few deficiencies he has a defender. But more than anything else, he was a big shot maker, and unafraid to last shot.
Florida is also replacing Will Richard, who’s currently sucking up rotational minutes with Golden State, and FAU transfer Alijah Martin, who is on the active roster but has yet to play for Toronto. The Gators also lost Denzel Aberdeen to Kentucky after his quest for a big pay raise fell flat in Gainesville.
Everyone is on the Florida bandwagon, and clearly with a top ranking we’re not venturing far from the pack here. But I do think there’s some reason to think the Gators will be good and not great this year… because guard play is REALLY important and we just don’t know their guard play will be great.
THE LAST MIZZOU PLAYER PREVIEW HAS ARRIVED!
Mizzou Hoops Player Preview: Nicholas Randall
In this episode, Matt provides an in-depth analysis of Missouri’s Nicholas Randall. In this episode, Matt takes a look at Randall’s background, strengths, weaknesses, and potential role in the upcoming season. Emphasizing the importance of patience and development, Watkins provides insights into what fans can expect from Nicholas as he acclimates to an SEC level of play.
Watkins has done a bang up job on all the Player Previews, and you can watch them all for free on Rockm.Plus here: Rock M Plus – The Verdict
Subscribe if you haven’t already to read more.
Forums Talk
As always, the basketball talk is heating up, Matt Harris looked at Matt Norlander’s results in picking his top 101 teams:
Steadily, MU gained separation from Texas and now finds itself between tiers, but roughly half of the sample has the Tigers finishing seventh or eighth. The reason the average doesn’t reflect that are four outliers — Massey Index, Hoops HQ (Seth Davis), College Basketball Today (Rothstein), KP’s H.U.M.A.N. poll — that have the Tigers in 11th place. As you saw today, we have MU finishing sixth, but that’s not a major divergence. It could be a simple matter of tiebreaker rules come SEC Tournament time.
Mizzou also has a 2028 offer out to an Oklahoma guard.
Rock M Radio: Blake Lovell time
Our forever FOP (friend of the pod) Blake Lovell asked to come on and chat SEC hoops as the season draws near.
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