More Missouri Valley
I've paid close attention to the MVC this year, and I last wrote about how they may been in trouble when the NCAA Tournament field is announced. It is a very balanced league that has 5 or 6 teams that are capable of playing with (and beating) anybody in the country. The problem is that it is still considered to be below the 6 BCS conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big 10, Big East, Pac-10, and SEC).
According to Pomeroy's RPI, the MVC is ranked 5th, and it has 6 teams in the top 61. The problem that I'm seeing with the conference is that the teams have too many losses. After Tuesday nights game between Wichita St. and Norther Iowa, the MVC has only one team with fewer than 7 losses (Southern Illinois). I'm just not sure that the selection comittee is going to pick teams from this conference with so many losses.
The contenders for an automatic bid all have many more big games left on their schedule. This is going to push some of these teams out of the picture. Here's how it breaks down:
SIU (17-5, 8-3): 8 games left, including @ Wichita St., vs. Bradley, vs. Creighton, @ Missouri St., and @ Butler (non-conference).
Creighton (14-7, 8-3): 8 left, including @ Bradley, @ SIU, vs. N. Iowa, vs. Drexel (non-conference), vs. Wichita St.
Missouri St. (15-7, 6-5): 8 left, including @ N. Iowa, vs. SIU, vs. Winthrop (non-conference), @ Wichita St.
Bradley (15-8, 6-5): 8 left, including vs. Creighton, @ SIU, @ VCU (non-conference), vs. N. Iowa.
Northern Iowa (15-7, 6-5): 8 left, including vs. Missouri St., @ Creighton, @ Nevada (non-conference), @ Bradley.
Wichita St. (15-8, 6-6): 7 left, including vs. SIU, vs. Appalachian St. (non-conference), vs. Missouri St., @ Creighton.
When you look at these schedules, it becomes clear that the conference is going to continue to beat up on itself. SIU could very likely be the only MVC team with less that 10 losses. The Bracket Buster games that these teams have are also very important. The non-conference teams these MVC teams are facing have a combined 108-21 record. If the conference makes a good showing in these games, you can expect more MVC teams in the big dance.
The one wild card in this race is the conference tournament. Obviously the winner gets an automatic bid, and there are at least 6 teams that are very capable of winning it. It might be the most competitive conference tournament this year, and the most important.
According to Pomeroy's RPI, the MVC is ranked 5th, and it has 6 teams in the top 61. The problem that I'm seeing with the conference is that the teams have too many losses. After Tuesday nights game between Wichita St. and Norther Iowa, the MVC has only one team with fewer than 7 losses (Southern Illinois). I'm just not sure that the selection comittee is going to pick teams from this conference with so many losses.
The contenders for an automatic bid all have many more big games left on their schedule. This is going to push some of these teams out of the picture. Here's how it breaks down:
SIU (17-5, 8-3): 8 games left, including @ Wichita St., vs. Bradley, vs. Creighton, @ Missouri St., and @ Butler (non-conference).
Creighton (14-7, 8-3): 8 left, including @ Bradley, @ SIU, vs. N. Iowa, vs. Drexel (non-conference), vs. Wichita St.
Missouri St. (15-7, 6-5): 8 left, including @ N. Iowa, vs. SIU, vs. Winthrop (non-conference), @ Wichita St.
Bradley (15-8, 6-5): 8 left, including vs. Creighton, @ SIU, @ VCU (non-conference), vs. N. Iowa.
Northern Iowa (15-7, 6-5): 8 left, including vs. Missouri St., @ Creighton, @ Nevada (non-conference), @ Bradley.
Wichita St. (15-8, 6-6): 7 left, including vs. SIU, vs. Appalachian St. (non-conference), vs. Missouri St., @ Creighton.
When you look at these schedules, it becomes clear that the conference is going to continue to beat up on itself. SIU could very likely be the only MVC team with less that 10 losses. The Bracket Buster games that these teams have are also very important. The non-conference teams these MVC teams are facing have a combined 108-21 record. If the conference makes a good showing in these games, you can expect more MVC teams in the big dance.
The one wild card in this race is the conference tournament. Obviously the winner gets an automatic bid, and there are at least 6 teams that are very capable of winning it. It might be the most competitive conference tournament this year, and the most important.
posted by Josh at 9:29 PM
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