Missouri Valley: Conference Tournament Preview

Begins: March 5
Championship Game: March 8
Television Coverage: MVC TV, CBS
Tournament Bracket: http://cdn.streamlinetechnologies.com/mvc/53539AA2-BC37-492E-B5F3-44783420882F/MBB_Bracket1.pdf

Overview:

The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) has a rich history. The MVC has four National Championships (1945, 1946, 1961, 1962) and nine total National Championship game appearances. However, the league has seen many departures and new arrivals over the years. The four most prominent schools (Oklahoma St., Cincinnati, Louisville, and Memphis) have moved on to conferences with Division I football affiliations. The MVC has continued to rebuild despite the many departures from their conference. In the 70s, the MVC added Illinois St., Indiana St., and Southern Illinois. Indiana St. is the last team to represent the MVC in the National Championship in 1979. The 90s were the last major set of arrivals with Evansville, Missouri St., and Northern Iowa joining the league. By the late 90s, the MVC was becoming a basketball power sending multiple teams to the NCAA tournament including four in 2006. During that stretch, the MVC had five Sweet 16 teams. Unfortunately, the conference has only sent more than one team to the NCAA tournament in two of the last seven years and the departure of Creighton in 2014 again set the league back, but the MVC has bounced back yet again. Wichita St. has established themselves as a national power the last two years and Northern Iowa has quickly risen to the top ten this year. The MVC will look to get back into the Final Four. It will start with the MVC Conference Tournament. Here's a look at the favorites.

Favorite to Win Tournament: Wichita St. Shockers (27-3, 17-1)

Wichita St. has made the MVC tournament final the last two years and won the title last year. The Shockers will look to make it three years in a row after another strong season in the conference. Wichita St. is 38-1 in their last 39 games against MVC opponents. Until someone can stop this talented and experienced team, the Shockers will continue to be the favorite of the league. Wichita St.'s four leading scorers are juniors or seniors. The Shockers will look to build on the success of their last two NCAA tournament appearances. The Shockers made the Final Four in 2013 and went into the 2014 tournament undefeated as a 1 seed. Even if the Shockers don't win the MVC tournament title, Wichita St. will look to have another solid performance in the NCAA tournament representing the MVC.

Most Likely to Upset Favorite: Northern Iowa Panthers (27-3, 16-2)

Northern Iowa has enjoyed playing spoiler since joining the MVC. In 2010, the Panthers destroyed a lot of brackets when Northern Iowa upset #1 ranked Kansas in the NCAA tournament. This season, the Panthers ended Wichita St.'s 30-game MVC winning streak. The Shockers got their revenge defeating the Panthers in the MVC finale that decided the regular season conference championship. Northern Iowa will look to take the season series if the Panthers meet up with Wichita St. in the MVC conference tournament championship game.

Dark Horse to Win Tournament: Illinois St. Redbirds (19-11, 11-7)

It is hard to pick a dark horse in the MVC. Wichita St. and Northern Iowa went 31-1 against the rest of the MVC this season. Evansville is the lone team to upset the top two teams of the conference, but it seems that was more of a fluke as Evansville went 3-7 against the top five teams of the MVC. Although Illinois St. went 0-4 against Wichita St. and Northern Iowa, the Redbirds are a talented team that went 2-0 against Evansville who they will play first. Illinois St. will likely have to upset Wichita St. and Northern Iowa to win the MVC title, which would truly by an underdog tale.

Expected Tournament Bid(s): Wichita St. Panthers, Northern Iowa Panthers, Conference Tournament Winner

The MVC is guaranteed at least two NCAA tournament bids this season as Wichita St. and Northern Iowa are locks expected to be 3 or 4 seeds. If a dark horse can manage to win the MVC tournament, this would be a three bid league for the first time since 2006.