Mizzou draws #2 in West
by Mizzou Matt
COLUMBIA, MO- The Big Dance, The Grand Hoedown, March Madness, or simply the NCAA Tournament. Whatever you choose to call it, it's here. A journey that started back in November will only take two more weeks to complete. At the end, one team will have that One Shining Moment.
With their successful 30-4 season and a Big 12 Championship, the University of Missouri hosted a watch party, and another excellent crowd showed up at Mizzou Arena for an event other than basketball or a concert. Much like when College GameDay sponsored by State Farm came to the University of Missouri, fans showed up in droves to find out where their Tigers would be seeded and who they would face in the first round of the NCAA National Tournament. They needn't wait long.
The Tigers will take on 15-seed Norfolk State in Omaha, NE on Friday.
Three of the four 1-seeds in the tournament lost their respective conference tournaments; Kentucky, Syracuse, and North Carolina. Michigan State, the fourth overall 1-seed is the only conference tournament champion in the bunch. Syracuse lost to Cincinnati in the Big East semifinals, Kentucky lost to Vanderbilt in the SEC championship game, and Florida State defeated North Carolina in the ACC Championship, while Michigan State defeated Ohio State in the Big Ten.
College basketball analyst Dick Vitale (@DickieV) has bought stock in Mizzou in this year's tourney. "My Final 4 UK-Mizzou-FL ST-UNC!"
Boos rang out in Mizzou Arena when Michigan State was announced as the fourth 1-seed, but a member of the student cheering section affectionately known as The Antlers held up a sign that read "#2 is Good Enough". "Faith in Haith" was on the latter side.
The Big 12 Tournament Champion Tigers took time before the CBS Selection Sunday broadcast for a special presentation. Kim English, Marcus Denmon, Steve Moore, and Jarrett Sutton all addressed the crowd.
"I just wanna thank my teammates and you guys, the fans," said English. "We may not have won the regular season, but we took care of business in Kansas City."
Coach Frank Haith also addressed the crowd. "We didn't get the regular season championship, but we gave it a heck of a run," he said. "We're not done yet. When I got here, I said I wanted to win and I wanted to cut down nets. We're not done. We still have six more wins to get."
Full tournament bracket can be found here:
