The No. 24 Missouri Tigers never fail to entertain. At this point in the season, a wild finish from this Tigers team, regardless of the opponent, is expected.
Across the college football world, the College Football Playoff picture is getting more clear for most teams. Oregon, Indiana and Ohio State appear to reign supreme at the top of the Big 10, BYU remains the only undefeated team in the Big 12 and Boise State and Army look like the two contenders for the group of five squad to sneak into the playoff. The SEC and ACC, however, still look murky.
It might take a hail mary and some help from other teams, but it doesn’t look like Missouri is quite out of the playoff hunt yet. The Tigers must win out in order to do so and will need one of Alabama, Georgia, or Ole Miss to secure its third loss. Even with those hypothetical results, the Tigers could still miss out. The final three games on the Tigers’ schedule will be the test for whether they can do it or not.
South Carolina: 28-7 win over Vanderbilt Mississippi State: 33-14 loss to No. 7 Tennessee Arkansas: Bye week
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Next week’s matchup on the road against the South Carolina Gamecocks for Missouri now looks like the most important game of the season. The Gamecocks have now won three in a row, featuring victories over Oklahoma and Texas A&M. LaNorris Sellers is proving himself to be a legitimate SEC quarterback and running back Rocket Sanders is looking like one of the most talented in the country.
On the flip side, the Mississippi State Bulldogs look like one of the worst Power 5 teams in the nation. Under the helm of true freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren and a lackluster supporting cast on offense and defense, the Bulldogs have yet to win a conference game. The outlook doesn’t look sunny in that category quite yet, with Van Buren and his offense in need of a dire turnaround to win its last two games. They close the season with Missouri and Ole Miss, which is no easy feat for a struggling team.
The Arkansas Razorbacks had the perfect week for a bye week after getting destroyed by Ole Miss. They face the top-five Texas Longhorns and Louisiana Tech before facing Missouri, with the out-of-conference Bulldogs appearing as the most winnable matchup down the stretch. The Razorback offense had shown flashes of brilliance so far this season and could be a lot for Missouri, and even Texas, to handle if all goes well.
No Missouri wins got any better or worse this week, outside of the Boston College Eagles. They improved to 5-4 after beating Syracuse without quarterback Thomas Castellanos. Running backs Kye Robichaux and Jordan McDonald combined for over 300 yards rushing to take down the Orange in an important victory on bowl implications.
The Alabama Crimson Tide, who boat-raced Missouri at Bryant-Denny Stadium, took down the LSU Tigers on the road. Losing to Alabama was never going to look bad for Missouri and a blowout win over LSU helped that case even more. The fashion of that loss, however, is what makes it ugly on the resume.
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No. 21 Washington State: 49-28 win over Nevada No. 22 Louisville: Bye week No. 23 Clemson: 24-14 win over Virginia Tech No. 25 Army: 14-3 win over North Texas
The Miami Hurricanes’ loss to Georgia Tech in the late stages of its game throws a wrench in the ACC, opening it up for SMU and Clemson to have a shot to win. Those two squads, alongside Miami, have as good a shot as any to win the conference and solidify a CFP birth.
Oregon and Ohio State continue to sit pretty atop the Big 10, but an interesting matchup between the Buckeyes and No. 8 Indiana is set up next week to shift the scales of the conference and College Football Playoff Rankings. Penn State isn’t out of the race either with an easy schedule in the back half of its schedule.
Boise State and Army look primed for competition for the group of five playoff spots. An Ashton Jeanty-led Broncos squad continues to take down Mountain West opponents, but the margins of victory have been significantly smaller in recent weeks. The same can’t be said for Army, who continue to win by at least two scores and remain undefeated.
The Washington State Cougars, ranked No. 21 in the country, have a fascinating situation on their hands. They technically are in the Pac-12 but because of the lack of teams in the conference, do not qualify as a conference champion. They also can not make it as a group of five team, so the Cougars’ only chance of making it in is to be in the top-12. That’s not impossible, but finding a resume-building win in the final three games looks unlikely.
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Missouri’s College Football Playoff hopes are as much in its own hands as the rest of the college football universe. They will not make it if they don’t win out the rest of the season, but getting help from the rest of the top-12 schools would make a difference, whether it’s in the SEC or outside of it.
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The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on whether the so-called “Missouri First” map is unconstitutional.
The map, passed by Republican lawmakers in September and signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe, stretches the boundaries of the 5th Congressional District, a Democratic stronghold, eastward into heavily Republican regions of the state. It also moves part of the current 5th District into the 4th and 6th districts, currently represented by Republican congressmen Mark Alford and Sam Graves. Incumbent Democrat Emanuel Cleaver is running for reelection in the 5th District.
Opponents of the Missouri First map’s main argument focused on the map being passed by lawmakers without any new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The congressional boundaries tossed out by the Missouri First map were based on the 2020 U.S. Census.
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Attorney Chuck Hatfield represents those challenging the new map passed by Republican lawmakers last fall.
“The whole idea is tethered to the census data. You must do it at the census, and you only do it at the census,” Hatfield told the High Court. “The court’s precedents also support this.”
Solicitor General Louis Capozzi, representing the Missouri Sec. of State’s office, disagreed, saying the Missouri Constitution is silent on mid-decade redistricting.
“Mid-decade redistricting had happened in Missouri in the 1870s, and mid-decade redistricting was common around the country in the first half of the 20th century,” he argued. “Article III, Section 45 of the Missouri Constitution sets out only three requirements for the redistricting of seats in Missouri, ‘The district shall be composed of contiguous territory, as compact, and as nearly equal in population as may be.’ And as long as the General Assembly complies with those three rules, this court said that Missouri courts, ‘shall respect the political determinations of the General Assembly.’”
Meanwhile, roughly a hundred demonstrators held signs across the street from the Missouri Supreme Court building, condemning the Missouri First map and calling for the Missouri Supreme Court to strike it down.
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“Voters should choose our politicians,” said Missouri League of Women Voters Director Kay Park. “The League (of Women Voters) believes redistricting should keep communities of similar culture and race together to strengthen their vote and promote partisan fairness.”
The Missouri Supreme Court will rule on the congressional district map later.
Missouri senior forward Mark Mitchell was recognized Monday with a second-team selection to the All-Southeastern Conference teams.
Mitchell has led the Tigers all season long and tops the team in scoring (17.9 points per game), rebounding (5.2) and assists (3.6). He would be the just the second player in program to lead all the categories in one season, joining Albert White from the 1998-99 season.
Mitchell is also on pace to become the first player in program history to average at least 17 points, five rebounds and three assists since Anthony Peeler in 1992, the year he took home the Big 8 Conference Player of the Year award.
Mitchell was the only Missouri player to be recognized in SEC postseason awards.
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Five players were named to each of the three All-SEC teams.
Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas), Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Tennessee), Thomas Haugh (Florida), Labaron Philon Jr. (Alabama) and Tyler Tanner (Vanderbilt) made the first team.
Acuff was named the conference’s player of the year and freshman of the year.
Joining Mitchell on the second team were Nate Ament (Tennessee), Rueben Chinyelu (Florida), Otega Oweh (Kentucky) and Dailyn Swain (Texas), while Rashaun Agee (Texas A&M), Alex Condon (Florida), Keyshawn Hall (Auburn), Aden Holloway (Alabama) and Josh Hubbard (Mississippi State) were named to the third team.
The All-SEC defensive team consisted of Chinyelu, Somto Cyril (Georgia), Felix Okpara (Tennessee), Billy Richmond III (Arkansas) and Tanner. Chinyelu was selected as the defensive player of the year.
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Appearing on the all-freshman team were Acuff, Amari Allen (Alabama), Ament, Malachi Moreno (Kentucky) and Meleek Thomas (Arkansas).
Swain was selected as the newcomer of the year, while Urban Klavzar of Florida was named the sixth man of the year.
The 2026 Missouri high school basketball state championship brackets continue on Monday, March 9, with eight games in the sectional and quarterfinal round of the higher classifications.
High School On SI has brackets for every classification in the Missouri high school basketball playoffs. The championship games will begin on March 19.
Missouri High School Girls Basketball 2026 Playoff Brackets, Schedule (MSHSAA) – March 9, 2026
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Sectionals
Doniphan vs. Potosi – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
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St. James vs. St. Francis Borgia – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
Notre Dame de Sion vs. Oak Grove – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
Smithville vs. Benton – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
Cardinal Ritter College Prep vs. Clayton – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
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Orchard Farm vs. Kirksville – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
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Boonville vs. Strafford – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
Reeds Spring vs. Nevada – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
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Quarterfinals
Festus vs. Lift for Life Academy – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
Grandview vs. Kearney – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
MICDS vs. St. Dominic – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
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Helias vs. Marshfield – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
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Quarterfinals
Jackson vs. Marquette – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
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Rock Bridge vs. Staley – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
Incarnate Word Academy vs. Troy-Buchanan – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
Kickapoo vs. Lee’s Summit West – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
