The Missouri Tigers will be less terrible at basketball this season. Monday night’s 83-75 loss at Memphis made that clear.
This team won’t go 0-18 in the Southeastern Conference again this season.
Can the Tigers rebound in coach Dennis Gates’ third season and battle back into the NCAA Tournament chase? That's asking a lot. The SEC is even tougher this season, so there’s much work to do between now and Missouri’s next big tests, against nonconference tests against Kansas and Illinois.
But the season opener offered glimmers of hope.
Much of the preseason optimism around the program centered on the proven talent of the incoming transfers and the high upside of the impressive freshman class.