What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 1/22/2026

Top 10 Mid-Major College Basketball Rankings--Busting Brackets

Mid-Major Top 10 Rankings
As of games played through January 20
10. Belmont Bruins (16–3, NET: 63)
Belmont cracks the rankings riding a four-game winning streak. After back-to-back losses at Indiana State and at home to Southern Illinois, the Bruins responded with wins over Northern Iowa, Drake, Valparaiso, and Southern Illinois. Belmont now sits second in the conference standings behind Murray State. The Bruins are back home Sunday afternoon against Illinois State before heading to Valparaiso on January 28.
8. Murray State Racers (16–3, NET: 67)
The NET rankings may be skeptical, but Murray State keeps winning. The Racers have taken a two-game lead in the conference and are riding a 12-game winning streak after edging Indiana State at home. That streak will be tested this week with road trips to Drake on Wednesday and Northern Iowa on Saturday.

Our Player of the Year predictions for the 10 best mens’ college basketball conferences--SB Nation

Missouri Valley
The Front-Runner:
Jaquan Johnson, Bradley
The Contenders:
Javon Jackson, Murray State
Tyler Lundblade, Belmont
Chase Walker, Illinois State
The Skinny:
This is an incredibly competitive mid-major race in a league where the respective fan bases are all going to have extreme opinions on which guy deserves top billing.
For now, the slight edge goes to Johnson, the 5’11 dynamo averaging a hair under 18 points per game for Bradley. If Murray State’s unexpected dominance of the league continues, however, it’ll be hard to not hand the hardware to Jackson.

Bradley basketball vs Indiana State: Braves make 11 straight defensive stops in comeback--Peoria Journal Star
How this former Metamora basketball star had a career day for Bradley--Peoria Journal Star
Ugly but resilient: Braves rally late past Indiana State to continue home win streak--The Bradley Scout
MBB Recap: Bradley rallies late and earns a comeback win over Indiana State--bradleybraves.com

Bradley WBB Hosts Valparaiso to Open Three-Game Homestand--bradleybraves.com

5 key numbers from Drake basketball's victory over Murray State--Des Moines Register
Bulldogs Take Down League Leaders Murray State, 101-90--godrakebulldogs.com

Women's Basketball Preview: Evansville & Murray State--godrakebulldogs.com

Hughes paces UE men in the Windy City--gopurpleaces.com

Women's Basketball Begins Iowa Trip Friday at Drake--gopurpleaces.com

Illinois State extracts victory from defensive struggle with Northern Iowa--The Pantagraph
Skunberg sparks second-half surge in tight MVC battle against UNI--The Vidette
Boden Skunberg Scores 20 in Defensive Win Over Northern Iowa--goredbirds.com

Road Trip To UIC, Indiana State Up Next For the Redbirds--goredbirds.com

Sycamores lose lead, game to Bradley--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
MARK BENNETT: Turnovers remains a key factor in MVC basketball outcomes--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Defense and turnovers tilt the night as Bradley slips past Indiana State--Indiana Statesman
Sycamores drop close contest to Bradley on Wednesday night--gosycamores.com

Sycamores travel for road conference play--Indiana Statesman
Slow start sinks Sycamores at Southern Illinois--gosycamores.com

Under the Radar – Week 12--Hoops HD

We run through the other 22 leagues and discuss ...Murray State suffered an upset loss in the Missouri Valley

Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Thursday, Jan 22nd--Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:
-Murray State suffered their first conference loss as they fell 101-90 at Drake, and this one was a bit of a surprise. It’s never easy to win on the road, but all indications were that Murray would pull this one out.

Murray State men begin annual Valley Iowa excursion; Can they own Iowa again?; First-place Racers look for 2nd straight Hawkeye State road sweep--Murray Ledger and Times
The Valley bites back; Racer men take first loss in league play at defending champ Drake--Murray Ledger and Times
MSU Takes First MVC Loss At Drake--goracers.com
Racers Look For Bounce Back at UNI--goracers.com

Currie-Jelks Named to Mid-Major Player of the Year Watch List--goracers.com