Missouri Valley Conference Basketball

Northern Iowa vs Evansville Basketball Recap

Evansville 55, Northern Iowa 54

Just when the Northern Iowa Panthers were feeling secure about their NCAA Tournament status, the world turned upside down in a small college town known as Evansville, Indiana.

In one night, a team rightly viewed as a lock for the Big Dance suddenly had to contemplate more uncertainty than it possibly could have expected.

UNI's sure-fire status as a March Madness participant took at hit at Roberts Stadium against the Evansville Purple Aces. Pitted against the last-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Panthers didn't have to be at their best, but they did need to avoid a loss. Now that coach Ben Jacobsen's club has absorbed an ugly defeat in the final week of February, a small but real dose of drama has entered the picture for the sons of Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Yes, UNI is still 24-4 and in possession of one of the best records in the United States. Yes, the Panthers are still 14-3 and assured of the outright Missouri Valley championship for the regular season. Yes, if the season ended today, Northern Iowa would be in the NCAA Tournament.

However, things have been known to change in the weeks preceding America's favorite bracketed single-elimination tournament.

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A regular occurrence during Championship Week - when various conference tournaments are contested - involves the "stealing of bids," otherwise known as the occasions when an NIT-bound team shockingly wins a conference tournament and claims an automatic bid that initially appeared headed for another member of the at-large pool. When bids get stolen, teams on the NCAA bubble are the ones who get hurt. Northern Iowa is still on the good side of the bubble, but thanks to this loss in Indiana against the cellar dweller in its conference, UNI has likely forced itself to reach the final of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. A loss in the early stages of "Arch Madness," the MVC tourney held in St. Louis, could very possibly push the Panthers into the NIT.

This is how precarious life is for mid-majors who win their league but lack show-stopping non-conference wins.

One thing needs to be stressed about UNI's lack of a lock status for the NCAAs: There's good reason to doubt the Panthers' credentials, despite their gaudy overall record and first-place finish in the regular season standings. UNI's best non-conference victory came against Siena, a solid but deficient team that will need to win its own conference tournament in order to reach the Big Dance. That's a fairly thin portfolio. A recent win over Old Dominion in the BracketBusters event gave ballast to Northern Iowa's resume, but this loss to Evansville - which entered Tuesday's tilt with a 7-20 record and a 1-15 mark in the Valley - dwarfs the Old Dominion conquest in terms of significance.

Buckle up, Northern Iowa fans. Your team is still in line for a tournament ticket, but a shocking loss has suddenly introduced an unwelcome amount of intrigue to the Panthers' college basketball campaign.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer