Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Preview

They call it "Arch Madness."  No, really.  They really do call it "Arch Madness."

The table is set for a Saint Louis style four day feasting of Missouri Valley Conference basketball.  The tournament starts on Thursday with two games and keeps on rolling until the bitter end on Sunday.   And if you're wondering what the bracket looks like, just click.  If you're too lazy, let's take a look...

 
Thursday, March 6

#8 Indiana State vs. #9 Wichita State

#7 Missouri State vs. #10 Evansville 

Friday, March 7th

#1 Drake vs. ISU/WICH

#4 Creighton vs. #5 Bradley

#3 Southern Illinois vs. #6 Northern Iowa

#2 Illinois State vs. MOS/EVAN

Saturday, March 8

#1 Drake (or upset) vs. #4 Creighton (or upset)

 #2 Illinois State (or upset) vs. #3 Southern Illinois (or upset)

Sunday, March 9

Who knows!?  It's Arch Madness, Baby!

Looking at these match-ups, nobody is safe. 

You may want to get on the Drake train.  After all, they did beat Butler in Indianapolis.  Then again they finished the season 3-3 with losses to Missouri State, Southern Illinois and Bradley.  But if you dig deeper, they lost those three games by a total of seven points. 

If you think about it, the Bulldogs are no longer a mystery.  Opposing teams know what Drake is doing and can then gameplan accordingly.  That puts the pressure on the Bulldogs to execute even better than they have already.  This type of hype is unprecedented for the Bulldogs.  It all depends on whether or not they can impose their smart, opportunistic style of basketball on their opponents.

Creighton may be seeded number four, but they still own a 20-9 overall record.  At the beginning of conference play the Blue Jays stood at 9-1 with wins against Nebraska and Saint Joseph's.  That one loss came at Xavier. 

With a history of MVC success on their side, Creighton could bust this tournament wide open, right?  It's possible.  But a major stubbing of the toe against bottom dweller Evansville looks bad on a resume.  And losses like that could make even the most cold blooded bookie nervous.

Southern Illinois may be the hot pick of the tournament.  The Salukis were expected to make some noise once again this year, but then they lost the majority of the important games on their schedule. 

The Salukis ended the year winning five of their last six, but that sixth game was a home loss against Illinois State.  They've definitely got a chip on their shoulder to prove that they are better than the overall record (17-13) indicates.  One might pick them to win just because their leading scorer is named Randal Falker.

Nobody is talking about Illinois State.  They've got super scorer Osiris Eldridge rocking the perimeter and double double threat Anthony Slack getting it done inside.  If they could only teach 6'11" center Levi Dyer how to rebound (2.6 rpg in 20 mpg), they'd be dynamite. 

At any rate, the Redbirds are a pretty solid team.  They own a four game winning streak at the moment and a 22-8 overall record.  Every single conference loss has been by less than eight points.  The Redbirds' biggest loss was by 13 points against Indiana.  They boast players named Osiris Eldridge, Boo Richardson and Dinma Odiakosa.  Vote for them.

As for the other six teams in the conference, you never know who will step up and play well.  Indiana State started conference play at 4-1.  Evansville beat Creighton.  Missouri State beat Drake and Southern Illinois.  Northern Iowa, Bradley and Wichita State also know how to throw down.

This time, though, it's on a neutral floor.  Northern Iowa can't revel in the cheers of Cedar Falls, Bradley has to step away from Peoria and Missouri State has to get out of Springfield.  

Why is that so important? 

Of the bottom six teams in the conference, Bradley's win at Drake was the only away win over one of the top four MVC teams.  Granted, this will be a neutral site, but if you take away the the bloodthirsty fans in a small yet familiar gym, would Evansville really have beaten Creighton?

Get ready for some action, Saint Louis!