For the second time in four seasons and the 28th time in school history, Mizzou Basketball is playing in the Big Dance, as the Tigers are the No. 9 seed in the West Region of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Mizzou will face former Big 12 and Big 8 rival Oklahoma on Saturday March 20, with tipoff and sight location to come later this week.
The NCAA announced in early January the entire 2021 men’s basketball championship will be played in Indiana, with the majority of the tournament’s 67 games taking place in Indianapolis, culminating with the Final Four, April 3-5. Games will be played on two courts inside Lucas Oil Stadium, as well as Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Mackey Arena in West Lafayette and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Only one game at a time will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The winner of the MU-OU game will face off against the winner of the game between the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed Gonzaga (26-0) and the First Four game winner between No. 16 seeds Appalachian State and Norfolk State on Monday, March 22. Yes, Norfolk State is the school that upset Mizzou when the Tigers were a 2-seed in 2012.
Since 1949, the Tigers and Sooners have met 142, (6th most in Mizzou history) and the Tigers are 67-75. Both teams have beaten Alabama this season, but since their wins over the SEC regular season and tournament champion, things haven’t gone well. Mizzou has gone 3-6 and the Sooners 4-6.
