Even the Bluejays expect surprises at this year?s Arch Madness
Basketball is a game of runs, and the Missouri Valley Conference men?s season has been nothing short of a roller coaster from top to bottom.
Illinois State (17-14), the sixth seed at this year?s Valley tournament in St. Louis, became the first team to start off 0-6 in league play but rally to finish in the top six.
Evansville (18-13) hadn?t won four games in a row all season until the last month, when the Purple Aces surged into fourth place.
All five teams that finished in the top half had at least one loss to a team that finished in the bottom half, and for the first time ever, all 10 teams had at least six league victories and at least 10 overall wins.
?It seems like we talk about that part of the conference tournament, that anybody could get through and win it every year, but with some of the outcomes, with some of the teams that finished in the top four getting beat by teams that finished in the bottom four, I don?t know that those kinds of results happen every year,? said Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson. ?I think this is the indication where anything could happen this coming weekend.?
Even Creighton (24-7), which won the tournament last season, believes some strange things could happen at the Scottrade Center beginning tonight. Coach Greg McDermott just hopes the drama doesn?t involve his squad.
?The fact that we?re going to get everybody?s best shot in St. Louis isn?t going to surprise anybody,? McDermott said. ?With the balance in our league, I think anything can happen. I think you?re going to see a lot of surprises. I just hope none of them involve the Bluejays.?
The surprises could begin tonight, as SIU (14-16) takes on Missouri State (10-21) and Bradley (16-15) tangles with Drake (14-16) in the two first-round games. All of them split with their respective opponents, with each winning on their home floors.
SIU, the 10th seed for the first time, might actually be one of the first in that slot to be favored in its game against the Bears. The Salukis have won three straight games and snapped a 15-game league road losing streak with a three-point win Saturday at Drake.
Missouri State, the seventh seed, has lost three of its last six games and is expected to be without freshman guard Dorrian Williams, who partially tore the meniscus in his knee.
Bears coach Paul Lusk called Williams ?highly doubtful? for the tournament. Williams started 18 of 30 games this season and averaged 4.3 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.
Only one team, seventh-seeded Bradley in 1998, has ever won more than one game under the current format when beginning in the first round.
Only 25 times in NCAA history has a team won four games or more at a conference tournament.
Basketball is a game of runs, and the Missouri Valley Conference men?s season has been nothing short of a roller coaster from top to bottom.
Illinois State (17-14), the sixth seed at this year?s Valley tournament in St. Louis, became the first team to start off 0-6 in league play but rally to finish in the top six.
Evansville (18-13) hadn?t won four games in a row all season until the last month, when the Purple Aces surged into fourth place.
All five teams that finished in the top half had at least one loss to a team that finished in the bottom half, and for the first time ever, all 10 teams had at least six league victories and at least 10 overall wins.
?It seems like we talk about that part of the conference tournament, that anybody could get through and win it every year, but with some of the outcomes, with some of the teams that finished in the top four getting beat by teams that finished in the bottom four, I don?t know that those kinds of results happen every year,? said Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson. ?I think this is the indication where anything could happen this coming weekend.?
Even Creighton (24-7), which won the tournament last season, believes some strange things could happen at the Scottrade Center beginning tonight. Coach Greg McDermott just hopes the drama doesn?t involve his squad.
?The fact that we?re going to get everybody?s best shot in St. Louis isn?t going to surprise anybody,? McDermott said. ?With the balance in our league, I think anything can happen. I think you?re going to see a lot of surprises. I just hope none of them involve the Bluejays.?
The surprises could begin tonight, as SIU (14-16) takes on Missouri State (10-21) and Bradley (16-15) tangles with Drake (14-16) in the two first-round games. All of them split with their respective opponents, with each winning on their home floors.
SIU, the 10th seed for the first time, might actually be one of the first in that slot to be favored in its game against the Bears. The Salukis have won three straight games and snapped a 15-game league road losing streak with a three-point win Saturday at Drake.
Missouri State, the seventh seed, has lost three of its last six games and is expected to be without freshman guard Dorrian Williams, who partially tore the meniscus in his knee.
Bears coach Paul Lusk called Williams ?highly doubtful? for the tournament. Williams started 18 of 30 games this season and averaged 4.3 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.
Only one team, seventh-seeded Bradley in 1998, has ever won more than one game under the current format when beginning in the first round.
Only 25 times in NCAA history has a team won four games or more at a conference tournament.
