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Though the ‘when’ remains a mystery for now, Mizzou men’s basketball now knows the ‘who’ and the ‘where’ regarding their conference schedule for the upcoming season.
The Southeastern Conference announced on Wednesday the full list of opponents for the Tigers’ 2022-2023 conference slate and there’s a case to be made that Mizzou got off relatively easy courtesy of the schedule-makers this time around.
For starters, Missouri will avoid facing more than once each of the conference’s top three finishers from last season. The Tigers will travel to Knoxville to see the Vols and to Auburn to take on last year’s SEC Champions, while welcoming John Calipari’s Kentucky squad to Mizzou Arena for their lone match-up with the Wildcats on the season.
Mizzou also gets Alabama at home for its only clash with the Crimson Tide, which is a benefit considering the Tigers won the home tilt with Alabama last year before dropping the return trip in Tuscaloosa.
Here’s the full slate of opponents as announced by the SEC Wednesday:
Home-and-home: Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Texas A&M
Home only: Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
Away only: Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee
So Missouri will see Arkansas twice during the season, which should be a tough task considering the Razorbacks added plenty of explosive talent (like former Tiger Trevon Brazile) to an Elite Eight roster. But given that the SEC hoists Arkansas upon Mizzou annually to give them a “rival” in the conference, this was an expected home-and-home.
Everybody else, though? The rest of the home-and-home portion of the slate could have been much more daunting than the Mississippi schools–both underwhelming a year ago–Texas A&M and scandal-rich LSU program that must work to stake out a new foundation this season following the forced departure of Will Wade.
Though Missouri fans learned first-hand a year ago not to count their chickens when it comes to the expectation that a brand-new roster should manage to gel together by the time conference play rolls around, it does seem that Dennis Gates’ revamped version of the Missouri Tigers should fare far better than Cuonzo Martin’s band of misfits did a season ago.
The talent supply is simply on an elevated level compared to last year, particularly with big-name transfer Isiaih Mosley in the fold. Also, this team should have an actual point guard on the roster, so that’s nice.
My first impression of the SEC slate: Missouri can finish with a record of .500 or better. And in this conference, that usually puts a team on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Do you like the way the conference opponent list sets up for Missouri in the upcoming basketball season? Vote on our Twitter poll @KTGRBigShow to let your voice be heard!
Mizzou basketball SEC opponents for the upcoming season…
Home & home: Ark, LSU, A&M, Ole Miss, Miss St
Home only: Bama, Kentucky, SCAR, Vandy
Away only: Auburn, Fla, UGA, Tenn
Knowing the slate, do you believe Mizzou will finish at .500 (9-9) or better in SEC play?
— KTGR Big Show (@KTGRBigShow) June 30, 2022
