Primarily a collection of news links about all 11 Missouri Valley League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.
NOW, ONTO THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS, WHICH THERE WERE A LOT
OF:
We break down a busy night of conference tournaments with the ASun, Ohio
Valley, Patriot League, and Horizon League all having their quarterfinal
action tonight. The West Coast and Missouri Valley also got underway.
Missouri Valley: Loyola Chicago is No. 31 in the
NET and KenPom but is just the No. 4 seed in Arch Madness. The
Ramblers, who open tourney play on Friday afternoon against Bradley,
likely have to make the championship game to secure an at-large bid.
But what if they lose in the title game? Then there’s a real
possibility that the Valley puts two teams in the NCAA Tournament
for the second straight year.
Bid thievery potential rating:4 out of 4 fake robber emojis.
There’s a timeline in which we see Loyola Chicago, North Texas,
Murray State and Davidson all get at-large bids, not to mention San
Francisco, Saint Mary’s, Boise State and Wyoming. What a
memorable event that would be.
(Photo of Loyola Chicago’s Lucas Williamson and Northern
Iowa’s A.J. Green: Chris Kohley / Icon Sportswire via Getty
Images)
I talked about Drake/SIU and Bradley/Loyola
in my MVC tournament preview, but summary is Wilkins is a big loss for
Drake, as he eliminated Lance Jones, and giving SIU two scorers to go
along with their stout defense makes this a very tricky matchup for the
Bulldogs. Loyola sliding down the 4 spot was brutal, as Bradley is a
tough, tough matchup for the ‘Blers...
A revitalized post-Muller Illinois State team gave Northern Iowa
a scare late in the regular season,...
Missouri State shredded Valpo
in both meetings, as the Beacons had no answer for Mosley...
Loyola’s offense dominated UNI
in both match ups, getting whatever they wanted in PNR and at the rim...
Drake
pulled away from SIU in the 2H last night thanks to the Tank Hemphill
Show, but this is a game Drake is going to really miss Wilkins... Despite the regular season sweep
by MissouriState, both games were grindout tossups...
Will Loyola-Chicago rebound to win the Missouri Valley tournament and remove
themselves from the at-large pool? Let’s see where the dust settles by
Sunday evening.
Work to do: Loyola Chicago, North Texas, Memphis, Wyoming, VCU, SMU, BYU
Loyola Chicago (21-7, 13-5; NET: 31, SOS: 115): For
another reminder of how hard it can be to pick your way through a
mid-major league, check out Loyola, which took its fifth loss in
Missouri Valley play Saturday in overtime at Northern Iowa. It’s a
testament to the Ramblers’ work in the nonconference (including their
hastily arranged neutral-court win over San Francisco, which proved
crucial) that they are even still in consideration here; most years,
five losses in the Valley would end the discussion. Four of these losses
are Quadrant 2 (home versus a good Drake team is the exception), making
them at least tenable, but heading into Friday’s Arch Madness fixture
against Bradley, the Ramblers are very much a your-mileage-may-vary
bubble team in a way they simply weren’t a month ago.
Lucas Williamson (right) and Loyola are squarely on the bubble.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
TalkinBlers
asks: Why do people have teams like UNC, Michigan, Memphis and Indiana
over Loyola Chicago when they have worse records and worse NET and
KenPom rankings?
It’s hard to do these comparisons across
multiple teams because each team listed has a different case for being
in and a different case for being out.
Bally Sports Midwest will air and ESPN+ will stream both games.
Game 1: (9) Indiana State (11-19. 4-14) vs. (8) Illinois State (12-19, 5-13), 7 p.m. The series was a 1-1 home split. Game 2: (10) Evansville (6-23, 2-16) vs. (7) Valparaiso (13-17, 6-12), approx. 9:30 p.m. (also on NBCS Chicago Plus) The Beacons won both meetings.
Tonight’s winners move on to Friday’s quarterfinals (more
daytime hoops!) where top-seeded UNI and second-seeded Drake are
waiting. The other two quarters are set, Loyola vs. Bradley in the
second game of the afternoon session—a crucial bubble game—and Missouri
State-Southern Illinois in the evening’s finale.
The Missouri Valley is a two-bid league for the moment.
Loyola Chicago (22-7, 13-5) is the very last team in today, following
the Ramblers’ 102-96 loss at Northern Iowa Saturday night. That result
gave the Panthers the No. 1 seed in Arch Madness and bumped Loyola all
the way down to the 4 seed—behind second-seeded Missouri State and No. 3
Drake.
Given the teams behind them, the Ramblers will likely
need to win three games in St. Louis starting on Friday. But each
potential round puts a significant obstacle in their path. Loyola
dropped its second meeting with quarterfinal opponent Bradley, 68-61, in
Peoria on February 9th. Northern Iowa would lurk in the semifinals.
Then, the Ramblers went 1-3 against Missouri State and Drake. Not easy
at all.
Loyola Chicago’s Marquise Kennedy
(hamstring) will be available for this week’s Missouri Valley Conference
Tournament, Drew Valentine told College Hoops Today on Tuesday. Kennedy
has not played since Feb. 2nd. The 6-1 junior is averaging eight points
and four rebounds. Kennedy scored 14 points when the Ramblers beat
Illinois last March in the NCAA Tournament.
Work to do: Loyola Chicago, North Texas, Memphis, Davidson, SMU, BYU, VCU
Loyola Chicago (21-7, 13-5; NET: 31, SOS: 115): For
another reminder of how hard it can be to pick your way through a
mid-major league, check out Loyola, which took its fifth loss in
Missouri Valley play Saturday in overtime at Northern Iowa. It’s a
testament to the Ramblers’ work in the nonconference (including their
hastily arranged neutral-court win over San Francisco, which proved
crucial) that they are even still in consideration here; most years,
five losses in the Valley would end the discussion. Four of these losses
are Quadrant 2 (home versus a good Drake team is the exception), making
them at least tenable, but heading in to their Arch Madness fixture
against Bradley the Ramblers are a bubble team in a way they simply
weren’t a month ago.
Baylor*
Michigan State
Providence*
Northern Iowa*
Princeton*
Miami
Kentucky
Jacksonville State*
Michigan
