What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 3/1/2023

Missouri Valley bracket, preview and schedule: March tips off at the Arch--Mid-Major Madness
Here's what I'm hearing now about mid-major conference realignment--Extra Points

What about Missouri State?
Recently, a few readers flagged the agenda at a recent Missouri State Board of Governors meeting to me, thinking it had potential realignment interest. The agenda, from February 17, called for Missouri State athletic director Kyle Moats to give a presentation titled “Missouri State Intercollegiate Athletics Programs and Division I NCAA Requirements”. The full agenda can be found here.
I’ve previously reported that Missouri State is a potential target for FBS leagues, particularly the Sun Belt, should that league decide that expansion is a way for the league to bolster its championship access in non-football sports. Missouri State does have a very competitive athletic program across the board, after all.
So was this meeting about potentially moving to FBS? Via text message, Moats told me that isn’t the case.
“It had nothing to do with FBS. The Board wanted an Athletics 101 report. NCAA requirements were an explanation of the new requirements by the Transformational Committee. The meeting was open to the public, and it was very basic information to inform our Board members.”, Moats told me.
For what it’s worth, I believe him! If there is a secret reclassification in the works, that would also be news to a few other school leaders I asked over the last few days.
Like several other FCS schools I’m aware of, I imagine Missouri State wants to put itself in a position to be the best athletic department it can be right now, from facility projects to internal infrastructure. If that leads to an FBS opportunity at a future date, that’s one thing, but that’s also outside Missouri State’s hands.
Could Missouri State end up in a different league at some point in the near future? Sure, that’s entirely possible. But based on this agenda meeting and recent conversations, I do not believe that is imminent right now.

Conference Tourney Previews, Part 1 of 2--Hoops HD

MVC tourney predicted champ: Drake (#2 seed)
Dates: March 2-5
Location: St. Louis, MO
2022 tourney champ: Loyola Chicago (#4 seed)
Fun fact: only champ since 2018 who is still in this conference is Bradley
Seeding: 3 of past 4 champs were not top-3 seed
Loyola-Chicago has won this tourney in 3 of the past 5 years but they have no chance to make it 4 out of 6…since they now play in the A-10! Drake lost to the Ramblers in each of the past 2 title games so it appears that the path is now clear for them to emerge victorious. They destroyed Bradley in January at home by 25 PTS but lost by double-digits on the road in the regular season finale yesterday. The DeVries family will be well-represented: Coach Darian has won 20+ games during each of his 5 years in charge, while SO SG Tucker is the league’s leading scorer who is shooting better than 37% from behind the arc. The Bulldogs are also not afraid of a close game, as their 77.7 FT% is top-15 in the nation: Love the Drake!

Basketball Picks by KY - Conference Tournament Best Bets--collegesportsmadness

Missouri Valley Tournament 3/2-3/5
Winner: Drake +150, Bradley +200
I feel like this is a toss-up between these two teams and I don’t even love any of the long shots because of their away records. If I was forced to pick one it’d be Indiana State at +550 but I really do think Drake and Bradley are the superior teams.

Champ Week: Intrigue rankings for all 32 conference tournaments--Heat Check CBB

10. Missouri Valley

March 2-5 | Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO

Don’t let the MVC’s worst KenPom ranking in the metrics’ history fool you, Arch Madness will always be one of the premier conference tournaments of the first weekend. Bradley enters the tournament riding the nation’s fifth-longest winning streak, Drake’s defense has manufactured a 13-2 close to the year, Indiana State has the nation’s top 2-point percentage, and newcomer Bradley has the conference’s top offense and one of the best 3-point percentages in the country — go figure. It seems unlikely that the league will become a consistent multi-bid threat again soon, but that just makes Arch Madness even more intriguing.

MVC Basketball: 2023 conference tournament preview and predictions--Busting Brackets
MVC/OVC Weekly Honors--Valley Hoops Insider

Missouri Valley Conference

Southern Illinois’ Lance Jones broke out of an offensive slump in a big way. The senior guard dropped a season-high 28 points on Northern Iowa and another 19 against UIC in the season finale. SIU’s two victories pushed them to the third seed for Arch Madness and Jones is the ‘Player of the Week‘.

Belmont freshman Ja’Kobi Gillespie helped spark the Bruins to one of the greatest comebacks in Belmont home history. Gillespie scored 24 points against Northern Iowa and 16 during the Bruins’ wild comeback win against Indiana State. The ‘Newcomer of the Week‘ helped guide Belmont to an 89-88 win after trailing by 17 points at the half.

Doug Gottlieb: “I Don’t Think You Want Bradley in That First Round”--Watch Stadium
Bradley basketball pulled in a Missouri Valley awards haul. Here's what BU won--Peoria Journal Star

Game Preview: Bradley at Indiana State--bradleybraves.com

March 1 NIT Bracketology--NIT Bracketology

NIT Bracket (bubble in italics):

1. Oklahoma St.
U. Utah
4. Drake
U. Colorado
3. Texas Tech
U. Sam Houston St.
2. North Texas
U. Washington St.

Will a veteran group, strong bench be enough for Drake men's basketball at Arch Madness?--Des Moines Register

Women's Basketball Preview: Missouri State & Southern Illinois--godrakebulldogs.com