Oct. 31, 2002

Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri men's basketball team was ranked 18th in the nation according to the first "official" poll of the season, as the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll was released this evening.

The poll has Mizzou, which went 24-12 last year and reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 1994, as the country's 18th best squad, with the University of Arizona Wildcats edging out Big 12 foe Kansas for the No. 1 spot. The poll also reaffirmed the belief the Tiger's 2002-03 schedule is going to be an undertaking of enormous magnitude. Three of the Tigers upcoming opponents (No. 2 KU, No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 5 Texas) are ranked ahead of Mizzou and four total (including No. 25 Illinois) were ranked in the poll. Five other Tiger opponents (Syracuse, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Iowa State and USC) received votes.

Tiger head coach Quin Snyder and juniors Rickey Paulding and Arthur Johnson participated in Big 12 Media Day today in Dallas. They will practice tomorrow to finalize preparations for their first preseason contest of the year on Saturday night as the EA All-Stars come to Columbia. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. Mizzou doesn't open its regular season until Nov. 22, when it welcomes 2001-02 Patriot League Champion American University to the Hearnes. For ticket information on Tiger Basketball, log on to www.mutigers.com.