“Revolutionary Breakthrough:Mark Pope calls Missouri’s turnaround ‘one of the great stories in college basketball.’
Dennis Gates faced a challenge going into his third season as head coach.
His first season in 2022–2023 could not have gone better: he finished 25–10 with an 11–7 SEC record, which was good for fourth place in the league. For the first time since 2009–10, Gates guided the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament second round. However, everything fell apart in 2023–2024. Missouri finished with a final record of 8-24 and lost all of its conference games (0-18). In order to regain the support of the Mizzou fan base, Gates needed to make a strong comeback in year three.
There were also low expectations for 2024–2025. Missouri was selected in the SEC’s preseason poll to place 13th out of 16 teams. At first, KenPom did not place the Tigers in the Top 50 in the country. With one game remaining in the regular season, Gates has Missouri in the running for a five-seed in the NCAA Tournament by adding a few guys with instant effect and developing a couple players already on the team.
Mizzou is rated 15th in the most recent AP Poll with a 21-9 record (10-7 SEC), despite facing a far more difficult league field this season than last. With six Quad 1 victories, the Tigers rank in the top 10 nationally in terms of offensive effectiveness and scoring. Additionally, Missouri will face Kentucky on Saturday as the favorite in the regular season finale, even though they have lost three of their last four games.
Wildcats head coach Mark Pope has taken notice of Gates’ excellent season. The two are familiar with each other, even coaching head-to-head while Pope was at BYU and Gates at Cleveland State. In the first game of the 2021–22 season, BYU won 69–59 at home. Since then, Pope has been a fan.
During his press conference on Thursday, Pope stated, “Well, I am one, I am really happy for him, because I am a huge fan of his.” “If my memory serves me correctly, we played them in a game at BYU when he was coaching at Cleveland State, and I like the way he approaches the game. I like how aggressive he is. I like the way he carries himself. I like the way he talks about the game and honors the game. I am a big fan,” Pope said.
