College Basketball Thoughts

Missouri

Missouri has been a pleasant surprise this season. What Mike Anderson has done in Columbia deserves serious consideration for the big 12 coach of the year. (Probably wont win it see OU and Jeff Capel)That being said I worry about the Tigers sometimes. When they are going good and creating points off of turnovers and getting the max out of each one of their possessions they are a very tough team to beat. When they get stuck in a game with better teams that don't allow them to dictate tempo Missouri tends to struggle in their half-court sets.

Prediction: Mizzou makes it to the elite eight this season and pulls a major upset in the second weekend of the tourney.

Kansas

They Jayhawks will be a tough out in March because they are so well coached. Bill Self has been getting the most out of his players this season and may be in the middle of one of the best coaching jobs that he has ever done. It's one thing to coach a bunch of super talented players and manage the ego and talent. It is a completely different task to get more from average players and have them mesh together into a solid well balanced team.

Prediction: Kansas gets bounced in the sweet 16 round. A good step for a team that we were talking about at one point not making the NCAA tournament.

Kansas State

Really? Will the high school coach even get his team to the tourney? Probably not. However KSU is a scary match-up for people in the Big 12 tourney. If Pullen and Clemente get hot from the outside they have the ability to completely dominate a game from the guard spots. That makes them dangerous as hell. The key. Can the high school coach find a way to use these two weapons to make a run? If he does it will surprise me.

Prediction: KSU misses the NCAA Tournament.

#16 Kansas @ #19 Missouri

Big Monday tonight in Columbia looks to be a chance for Missouri to break a streak that dates back to the arrival of Mike Anderson in Columbia. The Tigers haven't beaten the Jayhawks in the past five meetings and on paper tonight looks like a match-up that should favor Missouri.

One of the biggest problems that I have with Missouri this season is the fact that in big games like tonight they haven't come to play. The Illinois game was a disaster and the Tigers looked uncomfortable, shell shocked and poorly coached. Since that loss we have seen a different Tiger team; that's the one that must show up tonight for them to have a shot to beat Kansas.

Kansas has been a pleasant surprise this season and Bill Self has done a masterful coaching job with such a young team. I love to see coaches that get more out of their players and are able to figure out how to motivate them perfectly. The players deserve credit too. Sharon Collins has been a very good floor general when he isn't turning it over and the addition of Mario Little has added another scoring option on the perimeter. Making the Jayhawks much better than I would have expected.

I like Kansas to win this game tonight. Missouri has to prove to me that they can handle a moment on this stage. Be big enough to get it done and that will make me a believer that this team could be dangerous in March.