Missouri men’s basketball was picked to finish 13th in the Southeastern Conference in the 2024-25 season in the preseason SEC media poll that was released Monday.
Mizzou was picked ahead of LSU, SEC-newcomer Oklahoma and Vanderbilt. Alabama is the preseason favorite to win the conference, with Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas A&M, in order, rounding out the top five.
That prognostication is exactly in line with the Tigers’ in-conference ranking in the advanced basketball analytics site KenPom’s first ratings of the season, which were released Sunday. KenPom has Mizzou ranked 13th among SEC squads and as the No. 53 team in the nation, which likely would be on the outside looking in to the NCAA Tournament.
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There were no Missouri players on the conference’s preseason first-, second-, or third-team selections.
Alabama guard Mark Sears was tabbed as the preseason SEC player of the year. He was joined by Auburn big Johni Broome, Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr., Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler and Texas A&M guard Wade Taylor IV on the preseason first team.
Mizzou enters the campaign on the back of a winless SEC season in which it finished, of course, last in the then-14-team league. The Tigers have a top-15 transfer class and a top-five recruiting class on campus, with the new season set to begin Monday, Nov. 4, with a game on the road at Memphis.
SEC Tipoff — the conference’s basketball media days — begins Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama. Mizzou coach Dennis Gates is due to hold a press conference beginning at 4:15 p.m. CDT, and he will be joined at the event by new transfer point guard Tony Perkins and forward Mark Mitchell. The event is available to stream on SEC Network+.
Missouri women’s basketball picked 15th in preseason poll
Missouri women’s basketball was picked to finish 15th in the preseason SEC media poll, which the league released Monday. Only Arkansas was ranked behind Mizzou.
The Tigers, who finished last in the league last season with a 2-14 SEC record, had no players selected as preseason first- or second-team honorees.
South Carolina, which went undefeated and won the national championship last season, was picked to win the conference again in the 2024-25 campaign. Texas, LSU, Oklahoma and Ole Miss were picked to finish Nos. 2 through 5, respectively.
LSU guards Flau’Jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow were picked alongside Texas forward Madison Booker as the preseason players of the year.
Missouri begins its 2024-25 season against Vermont on Monday, Nov. 4 on the road in Burlington, Vermont. MU has four new transfers and two true freshmen joining the team this season.
Mizzou coach Robin Pingeton will speak at SEC Tipoff at 5 p.m. Wednesday. She will be joined in Birmingham by returning guards Ashton Judd and Grace Slaughter.
