[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Let me guess... Missouri's not ranked.

Mizzou doesn't belong in the rankings currently IMO. If MU wins both of the games this week (@KSU, Baylor), they probably have earned a ranking at this point. Certainly, people are starting to taking note......

http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/in...ps?eref=fromSI

THE SLEEPER TEAM


I'm obsessed with efficiency stats, but it's for good reason -- the teams in the Final Four always tend to be the same teams who sit atop the efficiency charts at season's end. For the past few weeks I've been tracking one club that keeps climbing the statistical ranks on kenpom.com, but remains on the outside of the AP's Top 25. This team is the biggest sleeper left in all of college hoops, garnering zero hype despite its solid credentials.

Of the first eight teams in the Pythagorean Rankings on kenpom.com (I'm not going to link to it yet, because that would spoil the surprise), five are in the AP's top 10 (Duke, UConn, Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Louisville), one is 14th (Arizona State) and one is 20th (Gonzaga). The other team -- we'll refer to them henceforth as a proper noun, The Sleeper Team -- isn't ranked by the voters, but is seventh in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency, and 25th in adjusted defensive efficiency, which means it has the profile of an actual Final Four contender, even if it hasn't behaved entirely like one in the win-loss column.

The Sleeper Team's offense is more efficient than 19 of the AP top 25 teams' offenses, including Arizona State, UConn, Georgetown and Marquette.

The Sleeper Team's defense is stingier than eight of the AP top 25 teams' defenses, including Syracuse, Michigan State, Clemson and Butler.

According to Basketball Prospectus, The Sleeper Team has the fourth-best in-league efficiency margin of any major-conference school in the country. The only teams with better margins are top-ranked Duke (+0.32 points per possession), Kansas (+0.25) and strangely, LSU (+0.24).

So who is The Sleeper Team? Your first hint is that it's a band of thieves, one that steals the ball from opponents on 15.1 percent of defensive possessions, second in the nation only to VMI.

Your second hint is that The Sleeper Team's best player is a transfer from Vanderbilt.

Your third hint is that The Sleeper Team's breakout rookie is a guard whose last name is very similar to that of one of Washington's starters in the backcourt.

Your fourth hint, if you don't have it already, is that The Sleeper Team plays in the Big 12. Still need the answer?

...

...

It's Missouri.

This would be the same Missouri team that's 17-3 but suffered an embarrassing loss at Nebraska on Jan. 10, ensuring that the Tigers would be ignored on the national scene until they beat someone of consequence, like, say, Baylor on Saturday, or Texas in 10 days, or Kansas on Feb. 9. The Vandy transfer is one DeMarre Carroll, a "junkyard dog who's averaging 16.3 points and 7.1 boards. The rookie is one Marcus Denmon (sounds like Justin Dentmon, of UW), who's averaging 7.8 points and was clutch down the stretch in Saturday's 97-86 win over Texas Tech. Mizzou hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 2003, but the Tigers should get there this season as a mid-level seed -- and be a strong candidate to pull off a few upsets.