Notebook: How ESPN’s Lunardi and CBS’s Palm view Missouri heading into season’s final stretch

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BRANSON MO NEWS: Joe Lunardi’s laptop and season-long data crashed Wednesday, forcing ESPN’s longtime bracketologist to make Thursday’s projection on a napkin.Missouri was on said napkin. The Tigers were listed as a No. 7 seed.On Thursday, though, Lunardi took a second glance at the seeds and said Missouri is more likely in the 8-9 range.

“In fairness, that’s the kind of team they are,” Lunardi said. “They’re exactly the kind of team you see in the 8-9 game — dangerous but flawed.”With Saturday’s game at Kentucky on the horizon as well as Tuesday’s at Vanderbilt and next Saturday’s home matchup with Arkansas, what does Missouri have to do to be a tournament lock?“I think two wins, including the SEC tournament,” Lunardi said. “Give me two wins — anywhere, anyway — between now and their elimination, and I think they will be very comfortable.”In another phone conversation with the Columbia Missourian on Thursday, CBS Sports senior writer Jerry Palm offered a similar analysis.“(They need to) probably win two of these last three,” Palm said of Missouri. “If they win one, you go into the conference tournament not very comfortable.”Missouri is already uncomfortable.This past Tuesday, the Tigers lost 90-87 to Ole Miss in overtime. The Rebels are ranked No. 102 in the RPI. Not to mention, they had lost seven straight.Palm said the Ole Miss loss was quite possibly the worst of the year.And what has Missouri currently in the tournament? Both Palm and Lunardi referenced the Tigers’ wins against Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Alabama. Each contributed to Missouri’s current RPI standing at No. 38.Not to mention, the Tigers’ strength of schedule is listed on ESPN.com as the 26th-best in the nation.A contributor to that ranking is …



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