10. DANA FORD, Missouri State, 35
Ford is a guy that has garnered quite a bit of respect in the coaching industry. He took Tennessee State from a joke to relevant in the OVC in just two years, which was enough to convince Missouri State to hire him despite never finishing better than tied for second in his division.
Biggest improvements in attendance in 2019 (by percentage)
The following chart shows the 25 schools that had the highest improvement in attendance from the 2017-18 season to 2018-19, based on percentage improvement.
Rank School Conf 2018 (avg.) 2019 (avg.) ... T9 Loyola Chicago MVC 2,404 3,712 (+54.4%) ... 23 Evansville MVC 3,782 5,294 (+40.0%)
OBSERVATIONS:
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Loyola Chicago and UMBC, the two biggest Cinderella teams in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, received a significant bump in attendance the year after their postseason success. We’ll go more in-depth on this phenomenon later, but it’s likely not a coincidence that this happened after Loyola Chicago made the Final Four and UMBC upset No. 1 seed Virginia during the previous season.
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The Cinderella story
There were seven one-bid leagues represented in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and four of them pulled off at least one upset, leading to a notable increase in attendance during the 2019 season.
We’re talking about Loyola Chicago (No. 11 seed, Final Four), UMBC (No. 16 seed, second round), Buffalo (No. 13 seed, second round) and Marshall (No. 13 seed, second round).
Three of them — Loyola Chicago (+54.4%), UMBC (+51.8%) and Buffalo (+48.2%) — saw at least a 48 percent increase in average home attendance last season after their impressive NCAA Tournament showing.
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Conference breakdown
Here is a conference-by-conference attendance breakdown for every Division I conference.
Schools are listed in descending order of average attendance last season.
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Missouri Valley
MVC DI School 2018 2019 1 100 Bradley 5,699 5,429 2 101 Evansville 3,782 5,294 3 105 Illinois State 5,142 5,154 4 106 Missouri State 4,517 5,150 5 111 Southern Ill 3,966 4,472 6 121 Indiana State 3,675 3,962 7 127 Northern Iowa 4,090 3,774 8 130 Loyola Chicago 2,404 3,712 9 142 Drake 3,195 3,322 10 165 Valparaiso 2,722 2,611
#90. Bradley– After a brutal 0-5 start in Missouri Valley play, the Braves played as well as anyone down the stretch and completed that bounceback with an incredible comeback win over Northern Iowa in ‘Arch Madness’. Bringing back Darrell Brown and Elijah Childs means the Braves will be a factor in the Valley once again, though the guy that could push them over the top is scoring guard Danya Kingsby, a transfer from LSU who’ll be immediately eligible.
#55. Missouri State– I’m not sure any coach has done a better job assembling talent quickly than Dana Ford, who has positioned Missouri State as an at-large contender in just his second year on the job. A strong mix of transfers, JUCO players, and freshmen join the fray for the Bears, with rotation players from former elite mid-majors in Tyrik Dixon (Middle Tennessee) and Josh Hall (Nevada) looking like plug-and-play guys to fill out a rotation that already features stars in Keandre Cook and Tulio Da Silva. The upside piece is Gaige Prim, a bruising true post player who put up dominating numbers in JUCOColorado State transfer Anthony Masinton-Bonner leaves Missouri State men's basketball team--Springfield News-Leader
Valparaiso went north, coincidentally the same direction the Crusaders will try to go in the standings with plenty of new faces on the roster next season. And while in Canada they enjoyed that favorite Canadian past time no matter the time of year: white-water rafting. The rocky waters of the jumbled MVC now await.Sackey Hits Buzzer-Beater in Native Land, Propels Valpo to OT Victory Over Carleton--valpoathletics.com
It’s not all games in Canada. This afternoon our team had a blast white water rafting! 🇨🇦🌊 #GoValpo pic.twitter.com/YDh3zK5k72
— Valpo Basketball (@ValpoBasketball) August 12, 2019
The Crusaders also had some fun on the court, taking down Carleton College on a last-second scramble, and making the rare August college basketball SportsCenter appearance:
.@dsackey_4 of @ValpoBasketball checks in at No. 9 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays! #GoValpo pic.twitter.com/gesrZU4wfJ
— Valpo Athletics (@valpoathletics) August 14, 2019
Who are the preseason favorites for POY in the Missouri Valley? — Ryan H.
Missouri State’s Tulio Da Silva is a good place to start. The Brazil native and South Florida transfer was the MVC Newcomer of the Year last season while averaging 14.3 ppg and 7.4 rebounds. This is a big year for the Bears and second-year coach Dana Ford, who also adds West Virginia transfer Lamont West and junior college transfer Gaige Prim for what could be the best frontcourt in the league.
Of course, to the victors go the spoils, and Loyola-Chicago has been the Valley’s big dog the past couple of years. So Ramblers center Cameron Krutwig has to be in the preseason conversation. Juco transfer Jalon Pipkins has been gaining some summer buzz as well for Porter Moser’s team.
Also look out for Indiana State’s Tyreke Key, who took a big step forward last season. He hit 44.3 percent of his 3s as a sophomore, and if he can get his attempts from beyond the arc up, Key could have a monster year.
I also have to mention Bradley’s Darrell Brown, if for no other reason than his profile picture reminds me of Chidi from “The Good Place.”
