ESPN Men's Basketball

Updated: January 20, 2006, 12:50 PM ET

Can Tigers complete unlikely run to NCAAs?

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By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
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Here's what we don't know: Quin Snyder's fate as Missouri's head coach.

Here's what we do know: The Tigers are playing their best basketball of the season and there's no reason they can't be in the thick of the Big 12 race the rest of the way.

Unless you've talked to Missouri's board of regents, president and athletic director, you don't know whether Snyder is in trouble. And even if you have talked to them, there's no guarantee they would tell you, let alone have made up their minds either way.

Sure, everyone loves to speculate that he is out because of NCAA violations that he survived (including a penalty of not being able to recruit on the road for a year). Still, there's no indication Snyder has been given an ultimatum of NCAA Tournament or else.

"It's not about me," Snyder said. "It's not about whatever drama is attached to me. That's not my focus. The focus is on the kids. It's not about me."

Snyder isn't idealistic. He knows that he has been at the center of any storm that has passed through Columbia because he's the head coach.

"You never know in this business where you're going to be next year and you're always as good as your last year," Snyder said.

Right now, Snyder's team is looking much, much better -- and, as a result, so is he.

The Tigers are 3-1 in the Big 12 heading into Saturday's game at Kansas State. That puts the Tigers a half game behind Texas. Missouri is coming off an overtime Big Monday home win over Kansas, which was on the heels of a three-point, last-possession home loss to Colorado. The week before, Missouri swept the Oklahoma schools, beating State at home and the Sooners on the road.

The upcoming schedule is hardly easy, with road games at Kansas State and Nebraska and a home game against Iowa State, but the Tigers have proven they're talented enough to win each one of these games against comparable teams. The one time the Tigers play Texas (Feb. 1), the game is in Columbia.

It sure helps that Missouri has the top scorer in the Big 12 in junior Thomas Gardner, who is averaging 21.7 points a game and lit up Kansas for a 40 spot on Monday.

"The biggest thing for Thomas was completely throwing himself in and trusting me and the staff," Snyder said. "He worked on his game. He's committed to being a complete player. There are still defensive lapses."

Snyder said the Tigers finally have an identity offensively. Well, that appears to be going to Thomas often. Moving senior Jimmy McKinney (12.5 ppg, 2.5 apg) to the point has helped, too.

"We needed him to have the ball in his hands more," Snyder said.

That meant putting Jason Horton (4.4 apg) off the ball a bit more. Having sophomore Marshall Brown (10.8 ppg) find his confidence and maximizing time from senior Kevin Young and sophomore Glen Dandridge were musts as well.

All of this occurred after the Tigers got rocked 82-50 by rival Illinois in St. Louis on Dec. 21. The game ended with Snyder's walking off the court and having a box of popcorn dumped on his head, seen on highlights of the game later that night.

Snyder said he gathered his players after the Christmas break and told them they would start playing more in practice, hoping to get them to open up and increase the intensity. He also wanted them to feel comfortable. The Tigers had three relatively easy games against Eastern Illinois, Oakland and Louisiana-Monroe before the "fresh start" in the Big 12.

Remember, this is the same team that stunted the start of its season with a home loss to Sam Houston State in the NIT Season Tip-Off. Losses at Arkansas (by three when the Hogs were playing much better than they are now) and by nine at Davidson were respectable.

The Tigers could have gone askew after the Illinois loss, but the veteran staff, which includes two former head coaches (Melvin Watkins and Jeff Meyer), wouldn't let this team drift.

"We weren't going to panic," said Snyder, who has seen violations and the firing of two assistant coaches taint a résumé that includes four straight NCAA berths (including an Elite Eight) before missing out on the NCAAs the last two seasons.

"We didn't get discouraged by what we were doing."

Snyder said he has mixed more zone into the defensive package, and picked up the energy in all facets of the game. The buzz in the arena has changed too. Any talk of apathy certainly wasn't apparent Monday night. ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla said Mizzou Arena was as loud as he has ever heard it during the latter stages of the game.

The first sellout crowd of the season -- the Tigers averaged a paltry 6,409 fans a game in their eight nonconference home games -- certainly didn't help Kansas' Christian Moody when he needed to make only one of two free throws to win the game with under a second left in regulation. Moody missed both.

"We've had great crowds [both over 10,000] against Colorado and Oklahoma State," Snyder said. "We played some teams early that weren't as high-profile [Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Northwestern State], and when we play night games during the week, it's hard for the people from St. Louis and Kansas City to make it back that night."

The Big 12 is going through a transition, notably with Oklahoma State and Texas Tech dealing with a host of newcomers. Texas clearly is the class of the league and Oklahoma could still find itself in the upper crust by season's end, but beyond the Longhorns, second through 12th is anyone's guess.

Right now, the Tigers are holding their ground as one of the top-tier teams this season. That doesn't necessarily mean they would get an NCAA bid after an up-and-down nonconference slate, but it's hard to imagine a Big 12 team with, say, 10 conference wins not making the Dance.

Would that be enough for Snyder's future? Who knows?

"Whatever stuff is said or written that's more dramatic," Snyder said. "Even if it were true or false, this year is about our kids and hopefully we'll keep winning games and I'll keep coaching them."

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.