What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 3/10/2020

The Morning Dish – Monday, March 9, 2020--Hoopville

The second one got started while the first was in progress, and that was in St. Louis as the Missouri Valley Conference had its championship game. It was not the matchup many expected, as No. 4 Bradley took on No. 7 Valparaiso, with the genesis of it coming Friday as three lower seeds won in the quarterfinals. The Braves won this last year in unexpected fashion, winning as the No. 5 seed over No. 6 Northern Iowa.

The experience showed at first as they ran out to a 9-2 lead. Valpo was better the rest of the half and took a 38-36 lead into the locker room, and would stretch the lead to 48-42 before Bradley took over. A 14-3 run, capped by seven unanswered points, gave Bradley the lead for good, and Darrell Brown (25 points) and teammates took care of things from there. They also changed defenses, going with a zone defense, and that slowed any attempt by Valpo to rally. The Braves won their fourth conference tournament title and became the ninth team to successfully defend their Missouri Valley title.

College Hoops Autobids: Who will be this year’s Cinderella teams?--College Basketball Talk

College Basketball 2020 NCAA Tournament Automatic Bids

MISSOURI VALLEY: Bradley
The Braves are headed back to the NCAA tournament for the second-straight year despite barely finishing in the top-half of the conference standings in both seasons thanks to the chaos that is Arch Madness in St. Louis. Bradley knocked off Valpo in the title game, 80-66. The Braves have the core of last year’s tourney team back for another go-round and they can really shoot it from distance, so if they can be a 14-seed or better, they could emerge as a promising Cinderella pick for brackets across the country.

This Week in Mid-Major: Predicting conference tourneys, and our All-America team--The Athletic

The Mid-Major All-America team
Because this is our last edition of This Week in Mid-Major, we are honoring the best of the non-power leagues with a mid-major All-America team. Here are our selections:

And a second team …

G Jake Toolson, BYU
G Grant Riller, Charleston
G A.J. Green, Northern Iowa
F A.J. Brodeur, Penn
C Nathan Knight, William & Mary

Mid-bits (championship edition)
• On Feb. 5, Bradley was 6-5 in the Missouri Valley standings. Leading scorer and rebounder Elijah Childs had just missed a month after finger surgery, his second absence for the same injury. Senior guard Darrell Brown missed a couple of games for the first time in his career. Seven-footer Ari Boya had not yet suited up while rehabbing from a preseason leg procedure.

The Braves won the Missouri Valley tournament as a 5-seed last year. Doing it again this season as the No. 4 seed was just as improbable.

“We went through a lot this year, a lot more than I think most teams in our league did when it comes to injuries,” coach Brian Wardle said on Sunday. “And we sustained it. We kept winning. We kept finding new ways to win.”

On Sunday in the Valley title game, that meant switching to a zone defense to contain hot-shooting Valparaiso. Despite losing two of its final three regular-season games, Bradley came into Arch Madness as healthy as it has been all season. The Braves rallied from a six-point, second-half deficit to beat the Crusaders, 80-66.

“When you all get healthy at the right time, which is what I was hoping for, anything can happen with this group,” Wardle says. “We’ve just got to keep building off that.”

The Mid-Major Top 10

8. Northern Iowa (25-6): Winning 25 games and taking down Colorado on the road ought to earn UNI strong consideration for an at-large bid. But losing by 21 points to No. 8 seed Drake in their first Arch Madness game was the worst possible outcome for the Panthers, whose inconsistent shooting the past few weeks caught up with them. This team is most likely NIT-bound unless the committee has a soft spot for mid-majors this year. LW: 6

Bradley fights back from a 9-point deficit to beat Southern Illinois 64-59 in a Missouri Valley Tournament quarterfinal--Chicago Tribune
Bradley is back in the NCAA Tournament for the 2nd year in a row after ending Valparaiso’s run to the Missouri Valley final: ‘This is the year we want to go make some noise’--Chicago Tribune
Bradley advances to its 2nd straight MVC Tournament final and will face Valparaiso with an NCAA berth on the line--Chicago Tribune
The Other Top 25: Conference tournaments shake up the field--Mid-Major Madness

The Other Top 25 Week 19

Rank	School	Record	Change	Our reasoning	This week's games
11	Northern Iowa	25-6	-5	Losing to Drake in the Arch Madness quarterfinals was likely the nail in the coffin for the Panthers' NCAA Tournament hopes.	None
24	Bradley	23-11	NR	This week proved that Arch Madness is rarely normal, and Bradley, the 4 seed, was the highest remaining seed by the semifinals. Dominating wins over Drake and Valpo have sent them dancing once again.	None
25	Loyola	21-11	-7	Did we mention Arch Madness lived up to its name this year? Their last-second loss to Valpo proved that.	None

HappeningHoops.com CBI/CIT Bracketology Number 12 March 9th 2020--Happening Hoops

CBI (16 teams)
Colorado State Region (Midwest)

Colorado State (20-12 MW)

Green Bay (17-15 Horizon)

Drake (20-14 MVC)

Pepperdine (16-16 WCC)

CIT (32 teams)
Midwest

Valpo (19-16 MVC)

Youngstown (18-15)

Marshall (16-15 CUSA)

Ball State (18-13 MAC)

NIU (18-13 MAC)

Indiana State (18-12 MVC)

EIU (17-15 OVC)

Kansas City (16-14 WAC)

South Dakota State (22-10 Summit)

Bradley grabs second successive MVC Tournament crown--Associated Press
The State of the Valley--Valley Hoops Insider
Arch Madness: Bradley Punches Ticket to NCAA Tournament With Victory over Valparaiso--Loyola Phoenix

Introducing Cinderella: Bradley going to its second-straight NCAA tournament--College Basketball Talk
The Bradley Braves went from snubs to champs at Arch Madness--Mid-Major Madness
Bradley heads back to NCAA tournament with MVC title win over Valparaiso--Peoria Journal Star
Attendance at Arch Madness down, but commissioner touts Bradley--Peoria Journal Star
Bradley grabs second successive MVC Tournament crown--The Southern Illinoisan
Preview: Bradley faces off against Valparaiso in MVC championship game--Bradley Scout
Column: The mystique of Headband Darrell--Bradley Scout
Bradley is back on top! Braves beat Crusaders 80-66 in MVC championship game--Bradley Scout
Back-to-Back Valley Champs--bradleybraves.com
2020 NCAA Tournament Tickets and MVC Championship Merchandise Information--bradleybraves.com

Haack & Brackmann Earn MVC Scholar-Athlete Honors--bradleybraves.com

Robbins Named To MVC All-Tournament Team--godrakebulldogs.com

Hittner and Rhine Selected to CoSIDA Academic All-America Teams--godrakebulldogs.com
Rhine Named Finalist for Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award--godrakebulldogs.com
Rhine Named MVC Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year--godrakebulldogs.com

Redbirds finish season strong after win over Sycamores--Vidette Online
Hy-Vee to Host Illinois State Basketball Coaches Shows Tonight--goredbirds.com
Mary Crompton’s hard work and perseverance leads to record-breaking season--goredbirds.com
Redbird Rally Planned for Hoops in the Heartland--goredbirds.com
Wallen Earns MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team Honors--goredbirds.com

Basketball Falls First Game of Arch Madness--Indiana Statesman

Hunter finding groove as ISU women approach MVC tourney--Terre Haute Tribune Star
Team's regular season ends at home--Indiana Statesman

‘Tonight, it caught us’: Poor free-throw shooting dooms Loyola in a 74-73 overtime loss to Valparaiso in the MVC Tournament--Chicago Tribune

O’Connor Earns MVC Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete Honors--loyolaramblers.com
Loyola, Indiana State Meet In MVC Opening Round Thursday--loyolaramblers.com

Bubbles, Sitting on the Fence and Brackets Part 6: 2010-14--Hoopville

2011

Left out: Alabama (21-11), Boston College (20-12), Colorado (21-13), Harvard (23-6), Missouri State (25-8), Saint Mary’s (23-8), UTEP (24-9), Virginia Tech (21-11)

Multi-bid conferences: 10

Missouri State also was the MVC regular season champion, but the Bears had no top 50 wins, were just 3-6 vs. the top 100 and even lost to Horizon fourth-place finisher Valparaiso in Bracket Busters.

Winning, national-relevance leads No. 21 MSU Lady Bears to attendance increase in 2019-20--Springfield News-Leader

What’s Trending: Let’s Dance…--Rush The Court

The opening week of the conference tournaments would not truly be “mad” without “Arch Madness” — and the 2020 version of the Missouri Valley Tournament did not disappoint.

After a 14-4 conference season, Northern Iowa opened the tournament against Drake, the same team that the Panthers had defeated by 27 points in the regular season finale. A career-best 26 points from Drake’s Roman Penn and a lackluster shooting day from Northern Iowa (5-of-25 3FG) were too much for the top seed to overcome. The Panthers certainly made history, but it was not the history they were hoping to make.

Northern Iowa continues to get its heart ripped out in March:

2015 - Biggest collapse NCAA Tourney history (up 12 w/ :35 secs)
2019 - Largest blown lead in MVC champ game history (up 18 2nd half)
2020 - First 1-seed to lose to 8-seed in MVC tourney history pic.twitter.com/erkRv4R0Yg
— Chris Hassel (@Hassel_Chris) March 6, 2020

Northern Iowa’s first round exit was matched by #2 Seed Loyola (Chicago). With both teams out of the tournament early, the door was opened for another team to grab the league’s automatic bid. That eventually would go to defending MVC Tournament champion Bradley. Brian Wardle’s squad now enters the dance with its three leading scorers all averaging more than 10 points per game and having played in last year’s NCAA Tournament against Michigan State.

Bradley wins the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament as the 4 seed, 1 year after winning it as the 5 seed.

Bradley makes the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1954 and 1955 (1954: Lost National Final
1955: Lost in Elite Eight) pic.twitter.com/Gws5fMGNRW
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 8, 2020