‘Can’t take these moments for granted’: Dennis Gates, Mizzou react to March Madness draw
Mizzou men’s basketball was named the No. 6 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday evening after a 22-11 finish to the season.
The Tigers will face 11th-seeded Drake (30-3) at 6:35 p.m. Thursday at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita. The game will be broadcast on truTV.
“They could have said our site is going to be the moon, right? We would be thankful,” Mizzou coach Dennis Gates said Sunday in a news conference. “They could have said several different places. We were going to be excited, none more excited or less excited than the next.”
Fans filed in and sat on the north side of Mizzou Arena to watch the Selection Sunday show alongside the basketball team. The West Region was the last to be revealed, and Mizzou fans, players and coaches alike erupted in thunderous applause when “Missouri” flashed onto the bracket.
“Drake” flashed on the screen soon after, resulting in an audible gasp from the supporters in attendance. When the No. 7 seed in the West Region, Kansas, popped up on the jumbotron, the Jayhawks were greeted with immense boos.
“All hands on deck. It’s drivable. Be there,” Gates said Sunday in an address to the audience after the Selection Sunday watch party. “We need you guys there.”
The Bulldogs received an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament after beating Bradley 63-48 in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament final March 9 in St. Louis.
“I don’t have anything (to say) specifically about our opponent, but we will study it, and we’ll study them,” Gates said Sunday in a news conference. “Historically, it’s a first-round game, and anything can happen. Rankings and bids and all that other stuff doesn’t matter. All teams are capable of winning games, and we respect our opponents.”
After losing 95-81 to Florida, which received the No. 1 seed in the West Region, in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals Friday, the Columbia squad looks to fire on all cylinders in Gates’ second NCAA Tournament appearance in three seasons at the helm of MU.
“We (weren’t) here at all. (The media) wasn’t sitting here at all last year, so I don’t take that moment for granted at all,” Gates. “It’s a moment to put not only our conference, but our institution, the city of Columbia, in a place where history belongs.”
The first time Gates took the Tigers to the tournament, Mizzou defeated No. 10 seed Utah State as a seventh seed in the first round March 16, 2023, but fell 78-63 to 15th-seeded Princeton in the second round March 18, 2023, in Sacramento.
According to ESPN BET Sportsbook, Missouri opened as 6.5-point favorites against the Bulldogs.
Drake has Missouri roots on its team as coach Ben McCollum, graduate guard Isaiah Jackson, junior guard Bennett Stirtz, graduate guard Mitch Mascari and graduate forward Daniel Abreu all played for NCAA Division II Northwest Missouri State last season.
The Tigers boast a commanding 27-7 all-time series record against the Bulldogs, narrowly winning the last meeting between the two teams 76-74 on Dec. 8, 1987, in Des Moines, Iowa.
The No. 6 seed for Missouri is more favorable than many experts were projecting, with ESPN’s Joe Lunardi predicting the Tigers to be a No. 7 seed in the South Region in his final Bracketology HQ projection.
The No. 6 seed ranking is the highest Missouri has been in the NCAA Tournament since 2012, when second-seeded Missouri fell 86-84 to No. 15 seed Norfolk State in the first round in Omaha, Nebraska.
“The first thing I looked at was our name and making sure that you know those moments are taken in,” Gates said. “You can’t take these moments for granted, so we’re thankful to be in the tournament. I have great respect for all opponents that have made the NCAA Tournament, it means that they’ve done a great job.”
If Missouri wins, it faces the winner between No. 3 seed Texas Tech (25-8) and 14th-seeded UNC Wilmington (27-7) in the second round Saturday.
MU’s Caleb Grill may be the most excited of any Tiger to be playing in Wichita. The graduate guard grew up in the city and his family still resides there.
“It’s exciting just because of the amount of miles that my mom and my dad and my brothers have put in and the rest of my family members have put in,” Grill said. “Having them be able to have a game close to them, where I (get) to travel to them, I think that’s what I’m more excited about, more than anything.”
History was made this Selection Sunday. The SEC became the first conference to have 14 teams be selected into a single NCAA Tournament.
South Carolina and LSU were the only teams in the league to not receive a bid into the tournament. The previous record for most bids by one conference in a single NCAA Tournament is 11, which came from the Big East Conference in 2011.
Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian
This story was originally published March 17, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "‘Can’t take these moments for granted’: Dennis Gates, Mizzou react to March Madness draw."