Off to its best start in years and fresh off a pair of wins against top-20 foes, the Missouri men’s basketball team earned its first spot in the national rankings of the 2022-23 campaign, announced on Monday.
The Tigers enter the AP Poll at No. 20, while earning a No. 21 placement in the USA Today Coaches Poll. It marks the first time that Mizzou is nationally ranked since an 11-week run ended in February 2021.
Mizzou has defeated a ranked opponent in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2009 NCAA Tournament and the first time in the regular season since the 2001-02 campaign – claiming a 93-71 victory against No. 16 Illinois on Dec. 22 before opening SEC play with an 89-75 win over No. 19 Kentucky on Dec. 28.
The Tigers are now 12-1 overall during the 2022-23 season, marking just the fifth time in the last 40 years that MU opened with victories in 12 of its first 13 games. First-year head coach Dennis Gates also becomes just the second coach since the AP poll began in 1948 that a first-year Mizzou leader earned a national ranking, joining Frank Haith in 2011-12.
