COLUMBIA, Mo. • Through the weekend, Mizzou was standing tall at sixth place in the NCAA's official Ratings Percentage Index. And the Tigers, at 11-1, were second only to Syracuse (12-1) in wins and winning percentage against RPI top 100 teams.

That distinguished profile would make a worthy case for a No. 1 seed come Selection Sunday — if Selection Sunday were now.

But there are infinite moving parts and unknowns to be answered between now and then (March 11), one of which is simply whether the third-ranked Tigers (23-2) can sustain their mojo and pace to the finish line with a seven-man rotation.

Counter-intuitively, at least from the inside looking out, the answer is promising.

"We're bouncier than we've ever been in our careers," senior guard Kim English said Monday.

That's apparently because even as first-year coach Frank Haith is absorbed in the here and now — in this case, Oklahoma State on Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena — he knows basketball teams largely are remembered only for what they do in March.

That's why he's already on the lookout for fatigue and working to straddle the fence between staying sharp and not draining the tank.

"It's kind of a fine line," Haith said. "And we've done a good job of preparing our guys and doing enough contact stuff, enough late-game stuff, to keep us sharp

"(But) we're not killing them in practice right now."

So much for practice. As for how the games might grind on players ...

"They'll tell you that the games don't bother them," Haith said, smiling.

Naturally, every regular's minutes are up from last season, when 10 players appeared in 30 or more games. But few actually are radically up.

No one's time has increased more than Phil Pressey, who has gone from 22.3 minutes a game to 31.3, and brother Matt (17.5 to 26.4).

On average, each of the seven is appearing 5.46 more minutes a game — hardly a massive burden on athletes in their condition.

Moreover, MU is playing a more measured style than the frenetic one favored by Mike Anderson, Haith's predecessor.

"You don't press the whole game, so we've got a little fresher legs," said senior forward Ricardo Ratliffe, adding that he believes several players can jump higher than they could at this time last season "because we've still got our legs."

While none said he was more drained than last season, players had varying thoughts on the difference.

Senior guard Marcus Denmon was conscious of how Haith has been "managing us" in terms of trying to keep the team fresh, but he suggested that at times Haith drives MU hard to ensure it's conditioned that way for game situations.

Junior guard Michael Dixon said, "Actually, I feel kind of the same."

English, though, was effusive about the difference.

"I mean, to us, it's tremendous, because we used to do nothing but kill each other in practice. All year. Kill our legs, physically beat each other, hurt each other," English said. "Practices were so long and grueling, and that wore us down. Late in the year. Late in games. You could tell in our percentages and everything.

"But Coach Haith is really smart in what he does. It's just enough where we get a game feel, it's physical ... lot of contact in practice. But again, it's not ever grueling on our legs.

"It's still conditioning at the end, (but) he's really smart and calculated in his approach."

While Anderson surely wound things down some as the season went on, his late-season record might reflect English's point.

In his five seasons at Mizzou, Anderson's teams went 76-29 through January but 35-28 after the end of January.

While some creampuffs in nonconference play can't be ignored, MU was just 22-25 after January under Anderson discounting its Elite Eight run in 2009 with a team that generally went 10-deep.

But don't tell Haith depth is overrated.

"Don't say that," Haith said, laughing. "I'd like to have a couple more guys."

Just the same ....

"You can play with seven guys," he said.

And win with them, too, even on short rest with that short bench.

Four times in four chances this season, the Tigers have swept games played two days apart or fewer (Notre Dame and California on back-to-back nights in Kansas City).

And even as Haith stays in the moment, he's conscious of the meaning of that in the broader picture.

"We use that as a barometer as we get to postseason, looking at how we handled those situations," Haith said, adding, "I think this team has responded well. And that's what you're going to have to do in the NCAAs, in those mini-tournaments. Those Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday deals."