What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 12/29/2025

Strong Momentum: Five College Basketball Best Bets to Keep the Heater Rolling--Busting Brackets

Belmont Bruins at Indiana State Sycamores

This is one of the more intriguing games on the slate. Belmont is 12-1 and riding a four-game winning streak, though the Bruins have not played since before Christmas. Indiana State is 7-6 and coming off a tough road loss at Illinois State, but the Sycamores will be desperate to avoid starting conference play 0-3. Expect maximum effort and a tight finish.

Betting Pick: Indiana State Sycamores +8.5 over Belmont Bruins
Final Score Prediction: Belmont 70, Indiana State 68

The Other Men’s Top 25: Dayton works way back into top 10--Mid-Major Madness

Here is the full ranking:

Ranking

Team (First-Place Votes)

Points

Last Week

11 Belmont 63 8

T-20 Illinois St. 25 RV

T-22 Murray St. 21 T-21

Others Receiving Votes:

Utah Valley 19; South Florida 18; Liberty 16; Northern Iowa 15; Kent St. 13; Rhode Island 10; Cal Baptist 9; San Francisco 6; High Point 5; UNC Wilmington 4; Buffalo 3; Wyoming 2; Iona 2

Ranking	Team (First-Place Votes)	Points	Last Week
11	Belmont	63	8
T-20	Illinois St.	25	RV
T-22	Murray St.	21	T-21

Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Monday, Dec 29th--Hoops HD

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Belmont @ Indiana State (Missouri Valley) – nearly every road game in the Valley is tough, but Belmont is a tough team. They have a chance at making a run at the bubble, but they need to blow through this league to do it and that means winning all the tough road games

12.29.25 Game Analysis--Basket Under Review

HORIZON

OAKLAND @ WRIGHT STATE

Wright State has consistently been one of the more post and rim reliant offenses in the country in the Nagy to Sargent era, which often puts them at stylistic odds with the HoriZONE League, and particularly Greg Kampe's zone at Oakland....

MVC

ILLINOIS STATE @ DRAKE

ISUred hasn't defeated Drake since 2020, but this is as vulnerable as we've seen the Bulldogs in that stretch...

Week 9 Watchlist: I Used to Understand--Basket Under Review

Monday, December 29
B Games
#89 Illinois State (-1) at #145 Drake, 9 PM ET, ESPN+. Early, impactful game for MVC purposes. Illinois State has quietly gone 9-1 (albeit with one win over a top-150 opponent) since a 1-2 start and is now 2-0 in the MVC.
C Games
#119 Southern Illinois at #96 Murray State (-6), 7 PM ET, ESPN+. I have Murray as the fifth-droppiest drop coverage in America this year using our old pal the Ball Screen Coverage Spectrum, which could go one of two ways very violently for SIU: either the team that shoots 46% on midrange jumpers shows up, or the team that shoots 27.5% from 3 and attempts the fewest deep balls in America makes this a bad math problem.
Thursday, January 1 (New Year's Day)
C Games
#117 Bradley at #62 Belmont (-8), 7 PM ET, ESPN+. 2-0 at 2-0 in the MVC. I'd also argue this is a game between the actual two best players in the league: Jaquan Johnson of Bradley and Nic McClain of Belmont. By the way, Bradley better load up on NIL to keep Johnson. I know nothing, but if you're the best player in the MVC as a sophomore you're unfortunately not long for the league. European soccer transfer system soon.

First Five Game Day--Valley Hoops Insider

The Women’s Other Top 25: Santa Clara makes giant splash into top 10--Mid-Major Madness