Ranked to downright rank

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A season that appeared loaded with promise has become a win-some, lose-some proposition for Missouri.

The Tigers were No. 5 in the preseason poll and climbed to No. 3 in mid-December. They find themselves stuck at 6-6 after losing at home to No. 17 Syracuse on Monday night.

"Nobody would have predicted this, but it's reality," senior forward Travon Bryant said. "You have to accept it.

"You've got to either go downward or upward and we've got to take it on the chin."

It's early, but Missouri's prospects for a fifth straight NCAA tournament under coach Quin Snyder already could be hanging in the balance. There are 15 regular-season games remaining before the Big 12 tournament, four of them against ranked teams, and the Tigers easily could have a losing record after playing at No. 11 Oklahoma on Saturday.

The team's two touted seniors, Rickey Paulding and Arthur Johnson, can feel this season slipping away.

"Not yet, but it could," Johnson said. "We've still got a whole conference season ahead of us, so we've still got time. We've just got to put it together quick."

Missouri players aren't using the Ricky Clemons saga as an excuse. The program has been under a cloud amid allegations from their former point guard, who spent time in jail for an assault on his former girlfriend, that he was paid by assistant coaches.

Sometime soon, the NCAA is expected to announce results of its investigation.

"No, I don't think that is it at all," sophomore guard Jimmy McKinney said. "The focus is on winning and we're just not doing it, but we're going to continue to grind."

Loads of talent

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim doesn't think it's too late. Of course, he could afford to be generous with his words after silencing a sold-out home crowd.

"They've got too many good players," Boeheim said. "They'll resurrect this and get it going, I'm positive."

A rough early schedule is partly to blame for Missouri's woes. The non-conference schedule is a time for fattening up for most teams. But besides the loss to Syracuse, the defending national champion, the Tigers lost on a neutral court (though in Washington) to No. 16 Gonzaga, and also fell to No. 25 Illinois in St. Louis.

There were few so-called guaranteed victories in the early going, and they managed to blow one of those games at home to unheralded Belmont.

Missouri appeared to have a team to match the tough schedule. Paulding and Johnson are both four-year starters, Bryant has improved throughout his career and adds bulk in the middle, McKinney had a solid freshman season and there was a solid core of newcomers.

The Tigers figured to really take off when transfers Jason Conley, who led the nation in scoring as a freshman at Virginia Military Institute, and Randy Pulley, filling a dire need at point guard, became eligible at the semester break.

Instead, they're 3-5 since then. Johnson and Paulding, who elected to return as seniors instead of file for the NBA draft, have regressed. Pulley has been solid enough but adds nothing on offense, and Conley has been a huge disappointment thus far.

Conley played five minutes against Syracuse and had all zeroes on the scoresheet, which Snyder blamed on a 101-degree fever. Indeed, Conley held a bottle containing antibiotics while talking to reporters after Monday's 82-68 loss to Syracuse.

But the last five games have all been non-productive, a total of six points on 1-for-10 shooting for the player who once averaged 29 points. He hasn't been above single digits in playing time minutes the last three games.

Conley, who chose Missouri over Kentucky, Miami, Tennessee and Florida, thinks a lack of commitment on defense is hindering him in Snyder's eyes.

"It's not going well right now, but I think I'll bounce back," Conley said. "I don't regret my decision to come here."