What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 3/17/2024

Final NIT Bracket--NIT Bracketology

Indiana St., Pittsburgh, Oklahoma and Seton Hall are your NIT No. 1 seeds after being the First Four Out of the NCAA Tournament.
The NIT Selection Show is at 9:30 pm. Should be interesting!

NIT Bracket

1. Indiana St.
U. Loyola Chicago
4. Kansas St.
U. Minnesota
3. Utah (Pac-12 1)
U. UC Irvine
2. Ohio St. (Big Ten 1)
U. SMU

1. Seton Hall
U. Syracuse
4. LSU (SEC 1)
U. VCU
3. Virginia Tech (ACC 2)
U. Saint Joseph's
2. Villanova (Big East 1)
U. Bradley

1. Oklahoma (Big 12 2)
U. UNLV
4. USC (Pac-12 2)
U. San Francisco
3. Iowa (Big Ten 2)
U. Butler
2. Cincinnati (Big 12 1)
U. South Florida

1. Providence (Big East 2)
U. Boston College
4. Georgia (SEC 2)
U. UCF
3. Princeton
U. Richmond
2. Wake Forest (ACC 1)
U. Appalachian St.

Familiar faces battled in the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals--The Next
HOOPS IN THE HEARTLAND: Drake needs overtime to dispatch UNI--Dispatch Argus
HOOPS IN THE HEARTLAND: Miller's buzzer-beater lifts Drake to MVC title--The Quad-City Times
HOOPS IN THE HEARTLAND NOTEBOOK--The Quad-City Times

Belmont women's basketball upset by Missouri State in Missouri Valley Conference semifinals--Nashville Tennessean
Missouri State Ends Second-Seeded Bruins’ MVC Tournament Run--belmontbruins.com

Quick Reactions to the NIT Bracket--NIT Bracketology

The NIT bracket is out.

Five quick thoughts:

4. The second biggest shock as Bradley getting a three seed and a home game. Every other home game went to a team I had as a 5-seed or higher in my s-curve. Bradley's NET is 57, which probably carried the day, but it was still a bit surprising. It seemed like the committee trusted the NET even with mid-majors this season (see Princeton's 2 seed), which is unusual.

Where Drake basketball’s March Madness resume stands for 2024 NCAA Tournament--Des Moines Register
2024 NCAA Tournament bracket picks: Why CJ Moore has UConn winning the title--The Athletic

East Region

• Drake will be a popular 10-7 upset pick because it’ll have the best player on the floor in Tucker DeVries, who will be looking for tourney redemption. Last season, Drake led Miami by eight with under five minutes to go and ended up blowing the late lead, and DeVries scored three points on 1-of-13 in that game. Washington State relies a lot on scoring inside the arc and was the second-best offensive-rebounding team in the Pac-12. Drake’s 2-point defense — allowing 51.9 percent — is not great, but it is the best defensive-rebounding team in the country.

March madness bracket prep: Strengths, weaknesses for all 68 teams, outlooks and more--The Athletic

Strengths: Drake is pugnacious scoring the basketball. The Bulldogs ranked in the top 30 nationally in effective field-goal percentage offense and made a spectacular 36.5 percent from three. They commit few turnovers, deliver smooth extra passes and pile up points. Fifteen times this season the Bulldogs have scored more than 80 points in a game. Tucker DeVries’ stunning versatility, Darnell Brodie’s mammoth size and Atin Wright’s scoring prowess make Drake tough to contain.

Weaknesses: On the defensive end, Drake is at times tofu tasteless. The Bulldogs ranked No. 208 in effective field-goal percentage defense. Zeroing in, they allowed an abhorrent 52 percent inside the arc. Brodie encounters are a challenge, but if the whistles mount? The Bulldogs lack meaningful depth. Bottom line, they’ll need to shoot well versus teams with size.

Outlook: Drake defeated MVC heartthrob Indiana State twice and logged a non-conference victory over a stellar Nevada team. It is a school not to underestimate. DeVries is a sensational ball handler and scorer who, at 6-foot-7, is a matchup nightmare. As long as Des Moines’ finest can adequately defend and avoid foul trouble, these Bulldogs are entirely capable of donning Cinderella’s glass slipper. Love the Drake.

—Brad Evans

Men's Basketball to Play Washington State in Omaha in First Round of NCAA Tournament--godrakebulldogs.com

Women’s basketball Bracket Watch: Selection Sunday at-large bids still on the table--The Athletic

Drake is the last domino

For bubble teams who were holding their breath and ready to let out a sigh of relief after Princeton automatically qualified, they may need to hold on slightly longer.

Drake eked out a narrow overtime win against Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals. It’ll face Missouri State in Sunday’s conference championship. Though it didn’t lose to Missouri State in the lone matchup this season, the Lady Bears are quite solid, beating a strong Belmont squad by 15 to earn their way to the MVC title game. The Bulldogs were down at halftime before winning when they met three weeks ago.

Junior Lacy Stokes has excelled in her first season in Springfield, but one of her quieter games (2-of-6 shooting for 9 points with seven turnovers in a late February loss) came against Drake. After her strong performance in the MVC tournament, I’m eager to see how she competes against Drake this time (and how the Bulldogs counter).

That brings the question: What happens if Drake loses in the MVC championship game? What if it’s a close game, say losing on a buzzer-beater?

Survived. 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱.#BeBlue | #DSMHometownTeam pic.twitter.com/sUYprZVo0H
— Drake Women's Hoops (@DrakeWBB) March 16, 2024

Especially with Columbia dropping Saturday’s Ivy title game, which likely took the Lions out of at-large contention, Drake would have a shot to sneak into the field over some bubble teams. The Bulldogs don’t have a bad loss. They played a solid nonconference schedule, finishing 57th and picked up a marquee victory over Iowa State — one that only looked better as the season progressed.

Of course, this is a long shot. But given how susceptible some bubble teams (Mississippi State, Penn State) look with their resume questions, I wonder if the committee will give one of the nation’s best and most consistent mid-majors an opportunity after it tested itself all season and never slipped.

However, something tells me Drake’s trio of Katie Dinnebier, Grace Berg and Anna Miller won’t provide the committee a reason to doubt it.

Everything to know about the women’s NCAA Tournament: Final Four contenders, Cinderellas and more--The Athletic

No. 12 Drake

Albany 2

Drake was rewarded for its regular-season success: Junior guard Katie Dinnebier was named MVC Player of the Year, Allison Pohlman selected as Coach of the Year and Anna Miller picked as the Defensive Player of the Year. The Bulldogs offense, in particular, is dangerous, averaging 81.7 points per game (eighth best nationally), while shooting 59 percent from 2-point range (second best nationally).

Drake women's basketball outlasts UNI in OT to reach MVC Tournament final--Des Moines Register

March Madness bracket reveal: key storylines to watch--Mid-Major Madness

Stories to follow

Indiana State Gets Left Out

Sitting at No. 29 in the NET going into Selection Sunday, head coach Josh Schertz’s team felt confident of their place in the tournament, but following a week of bid-stealers and March craziness, the Sycamores were left out of the tourney, relegating the school to the NIT.

Five biggest snubs who missed out on the NCAA Tournament--The Comeback

2. Indiana State Sycamores

Resume:

Record: 28-6

Conference: Missouri Valley Conference

NET Rating: 29

Of all of the bubble teams that didn’t make it in, Indiana State was the team that performed the best against their respective opponents. The black mark on Indiana State’s resume is that they simply didn’t play enough high-profile teams, with their only Quad-1 win coming against their in-conference rival, the Drake Bulldogs.

If the selection committee had strictly gone off of the NET rating, which takes into account several factors including game results, strength of schedule, game location, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses, Indiana State should have been a shoo-in to get into the tournament.

In fact, Indiana St. and St. John’s are the only teams since NET rankings began in 2018 to have a NET ranking better than 33rd to be left out of the tournament.

The NET rankings began in 2018.

Prior to today, the highest ranked team in the NET to be left out of the NCAA Tournament was 33rd.

Two teams were inside that, but left out of the 2024 field:

• Indiana St - 29
• St. John’s - 32

A peculiar bracket bubble.
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) March 17, 2024

Again, Indiana State did nearly everything they could possibly do outside of winning their conference tournament to get into the big dance. But it seems like the selection committee simply didn’t believe that they had tested themselves against high enough competition to get in.