Missouri basketball head coach Dennis Gates gave a confident take on how many teams from the SEC should make the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers’ leader has sung the praises of the conference before, and he’s doing it again after his team’s 85-73 win over Mississippi State. No. 21 Missouri will now take on No. 4 Florida in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
While the Tigers’ win will please the fanbase, Gates’ comments will likely fire up fans of non-SEC schools. The third-year head coach in Columbia made this statement in a postgame interview with the SEC Network.
“It’s a great conference (the SEC). I think, ultimately, we deserve all 14 teams in the tournament. Imma say that loud. I’m gonna advocate for the SEC; there should be 14 teams in the NCAA tournament.”
Missouri basketball looks to continue its momentum against a familiar foe
There was nothing arrogant about Dennis Gates’ comments. ESPN currently has 14 SEC teams in the 68-team field. And the one team in the “Last Four In” category, Texas, just picked up a huge win over No. 14 Texas A&M. 14 teams in the NCAA Tournament would be a record for any conference. However, the SEC deserves it with the work it did in the nonconference and then in conference play.
There have been plenty of years when the SEC has not been anywhere near the top of the college basketball world. But that is not the case this season, and it’ll be interesting to see if this becomes the norm going forward. Obviously, conferences like the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, and Big 12 will have a say over that in the coming years.
As the conference awaits Selection Sunday, Missouri basketball will not need to worry about making The Big Dance. The Tigers punched their ticket a long time ago and are building up their resume to get the highest seed possible. Dennis Gates’ team is currently listed as a No. 7 seed in the field. But this group’s cement is not dry and has a major opportunity tomorrow. The Tigers will take on No. 4 Florida in the SEC quarterfinals. While the Gators are a formidable foe, Missouri beat them on their homecourt earlier this year.
Overall, the Tigers have had a very successful season to this point. But the cement is still dry for this team as it looks to make the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009.
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