https://theathletic.com/4137386/2023/01/31/ncaa-tournament-bubble-watch/
Lock: Tennessee, Alabama
Should be in: Auburn, Missouri
Work to do: Arkansas, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Mississippi State
Missouri (16-5, 4-4; NET: 44, SOS: 46): Hey, Missouri got good quick. First-year Dennis Gates may not have arrived with fanfare, but thus far he is proving to be a savvy hire; Gates took no time at all to install a high-pressure, uptempo system designed to maximize the strengths of the players he collected in one fell transfer portal swoop. So far, so good: The Tigers are coming off a massive win over a hot Iowa State team in the Big 12/SEC Challenge; have wins over Illinois, Arkansas and Kentucky; and haven’t suffered a non-Quadrant 1 loss. Interestingly, the predictive metrics don’t like them nearly as much as, say, strength of record, which ranks Mizzou 18th. Blame blowout losses in a few big games, and maybe some schedule-strength issues in the noncon. Otherwise, there’s not much to dislike about Gates’ first Tigers team sheet.