What's Up In The Missouri Valley 10/11/2021

While Evansville basketball has four starters back, four other returners eye larger roles--Evansville Courier & Press

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 10/9/2021

Belmont & MVC Expansion (Murray State)--Missouri Valley Beat

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 10/8/2021

Men’s basketball opens practice: What you need to know--Bradley Scout

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 10/6/2021

Something’s A-Bruin in the Valley: A Breakdown of Loyola’s Future Matchups with Belmont--Loyola Phoenix

Bradley Braves – Talented and Deep--Valley Hoops Insider

Aces set for night matchup with EKU at Ford Center; Education Day canceled--gopurpleaces.com

ISU men's basketball schedule tweaked--Vidette Online

ISU basketball player Thomas faces felony charge after Saturday arrest--Terre Haute Tribune Star

Killinger, Sycamores announce final three games of the 2021-22 nonconference schedule--gosycamores.com

Muila overcomes 2 knee surgeries to return to court--Southern Illinoisan
J.D. Muila overcomes adversity, returns from injury--siusalukis.com

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 10/5/2021

5 things we learned from Bradley basketball's first official practice--Peoria Journal Star

Ortiz Joins Missouri State Athletic Training Staff--missouristatebears.com

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 10/4/2021

Bradley Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Braves--Busting Brackets

Missouri State men's basketball lands N.J. Benson — one of Illinois' top prospects--Springfield News-Leader

SIU Hall of Fame | Falker finally makes way to enshrinement--Southern Illinoisan
Todd Hefferman: Falker one of SIU's best characters--Southern Illinoisan

What's Up In The Missouri Valley 10/1/2021

What’s next in conference realignment? College basketball mailbag--The Athletic

This is supposed to be a slow news time of year in college hoops, but with the latest rash of conference realignment, the mailbag was stuffed with questions about all the reshuffling (and potential for more). Check out this smattering:

How much does joining the MVC raise Belmont’s ceiling? Is there any concern they go from co-owning the OVC to a middle of the pack team? — Dan B. 

The addition of Belmont to the MVC creates an unbalanced league with 11 teams. Murray State always comes up as the next most logical school to even it out. Will it be them or someone else? — Darren R.

Allow me to knock these out of the park in rapid-fire fashion, like Juan Soto at a home run derby:

• Belmont’s move to the Missouri Valley Conference surprised me, and frankly I see a lot of downside. I’m sure the financials make sense, but it’s an odd fit considering Belmont, which is in Nashville and will start competing in the Valley next fall, will be the only school in that league not located in Illinois, Iowa or Indiana. That leads me to think that Murray State could follow suit, which would not only bring aboard Belmont’s biggest rival but also increase the Valley’s foothold in the south. Alas, this move underscores how difficult life is for mid-major leagues these days. The Ohio Valley has traditionally been a fantastic basketball conference, but Belmont is the fourth school to skedaddle this year.

Estes: Belmont basketball should have joined the MVC years ago--Tennessean

Will Lovings-Watts, a nationally ranked prospect from Indiana, commits to Drake basketball--Des Moines Register

Real deal begins for ISU basketball teams--Terre Haute Tribune Star

AJ Green is back and he says he feels better than ever--Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier

Bruins could break first-year mold next season--Southern Illinoisan

Belmont recent history and history with Valpo--Valpo Torch