Missouri Hoops, Lurking Quietly Beneath the Radar, Welcomes You to Tiger Country

The Missouri Tigers are a team to watch out for. In the Tigers' last three games, they have beaten Baylor at home by 17, Texas on the road by four, and Iowa State on the road by 14. In those three games, Tigers star senior forward DeMarre Carroll has averaged 23 points and seven rebounds per contest. Carroll has been an unstoppable presence when on the floor for the Tigers and is the primary reason for their success.

Outside of Carroll, in the past three games F Leo Lyons, G Matt Lawrence, G J.T. Tiller, and G Zaire Taylor have all reached double digits scoring.

The reason I believe Mizzou is lurking beneath the radar is not because they play in a Big 12 conference that gets little to no respect outside of Oklahoma and Kansas, but because the Tigers are quietly 14-0 at home. How can a team that is perfect at home and has one of the best senior leaders in the country be unranked and unnoticed nationally?

This is all about to change...on Monday, Feb. 9, the Kansas Jayhawks are coming to town. Everyone seems to be talking about the Jayhawks' perfect streak at home, but does anyone realize Missouri is also perfect at home? They will soon start talking when they see Carroll and Lyons take advantage of a young and inexperienced Kansas frontcourt, led by sophomore Cole Aldrich and freshman Marcus Morris.

Outside of Aldrich and Morris, Kansas has no one inside. The Jayhawks rely too heavily on their only returning starter from last season, Sherron Collins. Collins is more than just a returning starter; he is a key contributor to a national championship and is having an even better season than his last, not to mention he is doing it all on his own. The Jayhawks will go as far as Collins takes them.

However, on Monday night Collins will not be able to win this game on his own. Collins’ teammates have no experience to help support him, and I guarantee the home court crowd of the Tigers gets the best of Collin’s supporting cast.

Picture a 14-0 record on the line, with thousands of screaming fans jam-packing the roof. Add a senior-led frontcourt with an unmatchable level of intensity that will be relentless against the young and inexperienced frontcourt of the Jayhawks. I believe that the Tigers will play the best game of their season on national television and make all of America realize they are for real.

The Tigers have a high basketball IQ, play beyond their years, and really get after it on defense. It is very difficult to score inside on this team, and they have all the key attributes to make a deep run come March.

See all of Jordan's Picks all season at The College Basketball Place.