Missouri basketball spent the offseason building real momentum, but the first preseason polls still have the Tigers outside the national rankings heading into 2026-27.
That feels a little like a team hanging around the edge of the spotlight. Dennis Gates has assembled what looks like one of his strongest recruiting hauls going into his fifth season, and the group is headlined by five-star guard Jason Crowe Jr., transfers CJ Gunn and Bryson Tiller, and the return of Mark Mitchell.
Gunn and Mitchell are both currently eligible to play after having to go through the legal system, though Gunn still has additional legal steps ahead of him. Those pieces will matter if Missouri is going to make the kind of jump the program wants this year, especially with eyes on a Sweet Sixteen run - Gates’ first and Missouri’s first since 2009.
For now, the national voters are still keeping the Tigers just outside the top tier. Missouri collected 167 votes in the AP poll, the most of any unranked team. In the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, the Tigers got 60 votes, which left them behind Nebraska and UCLA on the outside of the cut.
The SEC, though, doesn’t exactly offer much breathing room. In the league’s preseason poll, Missouri was picked eighth, slotting behind Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Florida, the defending regular-season champion and preseason conference favorite. No Tiger landed on any of the three All-SEC teams.
That projection fits with what Missouri did last season, when it went 20-13 overall and 10-8 in conference play to tie for seventh in the SEC. The Tigers’ year ended with a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Miami. Under Gates, Missouri still hasn’t finished higher than fourth in the league.
The schedule now starts giving this group a chance to prove it belongs in the conversation. Missouri has road exhibitions at Kansas State on Oct. 23 and UNLV on Oct. 29 before opening the season at home against Cleveland State on Nov. 3.
In Other News...
Mizzous SEC Push Suddenly Looks Tougher After Drinkwitz Injury Update
Missouris SEC stretch already had the feel of a grind, and the injury report against Ole Miss only sharpened that reality. The Tigers went into the game with a season-high 24 players listed, a reminder that this part of the schedule is going to test more than just execution and scheme. Several key names bounced around the availability report through the week, leaving Missouri to manage both preparation and personnel as the stakes keep climbing.
Eli Drinkwitz confirmed the injuries after the game, and the biggest longer-term concern now centers on linebacker Robert Woodyard Jr., who is scheduled for a medical procedure. For a Missouri team trying to keep its push in the conference on track, that kind of news matters just as much as the result on the field. The Tigers have already been forced to absorb plenty of lineup uncertainty, and the question now is how many more hits they can take before depth starts becoming the defining storyline. [Read more 🡒]
SEC Poll Controversy Just Took A Turn Florida Fans Will Notice
Auburns road win at then-No. 1 Georgia was the kind of result that usually forces a hard rethink in the polls. It was the Tigers first road victory over their rival since 2005, a jolt that lifted them to 4-2 and gave their resume a very clear signature win, yet the latest AP Poll still stopped short of putting Auburn inside the rankings.
Instead, Auburn landed in the receiving votes category, and the reaction came fast from fans who saw the omission as hard to explain. The debate has only grown louder because a win like that typically changes how people view a team, and for SEC followers watching the rankings, the absence of Auburn from the poll has become the story in itself. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou's SEC Opening Could Grow Again This Weekend
Missouris first SEC game already looks more meaningful than it did a few weeks ago, and the picture could get even messier this weekend. The league has settled into a four-way tie at the top, with Tennessee, Georgia, Ole Miss and Kentucky all carrying at least one loss after a round of shakeups that included Tennessee falling to Texas, Georgia dropping one to Auburn, Ole Miss losing at Florida and Kentucky coming up short against Alabama.
Week 8 brings another set of games with real ripple effects for the standings, and Missouri has reason to keep one eye on the scoreboard while it handles its own business. The odds attached to those matchups only add to the intrigue, because a few swings this weekend could make the Tigers SEC opening look less like a simple starting point and more like a chance to chase a crowded race. [Read more 🡒]