College hoops mailbag: Let’s talk bubbles and title contenders and so much more--The Athletic
Is this the year the Missouri Valley Conference finally gets two bids? Northern Iowa and Loyola should be very, very solid. I picture few power-six teams wanting to play either. Based on past success I say the MVC should always get multiple bids, but that is another argument. — Clark F.
That is another argument, Clark, and one I admit I’d like to hear in some detail. The Valley getting multiple bids just because it was good enough to have multiple bids at various points in the past is not really how this stuff is supposed to work. Like last season, just one Valley team was ranked top 100 in KenPom.com, Northern Iowa, and it probably wouldn’t have gotten into the NCAA Tournament had it happened. Still, all it really takes to be a two-bid league is the Panthers elevating their bubble-worthy standards on a regular basis. If anyone else wins Arch Madness, well, there you go. Two bids.
No idea whether that can happen this year. I agree about both teams you mention, but will they get a chance to play quality nonconference opponents in the first place? Will they win enough of those opportunities to become at-large worthy? The latter is a big question in any year; the former is even bigger in 2020-21.
Watch now: Illinois State women's basketball back together--The Pantagraph
MVC Men's Basketball | Way-Too-Early look at the upcoming Valley season--Southern Illinoisan
Building the Dawgs, Episode 1--siusalukis.com
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