Missouri fails to make reduced 32-team field

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Stung by a lopsided loss to Baylor in the first-round of the Big 12 Conference tournament three days earlier, the Missouri Tigers opted not to gather as a team Sunday night to await a possible NIT bid.

Turns out they didn't miss much.

The 32-team tournament for squads that failed to earn NCAA bids excluded Missouri (18-12), which had hoped to continue its season in the first year of a rebuilding effort under coach Mike Anderson.

Wins over three NCAA tournament teams -- Davidson, Arkansas and Texas Tech -- and a better conference mark than NIT choice Oklahoma State apparently weren't enough to earn Missouri a postseason bid. The Tigers also beat NIT participant Mississippi State in a home contest this season.

Anderson said that while he's disappointed the season is over, he is looking forward to building a winning program in Columbia.

"The biggest key to me was the improvement that our team showed throughout the year," he said. "Our goal now is to continue the improvement throughout the offseason, so that at this time next year, we are ready to go dancing."

Other familiar names in the NIT field are Missouri State and Kansas State, which is the first Big 12 team to win at least 20 games overall and earn a first-round bye in the conference tournament but not make the NCAA field.

The NIT field also includes Providence College (18-12) of the Big East; Bradley (21-12) of the Missouri Valley Conference; and North Carolina State (18-15), which advanced to the final of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament before losing to North Carolina on Sunday.

Eight teams which won their regular season conference titles but failed to earn the automatic NCAA bids gained by winning conference tournament titles received automatic NIT bids. That group includes Mississippi Valley State (18-14) of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Delaware State (21-11) of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

The NIT has also trimmed its field of participants from 40 to 32 this year, another change that hurt Missouri's chances.