Out Of Their League
What does the Missouri Valley Conference think its doing? This little mid-major conference can't really hang with all of the big ESPN conference, can they? Will the NCAA allow this? More importantly, will Dick Vitale accept this?
I was all set to write a 1,000 word-plus diatribe about each Valley team's chance at claiming one of the top four seeds in the Arch Madness post-season tournament in St. Louis, but one-fourth of the way through I had to scrap the whole thing. If anyone tells you they know how this conference season is going to turn out is either crazy, lying, or intoxicated.
Obviously, Wichita State holds the pole position for the race for the Valley title, but their remaining schedule isn't as easy as everyone thinks it is. They play six of their last nine conference games against teams in the top half of the Valley, including home-and-home series' with Creighton and Illinois State. They also must go to Carbondale and try to win in front of SIU's "excited" fans.
Speaking of the Salukis, think the fans in Carbondale are a little nervous? This team hasn't been scoring many points, just got blown out by SMS (and gave up 92 points to the Bears in the process), and plays five of their last 10 conference games against teams in the top half of the conference. Not included in those games are two difficult road trips against teams that are more than capable of protecting their home court (Bradley and Indiana State). I don't think I'm the only person unconvinced about Chris Lowery's squad. I still covet their defense, but in every other facet of the game they are no better than most of the other Valley teams.
Hi, Illinois State. Thanks for coming -- this little ride has been cute. Everyone in Normal is more than pleased with this third-place start, but wake up. This can't possibly continue, can it? I mean, come on, it is ILLINOIS STATE. Actually, it can continue. Sure, they play Wichita State twice and have games against UNI, SIU, and Creighton left, but of those five games, four of them are at Redbird Arena. I'm not saying they are going to win the conference or anything, but I'm not exactly looking forward to Creighton's last game of the season on the road against Porter Moser's guys.
And that brings us to Creighton and Northern Iowa. Both at 5-4 in conference play, both with Sioux City sharp shooters, and both with five more games against top MVC teams. To make things even more interesting, the rematch of Creighton's one-point win in Cedar Falls will be broadcast on ESPN2.
So in short, I have no idea what is going to happen in the last month of the season. I could write this column the night of February 28 and two of the teams currently in the top half of the conference could be sitting in sixth or seventh place. Who knows.
I was all set to write a 1,000 word-plus diatribe about each Valley team's chance at claiming one of the top four seeds in the Arch Madness post-season tournament in St. Louis, but one-fourth of the way through I had to scrap the whole thing. If anyone tells you they know how this conference season is going to turn out is either crazy, lying, or intoxicated.
Obviously, Wichita State holds the pole position for the race for the Valley title, but their remaining schedule isn't as easy as everyone thinks it is. They play six of their last nine conference games against teams in the top half of the Valley, including home-and-home series' with Creighton and Illinois State. They also must go to Carbondale and try to win in front of SIU's "excited" fans.
Speaking of the Salukis, think the fans in Carbondale are a little nervous? This team hasn't been scoring many points, just got blown out by SMS (and gave up 92 points to the Bears in the process), and plays five of their last 10 conference games against teams in the top half of the conference. Not included in those games are two difficult road trips against teams that are more than capable of protecting their home court (Bradley and Indiana State). I don't think I'm the only person unconvinced about Chris Lowery's squad. I still covet their defense, but in every other facet of the game they are no better than most of the other Valley teams.
Hi, Illinois State. Thanks for coming -- this little ride has been cute. Everyone in Normal is more than pleased with this third-place start, but wake up. This can't possibly continue, can it? I mean, come on, it is ILLINOIS STATE. Actually, it can continue. Sure, they play Wichita State twice and have games against UNI, SIU, and Creighton left, but of those five games, four of them are at Redbird Arena. I'm not saying they are going to win the conference or anything, but I'm not exactly looking forward to Creighton's last game of the season on the road against Porter Moser's guys.
And that brings us to Creighton and Northern Iowa. Both at 5-4 in conference play, both with Sioux City sharp shooters, and both with five more games against top MVC teams. To make things even more interesting, the rematch of Creighton's one-point win in Cedar Falls will be broadcast on ESPN2.
So in short, I have no idea what is going to happen in the last month of the season. I could write this column the night of February 28 and two of the teams currently in the top half of the conference could be sitting in sixth or seventh place. Who knows.
posted by Creighton Otter at 2:28 PM
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