Missouri Valley Conference Basketball |
|
MVC Fans Home |
Missouri Valley Basketball Weekly Recap
Scores Tuesday, January 10 Creighton 63, Northern Iowa 60 Indiana State 80, Evansville 78 Drake 82, Bradley 74 Missouri State 77, Southern Illinois 65 Wichita State 65, Illinois State 62 Friday, January 13 Northern Iowa 61, Missouri State 60 Southern Illinois 73, Indiana State 67 Drake 69, Evansville 60 Wichita State 78, Bradley 41 Creighton 87, Illinois State 78 Sunday, January 15 Creighton 90, Southern Illinois 71 Bradley 78, Northern Iowa 67 Evansville 87, Missouri State 82 (OT) Wichita State 75, Indiana State 65 Drake 77, Illinois State 60 The bad news first: The Missouri Valley Conference won't get three or four teams into the 2012 NCAA Tournament, as it first hoped to achieve this season. The good news: It's becoming increasingly more likely that it will get two, not just one. That's the bargain being handed at this point to MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin. His league isn't quite where the Colonial Athletic Association is, landing three or four Dance tickets and threatening to crash the Final Four party with one more than one entrant. However, the Valley certainly looks as though it's going to get one at-large team into the field of 68. There are still eight weeks until Selection Sunday, but right now, this Midwest league is on track to make a dent in at least two slots of America's March Madness bracket.
Valley teams played three games this past week, and only three teams won all three times they took the court. One of them is the Drake Bulldogs, who mopped up against Bradley, Evansville and Illinois State. However, Drake lost to Ole Miss, Iowa, and Boise State (among others) in non-conference competition, taking the Bulldogs out of contention for an at-large bid. The other two teams who went 3 for 3 are the teams that will carry the banner for the Valley into the month of March. The Wichita State Shockers and the Creighton Bluejays are on track to make the NCAAs. This past week substantially enhanced the prospects for these two schools, who have recently had to settle for other postseason tournaments while Bracketville's main event unfolded. Last year, Wichita State won a postseason tournament, but it was the NIT. Creighton finished second in a March tournament last season, but it was the CBI, and nothing more. It's NCAA berths which fatten a basketball program's wallet and provide ballast to a budget, and it seems as though Creighton and Wichita State could celebrate on Selection Sunday. Creighton and WSU wobbled just enough to miss out on the NCAA Tournament last season, but in 2012, the Jays and Shockers aren't making missteps. Creighton fended off a stiff challenge from Northern Iowa early in the week and powered past two other Valley foes over the Friday-Sunday weekend to move to 6-1 in the league. Wichita State's best win of the past week was a Sunday takedown of Indiana State, last season's Missouri Valley Tournament champion. The Jays and Shockers both sidestepped landmines and demonstrated the consistency they'll need to replicate over the next seven weeks. More road challenges await, but if Creighton and Wichita State are for real, they'll continue to do what they did over the past seven days.
By: Matt Zemek |