NCAA Basketball: 4 teams to end drought for 2020 NCAA Tournament

ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 24: A view of an NCAA sign and towel prior to the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional between the Kansas State Wildcats and the Loyola Ramblers at Philips Arena on March 24, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

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ST. LOUIS, MO – MARCH 4: Dequon Miller #4 of the Missouri State Bears shoots the ball against Landry Shamet #11 of the Wichita State Shockers during the Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament Semifinals at the Scottrade Center on March 4, 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Missouri State Bears

The last team on this list comes from a conference that has had some NCAA Tournament success and notoriety over the last couple of seasons, the Missouri Valley. The Missouri State Bears haven’t been to the Big Dance since 1999, but second-year head coach Dana Ford has quickly turned his team into a contender for the MVC title in 2019-20. Last season they finished 16-16 (10-8 in the conference) and were defeated by eventual tournament champion Bradley in the tournament quarterfinals.

The offseason has been a big one for Ford. Two of his three double-digit scorers, seniors Keandre Cook and MVC Player of the Year candidate Tulio Da Silva, the latter of whom led the Bears in scoring and rebounding last season with numbers of 14.7 and 7.4 in those categories. What has people excited are the transfers that will be hitting the floor for Ford this fall.

A trio of guards, Spencer Brown (Lyon College), Tyrik Dixon (Middle Tennessee State), and Josh Hall (Nevada) will all see their first action this season, with the last two bringing 33 starts of Division I experience with them. Another transfer comes in as a graduate, 6-8 forward Lamont West comes from West Virginia where he averaged 11 points and four rebounds for the Mountaineers last season.

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Anthony Masinton-Bonner averaged 11 points while shooting 41% from deep and over 85% from the charity stripe for Colorado State last season had planned to play for Missouri State but recently decided to end his basketball career. The departure could open up some time for freshman guard Ford Cooper, a 6-3-point guard from North Carolina.

Despite the loss of Bonner, the Bears should still be one of the favorites in the MVC to take home the automatic bid and go to the Big Dance for the first time in 20 years.

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