Tuesday, December 23, 2025

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 12/23/2025

The Other Men’s Top 25: Utah St. retakes top spot, Nevada makes biggest jump--Mid-Major Madness

Belmont and Tulsa were the two teams to move into the top 10 this week. The Bruins are up to No. 8 and are 12-1. The Golden Hurricane sits at 10 with an 11-1 record. It has won its last eight games.

Four teams joined the ranking after not being ranked last week: Seattle (No. 20), Murray St. (No. T-21), Cal Baptist (No. T-21) and Kent St. (No. T-23). They replaced Richmond, UNC Wilmington, Northern Iowa and George Washington.

Here is the full ranking:

Ranking

Team (First-Place Votes)

Points

Last Week

8 Belmont 51 14
T-21 Murray St. 13 RV

Others Receiving Votes:

Richmond 10; Northern Iowa 10; South Florida 9; Illinois St. 8; Utah Valley 8; Wyoming 7; St. Bonaventure 7; Northern Colorado 7; Grand Canyon 3; Buffalo 3; William & Mary 2; Rhode Island 2; San Francisco 1; Iona 1

Dropped from Rankings:

Richmond – 15; UNC Wilmington – T-17; Northern Iowa – 20; George Washington – 25

Teams of the Week: Guns Up at MSG--Basket Under Review

BELMONT - Bruins had their work cut out for them entering the week with their second MVC game, going on the road to Evansville, followed by the cross-country visit to UC Irvine. For the Purple Aces, the game served as their Valley opener at home, and they brought a solid effort throughout. Belmont countered by involving the dependable Drew Scharnowski, who chipped in 14 points on just nine shot attempts. Tyler Lundblade drained all eight of his free throws en route to a Belmont 83-78 win and 21 points on the night. Belmont has established a 2-0 start to the conference season. Then the trip to UC Irvine came, and this team took off inside the Bren Events Center. A rare blowout of the Anteaters, 84-58. The Belmont D held UCI to under 30% shooting from deep and near-34% shooting overall. Belmont fully concluded non-conference play with just one loss and is 12-1 overall. The SOR resume tool has Belmont at 51st in the country, which is clearly the best in the Valley at this stage.

HONORABLE MENTION: REMAINING CONFERENCE AWARDS

MISSOURI VALLEY: ILLINOIS STATE - The Redbirds are off to their best 13-game start since the 2009-10 season at 10-3. More importantly, ISUred is now 2-0 and off to a great start in the ever-important Valley race. The key road win last week came in Carbondale, a rally to beat the tough Salukis following a five-point halftime deficit. In the win over Indiana State, the Redbirds had a freakishly low four turnovers for the entire game. This team is currently clicking on all cylinders, and it's refreshing to witness.



Men's Basketball Earns National AP Top 25 Poll Votes--belmontbruins.com



Jaquan Johnson named Busey Bank Scholar-Athlete of the Week--bradleybraves.com



ISU women drop two at North Carolina tourney--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Sycamores close non-conference slate with setback against Old Dominion--gosycamores.com



Murray State leaning into versatility during winning streak--WPSD Local 6


The Women’s Other Top 25: North Dakota St., Colorado St. launch into top 10 as top six hold steady--Mid-Major Madness

Here is the full ranking:

Ranking

Team

Last Week

24 Murray St. 23



College Men's Basketball: UNI falters late in close loss to Saint Mary's--Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
Panther men’s basketball drops non-conference finale at Saint Mary’s--unipanthers.com



Is the grass greener?--The Victory Bell
Valpo to Close Calendar Year with First MVC Road Trip--valpoathletics.com



MVC Announces MBB Players of the Week--The Missouri Valley

MVC Women's Basketball Weekly Notebook (Dec. 23)--The Missouri Valley

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