What’s in a graph?

Mizzou fans are circulating this tweet today. 

Tiger Nation – We need you at Mizzou Arena this season. Get your season tickets today! http://t.co/IGPFSVs4eJ pic.twitter.com/K63Wsklmqn

— Mizzou Basketball (@MizzouHoops) September 9, 2014

While I will admit, Mizzou is right. Winning is winning. And winning at home is especially important. Most of your college basketball games are played at home compared to other arenas.

But not all wins are counted equal. Wins in conference play are usually more important than non-conference wins. Wins in the NCAA tournament are definitely more important than regular season home games.

Now based on wins at home, Mizzou is certainly in good company here. Ohio State, Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse have all been to multiple Final Fours since 2008 while Memphis went to the Final Four in 2008 under John Calipari.

But if you simply play more home games, you’ll certainly have a chance to win more home games. Win percentage at home would be a more desirable stat.

So I decided to see how Mizzou stacked up in the following categories: Final Four appearances, NCAA tournament wins, total wins, wins at home, wins on the road and win percentage.

Final Four appearances since 2008-2009:

• Kentucky – 3
• Kansas – 1 (Kansas went to the Final Four in 2008)
• Ohio State – 1
• Syracuse – 1
• Memphis – 0 (Memphis went to the Final Four in 2008)
• Missouri – 0

Final Four appearances all-time:

• Kentucky – 16
• Kansas – 14
• Ohio State – 11
• Syracuse – 5
• Memphis – 3
• Missouri – 0

At this point, I just got bored trying to look up these other schools. Plus, the people who read this blog only care about Kansas in this argument.

Season Record / Win Percentage since 2008-09:

• Kansas – (183-37) – 83%
• Missouri – (154-57) – 73%

Side note: Missouri has 57 losses since 2008-2009. Bill Self is 324-68 since he became coach at the University of Kansas (the 2003-2004 season was his first year). 

NCAA Tournament wins since 2008-2009:

• Kansas – 14
• Missouri – 4 (zero since 2010-11)

Record at home since 2008-2009

• Kansas – (100-3)
• Missouri (102-7)

Side Note: Last year alone, Missouri lost three home games.

So yeah, Missouri might have more home wins than Kansas since 2008-09, but they’ve also lost more games at home.

KU and Mizzou also occasionally play at Sprint Center.  While some of these are Big 12 tournament games, you can consider these “home games” for both Mizzou and Kansas. For Kansas, they usually play a “home” game each year at Sprint Center that is a part of the season ticket package. However, KU considers it a neutral court. Since 2008-2009, Mizzou is 7-6 at Sprint Center while Kansas is 19-3 in that same time frame.