How to Watch (TV, stream), Dates and Times for the MVC Tournament
By Cam Newton
Feb 22, 2014; Wichita, KS, USA; Wichita State Shockers head coach Gregg Marshall celebrates after cutting off part of the net following an 83-54 win against the Drake Bulldogs at Charles Koch Arena. The win gave the Shockers the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports
Arguably the biggest story of this college basketball season has been the Wichita State Shockers. After making a surprise run to the Final Four last season as a nine seed and almost earning a spot in the national title game, the Shockers managed to stay relevant this year, returning key leaders Cleanthony Early, Ron Baker, Fred Vanvleet, and Tekele Cotton. The Shockers have worked their way up to number two in the latest AP Poll and have accumulated 31 wins and zero losses. Zero. Their undefeated season is the stuff of legends and I’m certain they don’t want it to end anytime soon.
The Shockers have an opportunity to continue that undefeated season, but they’ll have to first play their way through the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, lovingly dubbed “Arch Madness”. It has been an uncharacteristically weak year for the Missouri Valley Conference, with perennial power Creighton leaving for the Big East and teams like Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois having down years. It would be shocking (I know it was bad; I’ll see myself out) if Wichita State didn’t come out of this tournament 35-0.
March 6
First Round
No. 8 Drake (15-15, 6-12) vs No. 9 Evansville (13-18, 6-12), 7:05 p.m. Valley-Live.tv
No. 7 Bradley (12-19, 7-11) vs No. 10 Loyola (IL) (9-21, 4-14), 9:35 p.m. Valley-Live.tv
March 7
Quarterfinals
Q1: No. 1 Wichita State (31-0, 18-0) vs Winner of Drake/Evansville, 1:05 p.m. Valley-Live.tv
Q2: No. 4 Missouri State (19-11, 9-9) vs No. 5 Illinois State (16-14, 9-9), 3:35 p.m. Valley-Live.tv
Q3: No. 2 Indiana State (21-9, 12-6) vs Winner of Bradley/Loyola (IL), 7:05 p.m. Valley-Live.tv
Q4: No. 3 UNI (16-14, 10-8) vs No. 6 Southern Illinois (13-18, 9-9), 9:35 p.m. Valley-Live.tv
March 8
Semifinals
Winner of Q1 vs Winner of Q2, 2:35 p.m. Valley-Live.tv
Winner of Q3 vs Winner of Q4, 5:05 p.m. Valley-Live.tv
March 9
Championship
2:05 p.m. on CBS. Anyone can watch!