Things are 180 degrees apart across the parking lot in Columbia as we enter 2023.
On one side, you have the Missouri football Tigers at Faurot Field. It’s a program with a coach that just wrapped up his third year with another .500 record after losing its bowl game for the second straight year. And a program that will enter next fall with questions at the most important position -- quarterback -- yet again.
Then you have the Missouri men’s basketball Tigers. The sun is shining on Mizzou Arena, with a first-year coach already picking up a pair of signature wins and a spot in the national rankings likely coming Monday.
There were collective shrugs when Missouri announced the hiring of Dennis Gates to be the head basketball coach last March. Gates was coming from Cleveland State, where he did lead his team to a pair of Horizon League titles in three seasons. But he was a fresh face after slogging through seasons led by Kim Anderson and Cuonzo Martin that were not enjoyable to watch for fans and didn’t look like players were having much fun, either.
There was nearly an entire turnover of the roster, with the most important returner being Kobe Brown. Sure, Brown is a unique talent. But what would he have around him?
Gates re-recruited Aiden Shaw and got him to stick with his pledge to come to Columbia. Then he hit the transfer portal and brought in some proven mid-major players he knew could play. But could they play at the SEC level?
The Tigers cleared their first hurdle by cruising through the start of their schedule, which has been a bit of a struggle in the past couple of years. The only real tests were a home game against Penn and a road contest at Wichita State, and Missouri cleared those to take a 9-0 record into the return of Kansas to Mizzou Arena.
Bright lights, big stage, big struggles. Final -- Kansas 95, Missouri 67.
Kansas played very well that late Saturday afternoon, Missouri obviously did not.
Next up was a road contest against Central Florida, a good program but no world beaters. It was a back-and-forth affair, with Missouri trailing 66-65 in the final seconds. Two losses in a row were looming. The Tigers could beat cupcakes, but decent teams were going to be a problem.
But then came what might be the shot of the season when DeAndre Gholston hit a shot from near midcourt to give the Tigers an improbable 68-66 victory against the Knights.
Missouri didn’t let the loss to Kansas fester into another loss. And then what happens heading into the next game -- the Braggin’ Rights game against Illinois in St. Louis?
Instead, they rode the momentum into a dominating win against Illinois. But what about the next game on the schedule? Kentucky was coming to town and Mizzou Arena was sold out for the second straight game. Would the lights be too bright again? Nope, it was another 40 minutes of domination as the Tigers improved to 12-1.
Some Missouri fans were grumbling because the Tigers weren’t in the AP Top 25 poll after defeating the Illini. Rankings are nice, but really don’t mean a lot this time of the season. But after defeating Kentucky, Missouri should find itself in the 20-25 range.
Is this the team that can finally get the Missouri program to that elusive dream of the Final Four? Nope. The Tigers can score like an elite team, but I don’t think they play good enough defense or rebound well enough for that.
Is it an NCAA Tournament team? Going into the year, I think an NIT appearance was a realistic goal. Find a way to finish a little above .500, maybe get a postseason home game or two and start to rebuild the program.
But now? If the Tigers can find a way to finish somewhere near .500 in the SEC, which would get them to 20-plus wins, the field of 68 appears to be well within reach.
Gates has made watching Missouri basketball fun again. It’s a lesson the program across the parking lot should aspire to achieve.