Mizzou earns 10-seed in Big Dance, headed to St. Louis
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
For the second-straight season, Mizzou men's basketball is going dancing.
The Tigers earned a No. 10 overall seed in the West Region. The Tigers will face No. 7-seeded Miami (Fla.) in St. Louis, on Friday, March 20.
"Definitely excited about our opportunity here, as we represent the SEC in the NCAA tournament," Gates said. "You know, you just look at the different regions, you look at what other teams are there. Definitely, I think St. Louis has definitely won out with the level of teams from Purdue, Iowa State, ourselves and Kentucky, both being able to play there, in addition to the teams that are also traveling. At this point in the season, everybody has had road games, everyone has had neutral site games, everyone has traveled. It's going to be a game that both teams will show up and, for us, we just got to make sure that we don't have those self-inflictions and things like that. So, our schedule and everyone's schedule prepares them for these moments."
You can watch the full press conference with head coach Dennis Gates, on Selection Sunday, in the video player below.
Gates and company earned a spot in March, after a 20-12 overall finish to the season and a 10-8 run in Southeastern Conference play. The squad will look to snap a three-game losing streak, which extended into the SEC Tournament in Nashville, on Thursday. The Tigers lost to the Kentucky Wildcats in the second round of the tournament, in a game that could've helped them sweat out the results of Selection Sunday a little less.
Mizzou has some history with the Hurricanes, coming into the NCAA Tournament. The last time the two programs met was back in the 2002 Big Dance, when the Tigers upset Miami 93-80 in the First Round of the Tournament. That year Mizzou went on to have an Elite Eight berth.
In the 2026 edition of the clash, there are plenty of ties between the Canes and the Tigers. In fact, former Mizzou associated head coach Charlton 'C.Y.' Young is now the associate head coach for Miami, after spending years working with Coach Gates.
The Tigers are one of 10 Southeastern Conference squads to earn a bid into March, which is the most of any other conference.
It is the third time in his MU tenure that Coach Gates has brought a team to the NCAA Tournament. The furthest he's made it into the Big Dance is the second round, when the Tigers lost to Princeton in the second round of the 2022-23 tournament.
In the 2024-25 campaign, Mizzou entered March with high expectations, as the group had earned a No. 6 overall seed. But, their run in tournament came to an early end in the first when the Drake Bulldogs stunned the Tigers.
Now, Coach Gates and his squad will look to get past the first week of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009.
Mizzou and Miami will tip off at the Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis on Friday at 9:10 p.m. on TNT.
