After streaking into national relevance in the mid 2000's, the Missouri Valley has slipped a bit, enduring a few down seasons in a row. The biggest culprit?
Parity. It wasn't that their top teams weren't good (as evidenced by Northern Iowa's magical slaying of #1 Kansas in last years tourney), it was that their middle of the pack wasn't bad. The result? A lot of teams between eight and eleven wins in league play and none of the separation needed for a mid major conference to earn multiple bids in March.
If the opening week of conference play is any indication, the Valley could once again be sending two, maybe three teams to the Big Dance as three of their top teams captured important wins.
The thriller of the night was the 58-57 that saw
Missouri State stealing an important win at
Northern Iowa on the strength of Kyle Weems game winning three-pointer at the buzzer. Very few teams win on the Panthers home floor. Grabbing the road win early bodes well for the Bears. The win moved Missouri State to 9-3 and gave them their first real resume win. All three of their losses are quality; Oklahoma State, Tulsa and Tennessee, but without a marquee win out of conference the Bears likely need to be 14-4 or better in Valley play to get in the at large discussion.
Northern Iowa on the other hand is in a more unique position. Their is undoubtably some unintentional lingering name value after last year's surprising Sweet Sixteen run. It isn't
supposed to matter, but a positive perception regarding a program never hurts. Their resume is very similar to Mo State's, with a worse loss (51-39 to Iowa) and two better wins (Indiana and New Mexico). The Panthers also likely need to get to that 13-14 win range to have much of a chance of entertaining tourney aspirations.
Two other Valley contests were far less enthralling, but equally important opening statements. Conference favorite
Wichita State traveled to
Evansville, who owns a win over Butler, and simply steamrolled the Purple Aces. The Shockers cruised to the 91-57 win with all five starters scoring in double figures. The win moves Wichita State to 10-2 with wins over Tulsa, Virginia and LSU and quality losses to a pair of top 10 squads, UConn on a neutral floor and a narrow loss at San Diego State. The Shockers are the most legitimate at-large contender in the MVC, but if they play like they did tonight winning the auto bid in the conference tourney might make the point moot. 13 or 14 conference wins would seem to put the Shockers on solid ground.
The final big game saw another league favorite grab an important road win, with
Creighton defeating
Illinois State 67-54. The Bluejays had some early season struggles, losing in all four attempts to earn a quality win. The Northwestern and BYU losses do no real harm. The losses to Nebraska and Iowa State make it tough to argue for Creighton over some middle of the pack Big 12 team as they lost to several of the worst teams in the league. If the committee sees them on the board next to, say Oklahoma State or Texas A&M it's going to be hard to see the scales tipping in Creighton's favor. Just like Mo State and Northern Iowa, the Jays are going to have to separate themselves from the MVC pack to merit any consideration. In order to do that, you have to beat quality opponents on the road. Tonight's comfortable win in Normal is a good start.
It is going to be an exciting year once again in the Valley, and with a little separation at the top could once again be sending multiple teams in March.
Last month it was Missouri State star Kyle Weems hitting the buzzer beater to give the Bears a one-point win at Northern Iowa. Tonight, the Panthers returned the favor with two free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining to get the one-point win down in the Ozarks.
