MU's late run should calm critics

Missouri fell one win short of a stunning run to the Final Four as the Tigers lost to Oklahoma in Saturday's West Regional final.

But the three impressive victories the Tigers posted in the NCAA Tournament should take most of the heat off MU coach Quin Snyder.

Despite posting a solid overall record in his three seasons at MU and getting the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament all three years, Snyder has come under strong and harsh criticism from MU fans.

Even I questioned Snyder's coaching ability earlier this season because, the few times I saw the Tigers on TV, they looked unorganized on the court and didn't seem to work well as a team.

But the Tigers, fielding an exceptionally young squad, were evidently in the process of finding themselves. They put things together just in time to make their surprising tournament run -- and just in time to take the heat off their beleaguered coach.

A few more quick observations on an NCAA Tournament that has once again proven to be surprising and exhilarating, as it almost always is:

Duke has been one of the nation's real clutch teams in recent years, which made it even more amazing that they failed to hold a big lead during their stunning upset loss against Indiana.

The Big 12 Conference has come up big, with three teams reaching the Elite Eight and the possibility of two squads making the Final Four.

I can't imagine many people in their office brackets picking Indiana to make the Final Four, can you?

The countless people who picked Duke to win it all had their brackets busted big-time. While I had the Blue Devils reaching the championship game, their loss didn't totally crush me because I picked Kansas to win it all.

With two Final Four berths to be decided today, I still have a chance to get three of my picks on through (I went with Duke, Kansas, Oklahoma and Maryland). Not to brag too much, but that wouldn't be a bad two-year run after I correctly selected last season's entire Final Four.

Other notes

The search for Southeast Missouri State University's new women's basketball coach should be over soon. The school expects to make a selection early this week.

It isn't likely to be an easy decision because the three finalists -- Southeast assistant Alan Eads, Missouri Western coach David Slifer and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M coach B.J. Smith -- all appear to be highly qualified.

Charleston High School graduate Lamont Frazier is being mentioned as a candidate to take over the Central Missouri State University men's basketball program.

Frazier is an assistant at Central Missouri State, where head coach Don Doucette recently resigned.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian