What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 1/9/2024

Post CFB Championship NIT Bracketology--NIT Bracketology

NIT Bracket (protected in bold, bubble in italics):

1. Xavier (Big East 1)
8. Boston College
4. Iowa (Big Ten 2)
5. Drake
3. Pittsburgh (ACC 2)
6. Saint Joseph's
2. Nebraska (Big Ten 1)
7. Stanford

Seriously Considered: Richmond, Syracuse, Louisiana Tech, Massachusetts, North Texas, George Mason, Southern Illinois

MVC Ninth Week Honorees--Valley Hoops Insider

Determined Davidson delivers for Belmont--NashvilleHoops.blog
Malik Dia Named MVC Newcomer of the Week--belmontbruins.com

Jailyn Banks Earns Fourth MVC Freshman of the Week Award--belmontbruins.com

Hickmania strikes again as Braves win fourth straight--The Bradley Scout
Hickman Named MVC Player of the Week--bradleybraves.com
Game Preview: Bradley vs Evansville--bradleybraves.com

Bradley WBB set to host Missouri State--bradleybraves.com

Bubble Watch: How many bids can the Atlantic 10 get?-- Mid-Major Madness

The At-Large Candidates
Drake Bulldogs

Record: 10-4 | NET: 74 | SOS: 70

Charlie Creme Projection: Next Four Out

Last Week: Def. Indiana State 77-47, Def. Evansville 78-68 | This Week: Jan. 12 at Valparaiso, Jan. 14 at UIC

Good Win: vs. Iowa State (NET 44) | Bad Loss: NONE

Drake might be in Next Four Out territory, but the Bulldogs have plenty of opportunities to move up the seed line list. With four remaining regular season games against Belmont and Murray State, there are still marquee wins on the table. And that’s not counting Illinois State and Missouri State, who the NET seems to like more than their records would indicate.

Road trip to Peoria on tap for UE men’s basketball--gopurpleaces.com

Illinois State tries to snap three-game losing streak at Belmont--The Pantagraph
'Birds Fly to Nashville for Meeting with Bruins--goredbirds.com

Illinois State Hosts Southern Illinois Wednesday--goredbirds.com

Charlotte Coaching Search Power Rankings (New Year's Edition)--The D1 Docket

Happy New Year! As the calendar rolls over into 2024 it would be best to forget about the run of results the Niners registered in December. What must be addressed first is the thrilling win over Florida Atlantic this past weekend, the best moments experienced in Halton Arena since toppling Temple at the apex of the 2009-10 season. We'll discuss more of what this means when discussing Aaron Fearne's candidacy later, but I hope every Niner fan in Halton or watching from afar got to enjoy that rare taste of pure joy. Now to the rankings:
#2- Josh Schertz (Indiana State)
Schertz's third season at Indiana State has been a revelation, as he has the Sycamore's just outside the KenPom Top 50 and can become almost insurmountable favorites to win the Missouri Valley Conference if Indiana State can manage a road win against their closest challenger, Drake, on Wednesday. Schertz spend the early portion of his career with Bart Lundy at Queens and High Point before becoming head coach at D2 Lincoln Memorial (TN). In 13 seasons his team made ten Division 2 NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the Final Four three times which includes one appearance in the Championship game. Lincoln Memorial was also a 1-seed in the cancelled 2020 edition of the tournament.

Sycamores try to hold on to first place at defending champ Drake--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
As defense steps back, ISU's Kent steps up--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
ISU Basketball Battles the Bulldogs on Wednesday--gosycamores.com