What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 3/4/2020

Illinois St. meets Drake in MVC tourney--Associated Press
Missouri Valley Tournament Preview 2020--Three Man Weave
Bubbles, Sitting on the Fence and Brackets Part 1: 1985-89--Hoopville

1986

Left out: California (19-9), Dayton (17-12), Drake (19-11), Marquette (18-10), Montana (21-10), Ohio University (22-7), Tennessee-Chattanooga (21-9), Texas (18-11), Texas A&M (20-11), TCU (21-8), Wyoming (20-11)

Multi-bid conferences: 14

The second year of a 64-team NCAA Tournament saw even more diversity in the field, with six different leagues plus the then still-influential independents among at-larges given to seven teams seeded 11 or lower, as well as 14 conferences (including independents) putting two or more representatives in.

CBS’s Selection Sunday coverage before the bracket reveal noted California among a group of western schools including TCU, Utah and Washington as teams definitely on the fence (really the popular term at this time, far more than the ubiquitous “bubble” that is most popular now). The Golden Bears finished 19-9 overall and stomped fellow fence-sitter Drake by 25, but Cal also held two non-Division I wins and played in a once-again weak Pac-10. Drake tied for second in an MVC that put two teams in the field, and the Bulldogs defeated NCAA tourney 7 seed Iowa State in the regular season. At a time when 20 wins was considered by many a magic number, though, it may have been the absence of one more win that kept Drake out.

1989

Last in: 10 Colorado State (22-9), 10 Iowa State (17-11), 10 LSU (20-11), 10 Tennessee (19-10), 11 Evansville (24-5), 11 Minnesota (17-11), 11 Texas (24-8), 12 DePaul (20-11), 12 Providence (18-10), 12 South Carolina (19-10)

Multi-bid conferences: 13

Texas received its first bid since 1979, and in the first year under Tom Penders. Colorado State was in for the first time in 20 years in its breakthrough season winning the WAC regular season title under coach Boyd (Tiny) Grant. Evansville received an at-large bid at the Division I level for the first time in a special year that included a 21-1 stretch over 22 games. DePaul was a surprisingly low 12 seed with 20 wins and after winning 10 of its last 12 games (and showed that perhaps it was underseeded with a 12-vs.-5 first round win over Memphis State).

Bubbles, Sitting on the Fence and Brackets Part 3: 1995-99--Hoopville

1997

Left out: Bowling Green (22-9), Fresno State (20-11), Hawaii (20-7), Michigan (19-11), New Orleans (22-6), SW Missouri State (24-8), Syracuse (19-12), TCU (21-12), Tulane (20-10), UNLV (20-9), West Virginia (19-9)

Multi-bid conferences: 9

It may not have been recognized at the time, but the selections for the 1997 NCAA Tournament marked the beginning of a whole new era.

After tourneys of 13, 14, occasionally even 15 multi-bid conferences was the norm through the first 12 years of the 64-team field-and even for a few years before-the 1997 NCAA Tournament was a distinct change. Just nine leagues put an at-large team in, easily the lowest of the 64-team era and in fact since 1978, the final year before teams were seeded and at a time when the tourney was just 32 teams and independents made up a full quarter of the field. Never since 1996 have as many as 13 leagues received multiple bids, and rarely have there been as many as 12 such conferences.

Certainly in 1997 there were some valid reasons for that, namely conference expansion and contraction. This was the first year of the Big 12, which combined the old Big 8 with half of the Southwest Conference. Conference USA also came along the year before, and it essentially replaced both the Great Midwest and Metro conferences. Also, 1997 was a good year for conference regular season champions to win their tournaments, with champions or co-champions of recent at-large leagues like the Big West, Mid-American, Midwestern Collegiate, Missouri Valley and WCC all winning their tourneys.

SW Missouri State also started 10-0 and won 24 games while finishing second in the Missouri Valley to an excellent Illinois State team, and the Bears held a good RPI (42) that teams like Bowling Green and New Orleans lacked. SMS was ragged on that year for its non-conference schedule, and it could have been better but did include wins over fellow bubble teams Bowling Green and Fresno State, both on a neutral court. The MVC was the 10th-ranked conference that year, but it almost sounded like Holland and the committee confused it with the MEAC or something, so harshly did they overstate its inferiority to the nine leagues above them. In fact, Holland said to the Kansas City Star that “they had a lot of wins and a good number of losses based on their strength of schedule. You can’t afford eight losses. You can’t lose more than four or five at the most.” Huh?

1999

Last in: 10 Miami (Ohio) (22-7), 10 Purdue (19-12), 11 George Washington (20-8), 11 Evansville (23-9), 12 UAB (20-11), 12 SW Missouri State (20-10), 13 Oklahoma (20-10)

Multi-bid conferences: 11

The Missouri Valley was a three-bid conference this year for just the second time in its history as Evansville and SW Missouri State (now Missouri State) both were among the final five teams in. Evansville overcame a middling non-conference performance to win the regular season title in what was the No. 7-ranked league in the RPI. SMS, as it was known shorthand at the time, rode an early season win at Missouri and a strong RPI that trumped just a 9-8 finish to the regular season, as well as just a 1-7 mark against the RPI top 50 (per Jerry Palm’s collegerpi.com site), though that was countered by a 7-1 record vs. teams 51-100.

2020 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament printable bracket--Fansided
Report: Western Illinois, Southeast Missouri State searching for new head coaches--Mid-Major Madness

It’s anyone’s guess as to where both schools look for their new head coaches. Regionally, Saint Louis may be a successful mid-major to poach an assistant from, while assistants in the Missouri Valley and MAC may similarly interest the two administrations.

Handing out the Hardware: All-conference awards of the year (Part 1 of 2)--Hoops HD

MVC
G: Javon Freeman-Liberty (Valparaiso)
G: AJ Green (Northern Iowa)
F: Austin Phyfe (Northern Iowa)
F: Liam Robbins (Drake)
C: Cameron Krutwig (Loyola IL)
POY: Javon Freeman-Liberty (Valparaiso)
ROY: Marcus Domask (Southern Illinois)
DPOY: Liam Robbins (Drake)
6TH: Marquise Kennedy (Loyola IL)
COY: Ben Jacobson (Northern Iowa)

The Bracket
Conference Tourney Previews (Part 1 of 2)--Hoops HD

MVC tourney predicted champ: Indiana State (#3 seed)
Dates: March 5-8
Location: St. Louis, MO
2019 tourney champ: Bradley (#5 seed)
Fun fact: 4 different champs in past 4 years
Seeding: 4 of past 5 champs were not #1 seed
Northern Iowa started 22-3 overall and looked like an at-large team before a late-season stumble that included back-to-back losses in mid-February. 1 of those was to the Sycamores, who then won 3 more in a row to finish the regular season with as much momentum as anyone else in this conference. Coach Greg Lansing has not had a winning season since 2014 so you can bet that his players are hungry for some postseason success. Indiana State is top-15 in the nation with 38.1 3P% so they better make a few more if they hope to keep living by the 3. They were battle-tested early with road trips to Dayton/Louisville and have a veteran backcourt in Jordan Barnes/Tyreke Key who can hang with anyone.

Shot Takers: Bubble teams who can make tourney runs, and ranking NCAA sites--The Athletic

It might not be entirely accurate to have Northern Iowa on the bubble in the most traditional way of viewing the bubble, as the Panthers may very well bring home an Arch Madness trophy and remove all debate. But our guy Eamonn has the Panthers in that “work to do” category and therefore I consider them eligible for discussion. Basically, Northern Iowa is going to be an unusual team to guard for anyone, demanding non-stop attention at the 3-point line — when even rapt attention to detail there might not matter if the Panthers get hot. Nearly 42 percent of the Panthers’ shot attempts come from long range and they make almost 40 percent of those attempts; at the moment, only BYU is shooting it better from 3.

On top of that, they’re fairly methodical and don’t foul a ton. If those 3s are falling for Northern Iowa, it’s almost like playing a team that’s exceptionally good at option football: You’re going to have limited opportunities and you better cash in on those opportunities lest you fall too far behind, with not enough chances left to make up ground.

A.J. Green and Northern Iowa would be a real NCAA Tournament threat. (Ron Chenoy / USA Today Sports)

Brian: Mentioning the Missouri Valley tournament a few paragraphs after an extended Northern Iowa discussion seems a little redundant, but the possibility of a Loyola Chicago win — and Northern Iowa getting tossed into the at-large mix — is pretty real and consequential in all sorts of ways for bracketeering purposes. So that’s intriguing.

MVC Basketball: 2020 conference tournament preview and predictions--Busting Brackets

Bradley’s Ja’Shon Henry and Ville Tahvanainen earn MVC honors--Peoria Journal Star
Ja’Shon Henry and Ville Tahvanainen Earn Valley Honors--bradleybraves.com
Bradley Opens Title Defense Against Southern Illinois in Arch Madness Quarterfinals--bradleybraves.com

Women’s Basketball Closes Regular Season On The Road--bradleybraves.com

Drake A Valley Mainstay--Valley Hoops Insider
Robbins Named Valley Most Improved Team Captain--godrakebulldogs.com
Sturtz Named To MVC All-Bench Team--godrakebulldogs.com
Men’s Basketball Begins Arch Madness vs. Illinois State--godrakebulldogs.com

When Evansville beat Kentucky on November 12, the Purple Aces were perfect on the young season at 2-0. They went on to finish the non-conference slate at 9-4, with three wins coming against KenPom top 150 teams. Then came all the turmoil. First, Walter McCarty was dismissed from his head coaching position for off the court reasons and then the bottom fell out, as Evansville was perfectly imperfect in the Missouri Valley Conference…

With a 71-60 loss to Illinois State today, Evansville finishes 0-18 in Missouri Valley play.

On November 12, the Purple Aces beat No. 1 Kentucky, 67-64.

They are the first team in NCAA history to beat the AP No. 1 team and lose all of their conference games in a single season. pic.twitter.com/0EtwTzQwCT
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) February 29, 2020

Aces head to Missouri Valley Conference tournament with a fresh start on their minds--Evansville Courier & Press
Chalk? Or Chaos?--Eville-Ways

Aces open final regular season weekend against Illinois State--gopurpleaces.com

Illinois State hopes to find the 'zone' in MVC Tournament play-in game against Drake--Valley Hoops Insider
Preview: Redbirds look for retribution facing Drake--Vidette Online
Antonio Reeves Selected to MVC All-Bench Team--goredbirds.com
2020 Arch Madness Information--goredbirds.com
Men's Basketball Set for Battle with Drake at Arch Madness--goredbirds.com

Illinois State women's basketball travels to Evansville in quest for No. 4 Valley tourney seed--The Pantagraph
Illinois State Wraps Up Regular Season at Evansville and Indiana State--goredbirds.com

Sycamores Take On Missouri State Friday Night At Arch Madness--gosycamores.com

ISU women to finish regular season with pair of home games--Terre Haute Tribune Star
Sycamore Women’s Basketball to Host Bradley on Thursday--gosycamores.com

Ramblers Begin Pursuit of Automatic NCAA Tourney Berth Friday At Arch Madness--loyolaramblers.com
Kennedy Named To MVC All-Bench Team--loyolaramblers.com

Coach Mox reprimanded by the Valley for criticizing officials--Springfield News-Leader
MSU Lady Bears should win a championship at JQH Arena this week. What you should know.--Springfield News-Leader
Lady Bears Aim for MVC Title with Home Games Thursday and Saturday--missouristatebears.com

Bubble Watch: We’ve never seen anything quite like this UCLA season--The Athletic

Others
Locks: Gonzaga, Dayton, San Diego State, BYU
Should be in: Saint Mary’s
Work to do: Northern Iowa, Utah State, East Tennessee State, Richmond, Rhode Island

Northern Iowa (23-5, 14-4; NET: 37, SOS: 119): For a team that occasionally let inferior teams stay in games down the stretch — and ended up being punished in close February games by Loyola Chicago and Indiana State — UNI closed its Valley season emphatically, with a 70-43 win over Drake. This is clearly the MVC’s best team, and it’s not super close, though it’s not like the Panthers have been so imperious you can’t imagine them losing at some point during Arch Madness. If they do, we think they’ll be at or near the top of the committee’s mid-major possibilities, but we can offer no guarantees. The automatic bid, on the other hand …

Trae Berhow Named to MVC Most Improved Team--unipanthers.com

Bubbles, Sitting on the Fence and Brackets Part 2: 1990-94--Hoopville

1990

Left out: DePaul (18-14), Hawaii (23-9), Long Beach State (22-8), Maryland (18-13), New Orleans (19-10), Penn State (21-8), Southern Illinois (26-7)

Multi-bid conferences: 13

Southern Illinois also missed despite winning the MVC regular season title and 26 games overall. The Salukis also were victimized by playing a conference tourney final on the road, losing at Illinois State by three. A soft non-conference schedule also did in SIU, as the loss to Hawaii, a win over OVC champion Murray State and a home-and-home split with eventual NIT finalist Saint Louis were the most notable results. Coach Rich Herrin ripped the selection committee after the bracket was announced right and did so right on ESPN, saying among other things “There’s no question we didn’t get a fair shake. I think it’s the most unfair situation I’ve had in 30 years in athletics. I question the honesty and integrity of the committee.”

1992

Left out: UAB (20-8), Ball State (24-8), UC Santa Barbara (20-8), Notre Dame (14-14), Penn State (21-7), Southern Illinois (22-7), Villanova (14-14), Virginia (15-13), Washington State (21-10), Wisconsin-Green Bay (25-4)