The Mizzou Tigers are flying up the rankings - and their odds to make the first Final Four in school history are headed in the right direction as well.
Mizzou is up to #15 in the AP Poll this week after going on the road and destroying a ranked Mississippi State team this past Saturday, 88-61.
As recently as the day of the Florida game, you could place a wager on FanDuel on whether or not the Tigers were going to make the NCAA Tournament - and you had to lay a little bit of juice at that time on the NO.
But after the upset win over the Gators, that bet disappeared from the sportsbook and is no longer posted because Missouri became such a heavy favorite to make the Tournament with that victory.
Then the wins kept coming - and in mostly dominant fashion. And now as they sit alone in third place in the toughest conference in America, the Tigers are starting to appear pretty high up on another tab on FanDuel - the odds to make the Final Four.
Mizzou is currently +1400 to make the Final Four. Only 17 teams have better odds of making it.
Missouri is arguably the best program in the country to have never made the Final Four. Is this the team that can end the drought?
Who’s to say they can’t?
It has become clear that not only is this an NCAA Tournament team, but this is a team that can do some damage in March. Besides the impressive wins vs Kansas, at Florida, vs Ole Miss, and at Mississippi State, their only losses have been:
On the road vs a ranked Memphis team where Mizzou held a 14-point first half lead
Neutral site vs a ranked Illinois team where a 3-pointer rimmed out at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime
At Auburn… but nobody is winning at Auburn this season. And Mizzou covered that game.
Quad 1 loss at Texas where the Tigers were up 1 with four minutes to play
Other than Auburn and maybe Duke, there is no team out there that strikes fear in me where I’d feel like Missouri doesn’t have a chance to win.
And the Tigers will get two more chances to prove themselves to the country this week when they play at #4 Tennessee on Wednesday and at home against #10 Texas A&M on Saturday.
If they lose both? While still solidly in the NCAA Tournament, it’d be time to pump the brakes on Final Four talk.
In the most likely scenario of a split, they’re still right on track for an outstanding season.
But win both? Then it would be time to legitimately start talking about Missouri as one of the best teams in the country. And I would expect their Final Four odds to about chop in half to around the +700 range.
Mizzou is up to a #4 seed this week in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology on CBSSports.com. With a couple wins this week, I wouldn’t be stunned to see a #2 seed by their name come next Monday.
As Eli Drinkwitz would say, “Why stop now?”