truTV studio crew highlights tweet for Drake vs. Missouri using Kendrick Lamar smackdown of Drake

In one of the more intriguing first-round matchups in the NCAA Tournament, Drake and Missouri will square off Thursday night in the West Region. Ahead of tip-off, the truTV pregame show went through the discussion on social media, and it showed a tweet referencing Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show.

The tweet asked if a Bulldogs win would be “a minorrrrrrrr upset” in March Madness. It got a good laugh out of the studio crew, just before tip-off of Thursday’s game.

Missouri entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed, while Drake came in as a No. 11 seed. The Bulldogs won the Missouri Valley Conference to make the March Madness field, and the Tigers got an at-large.

If Drake beats Mizzou, we’d call that what, a minorrrrrrrr upset? pic.twitter.com/Zvr01yMZ3U

— Dustin Nickerson (@DustinNickerson) March 20, 2025

Drake has become one of the stories of college basketball this year, led by first-year coach Ben McCollum. A four-time national champion at the Division II level, it marked his first Division I coaching opportunity, and he found immediate success with a 30-3 record and a Missouri Valley title.

McCollum’s journey and seamless transition caught the attention of Mizzou coach Dennis Gates, as well. He reflected on the different backgrounds of successful coaches across the country and said he saw the journeys of Buzz Williams and Nate Oats provide great examples for up-and-comers from any background.

“It’s impressive because I have applied for D2 jobs, and they’ve turned me down before, so it’s very impressive that you can have success at that level, whether it’s high school, Division II, Division III,” Gates said. “You have to understand my view is a worldly view. I’m cut from a cloth of mentors. I was given opportunity, and I’m thankful for it, but you look at JUCO coaches, you look at Division III, Division II, you look at Buzz Williams, right? Buzz is a JUCO guy through and through. You look at even Nate Oats. I was recruiting at Nate Oats’ high school when I was a young assistant.

“There’s a level of respect that I have inherently because I have relationships. Not only with Ben, but with other guys who have taken roads less traveled or roads less popular. I still consider my road less popular, right, because I had to really knock on doors, and I really say that in jest, but also seriousness. I sent my résumé to high schools and to Division IIs and IIIs, and it got turned away, really. So I respect everything about the game of basketball and the coaches. I’m sort of a historian, and I love to see where people have come from and how they’ve risen to where they are now. Ben is definitely a person that will inspire a lot of coaches who come after him from different levels.”