MU not bothered by No. 12 seed

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri's best record in the tenure of Quin Snyder got the Tigers their worst seed in the NCAA Tournament in his three years as coach.

That might not be such a bad thing.

Missouri was given the No. 12 seed in the West Region and scheduled to play fifth-seed Miami (24-7) on Thursday in Albuquerque, N.M. If the Tigers win, they would face either fourth-seed Ohio State (23-7) or 13th-seed Davidson (21-9) on Saturday.

That scenario could be friendlier to the Tigers than in recent years when they've been the eighth or ninth seed, setting them up for a likely game against a No. 1 seed after a win. Such was the case last season, when Missouri beat Georgia 70-68, then lost to Duke 94-81 in the second round.

Talking to reporters after the brackets were announced, Snyder and his players sounded confident that they could be dangerous as a lower seed. When he was asked whether he liked this year's matchups, he quipped: "We're the 12 seed. We're not supposed to be beating anybody."

Another reporter suggested seeds that low were reserved for teams disliked by the selection committee.

"If they don't like us and they put us in the tournament, I'm OK with that," Snyder said.

Cincinnati (30-3) was picked as the No. 1 seed of the West Region.

The Tigers' fate was left in question after their 89-85 loss to Texas in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament on Friday. Their 21-11 record was offset by a 9-7 conference mark and the disappointment of going from the No. 2 ranking in December to not getting a vote in either poll by the end of the season.

Missouri's big wins this season came against then-No. 22 Alabama and then-No. 8 Iowa in November in the Guardian's Classic; then-No. 5 Virginia in Columbia on Feb. 3; and No. 12 Oklahoma State on Feb. 25. But disappointing losses came against DePaul (9-19) on Dec. 29, Iowa State (12-19) on Jan. 9 and Baylor (14-16) on Feb. 9.

This will be Missouri's fourth straight trip to the tournament. In 1999, Norm Stewart's 32nd and final season as coach, the Tigers lost in the first round 61-59 to New Mexico, ending their season at 20-9.

The next season, coach Quin Snyder's first, Missouri again lost in the first round, this time to North Carolina 84-70. Despite the loss, 18 wins made Snyder the winningest first-year coach in Missouri history.

Last season, the Tigers beat Georgia on a last-second shot by guard Clarence Gilbert in Greensboro, N.C. The Tigers then lost to Duke, Snyder's alma mater and the nation's No. 1 team, to end the season 20-13.

This season, junior forward Kareem Rush leads in the Tigers with a 20.1 points per game average followed by senior Clarence Gilbert at 17.1. Center Arthur Johnson leads Missouri with eight rebounds per game.

Despite their apparent confidence this time around, Snyder said the chance to play in the tournament should not be taken for granted. He said that when he came to Missouri, he couldn't have known that his team would make the trip in his first three years as coach.

"The challenge now is that at some point we want to advance," Snyder said. "Maybe we can do that this year."