What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 12/29/2020

Phyfe scores 21 to lead N. Iowa past Missouri St. 85-75--Associated Press
The Other Top 25: A pair of Missouri Valley teams break into the rankings--Mid-Major Madness

It was a relatively quiet week in the college basketball world as most programs either had a break or played just a single game before the Christmas weekend, but that didn’t stop a pair of unbeaten Missouri Valley teams from bursting into the Other Top 25 from a strong week.

Drake became the first team in college basketball to win 10 games with a resounding road win against Indiana State to start MVC play. The Bulldogs have won every game by double digits and earned the highly coveted Sam’s Mid-Major Crush Of The Week designation.

Southern Illinois picked up one of the best wins of the week when they went into Hinkle Fieldhouse and walked out with a win against a banged-up but still solid Butler team. The Salukis are shooting 41% from three-point range and went 9-19 from deep in the aforementioned win over Butler.
Here is the full Other Top 25 for this week.

The Other Top 25 Week 6

Rank School Record Change Our reasoning

10 Loyola University Chicago 5-2 1 Loyola has only kept its rankings because of preseason expectations. It hasn't beaten a top-200 team yet but will face Bradley (KenPom 112) on Sunday.

19 Drake 10-0 NR Any team that's 10-0 deserves ranking consideration. Now it'd be great if Drake could, maybe, beat a decent team.

23 Southern Illinois 7-0 NR Trent Brown went 5-6 from three as the Salukis knocked off Butler at Hinkle last week. As a team, SIU is shooting 41% from deep.

Also receiving votes: Rhode Island, Toledo, Georgia State, UAB, Davidson, UNC Greensboro, New Mexico State, Wright State

Rank	School	Record	Change	Our reasoning
10	Loyola University Chicago	5-2	1	Loyola has only kept its rankings because of preseason expectations. It hasn't beaten a top-200 team yet but will face Bradley (KenPom 112) on Sunday.
19	Drake	10-0	NR	Any team that's 10-0 deserves ranking consideration. Now it'd be great if Drake could, maybe, beat a decent team.
23	Southern Illinois	7-0	NR	Trent Brown went 5-6 from three as the Salukis knocked off Butler at Hinkle last week. As a team, SIU is shooting 41% from deep.

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Monday, Dec 28th--Hoops HD

-It was a rather slow Sunday. Drake and Southern Illinois remain unbeaten on the season, and Providence won an double overtime thriller against DePaul.
-DRAKE AT INDIANA STATE (Missouri Valley). Drake looks to pick up another road win and remain unbeaten on the season.
-EVANSVILLE AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Missouri Valley). The Salukis are also unbeaten and are looking to finish off the season sweep against Evansville.

Under The Radar Game of the Day: Monday, December 28th--Hoops HD
News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Dec 29th--Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES
-Southern Illinois suffered their first loss of the season as they fell at home to Evansville. It is Evansville’s first conference win since March 2019. They had more recently beaten a #1 team on the road (Kentucky at Rupp Arena last year) than they had won a conference game.