A pair of first-year SEC head coaches will meet tonight in Columbia, with one looking to secure another victory on a projected NCAA Tournament appearance and the other searching for a way to rediscover early season magic.
Before the season, many fans would have thought the script was flipped, projecting Mizzou to fall off after a fairly simple start to the season and LSU to continue its path to an opportunity to play important postseason basketball. Heck, the SEC Preseason Poll even tabbed LSU two spots ahead of Mizzou, who slotted in at 10th.
However, that early prediction has not come to fruition for Mizzou, who fall just outside the Top 25 rankings heading into this matchup and are tabbed as the 51st-best team, according to KenPom, while LSU counters with a No.