TIGERS IN THE STRETCH

TIGERS NOTCH BIG WIN

With a convincing 77-59 win over Baylor Wednesday night in Columbia, the Missouri Tigers assured themselves of at least an 8-8 Big XII Conference record and strengthened their position for an NCAA Tournament invitation.

Ricardo Ratliffe and Laurence Bowers more than held their own against the Bears' front court. Ratliffe carried the load in the first half with 10 rebounds and eight points. Bowers, saddled with two fouls in the first half, scored 18 in the second half, picked up nine boards and added six steals. Marcus Denmon chipped in 13 points and dogged Lacedarius Dunn on defense; and Kim English added 16, mostly from long range.

Next on the schedule is Saturday's tilt with Kansas State in Manhattan, where the Tigers have not won since 2004. Frank Martin's Wildcats have slowly fought back from suspensions and defections to move into contention for a fourth place bye in the conference tournament. A Mizzou win would probably squash that hope for K-State. Even if MU loses, the Tigers would still hold the edge in a tiebreaker against the Wildcats, based on the current RPI of the teams.

After Saturday the Tigers close the season on the road against K-State's latest victim, Nebraska, still harboring slim hopes for an spot in the Big Dance, and at home against the vaunted Kansas Jayhawks. K-State finishes on the road against conference leader Texas and home against Iowa State. Should Mizzou stumble and lose all its final three games and K-State win two of three, the Wildcats would earn the fourth bye in the conference tournament. A Missouri win Saturday would render moot any "worst case scenarios."

Speaking of RPI (Rating Percentage Index) and Strength of Schedules (SOS): who figures these numbers?

Kansas, according to cbssports.com
has the top RPI and is ranked 10^th by SOS. Missouri is at #30 in RPI and #68 in SOS. KU has wins over nine teams in the RPI top 68 and two losses. MU has four wins and five losses based on the same criteria. The losses to Texas A & M, Colorado and Oklahoma State obviously have cost the Tigers valuable points in the ratings system; but the disparity seems somewhat skewed considering the teams play the exact same conference schedule.

Be that as it may, Missouri has exceeded its preseason projection to finish eighth in the Big XII; and Coach Mike Anderson looks to lead Mizzou into another NCAA tournament with the Tigers again showing signs of improvement as the season moves toward March.