COLUMBIA, Mo. — In a sign that the external reputation of Missouri men’s basketball remains rather tarnished by last season’s winless run through conference play, the Tigers were picked to finish 13th out of 16 teams in the Southeastern Conference during the upcoming 2023-2024 college hoops season.
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The media poll results are the harshest preseason prediction that coach Dennis Gates has received as he enters his third year at the helm. Last season, Mizzou was predicted to finish ninth and ahead of Gates’ debut season, media tabbed the Tigers for 11th — though there were only 14 teams in the conference for both of those campaigns.
Missouri vastly underachieved its predicted mark last season, with injuries and an historic losing streak dragging the Tigers to a last-place finish. In the 2022-23 season, they were a surprise fourth-place program.
At No. 13 in this year’s preseason poll, Mizzou is ahead of only ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëùµ¼º½ÍøÖ·iana State, SEC newcomer Oklahoma and Vanderbilt. Mississippi State, South Carolina and Georgia occupy the three spots ahead of MU.
Alabama was predicted as the league winner with star Mark Sears named the preseason player of the year.
Missouri did not have any representatives on the three preseason All-SEC teams, which had five players each.
The Tigers didn’t have any preseason all-conference players last year, either, though there were only two all-league teams at the time.