No. 21/22 University of Missouri men’s basketball learned its postseason fate on Sunday, earning the sixth seed in the West Regional and facing 11th-seeded Drake on Thursday, March 20.
Staying local in Wichita, Kansas, the Tigers and Bulldogs tip off at 6:35 p.m. on truTV.
Mizzou earned its highest seed since 2012, marking just the fourth time in the last 31 seasons the Tigers have been seeded sixth or higher. The winner advances to play the winner of No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 14 UNC Wilmington on Saturday.
The Tigers are one of a record-setting 14 schools from the SEC to earn a bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament under the direction of third-year Whitten Family Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dennis Gates. The Tigers enter the tournament with a 22-11 overall record and are ranked No. 21 in the AP poll and No. 22 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
Drake earned its bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament after winning the Missouri Valley Conference title. The Bulldogs enter the tournament with a 30-3 record, making their third-straight appearance in the national tournament. Former conference foes, the series between the two schools goes back to 1910 with Mizzou holding a 27-7 all-time advantage in the series. The teams last met in 1987 with the Tigers winning at Drake, 76-74.
The Tigers are set to compete in their 30th NCAA Tournament and first in two years. Overall, Mizzou owns 23 victories in the national championship, advancing as far as the Elite Eight five times in its history (1944, 1976, 1994, 2002 and 2009).