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MVC Basketball: 2020 conference tournament preview and predictions

By Joey Loose

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Luuk van Bree #13, Luqman Lundy #2 and Antoine Pittman #3 of the Bradley Braves fight Justin Dahl #15 and Tywhon Pickford #3 of the Northern Iowa Panthers for a loose ball during the final game of the MVC Basketball Tournament at the Enterprise Center on March 10, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Bradley Braves beat the Northern Iowa Panthers 57-54 to win the MVC Championship. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Luuk van Bree #13, Luqman Lundy #2 and Antoine Pittman #3 of the Bradley Braves fight Justin Dahl #15 and Tywhon Pickford #3 of the Northern Iowa Panthers for a loose ball during the final game of the MVC Basketball Tournament at the Enterprise Center on March 10, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Bradley Braves beat the Northern Iowa Panthers 57-54 to win the MVC Championship. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
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MVC Basketball
ST. LOUIS, MO – MARCH 10: Members of the Bradley Braves celebrate after beating the Northern Iowa Panthers in the final game of MVC Basketball Tournament (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Arch Madness begins on Thursday in St. Louis; which team will walk away with the conference championship and represent MVC Basketball in the NCAA Tournament?

The past decade has been pretty kind for the Missouri Valley Conference. Before exiting the conference, Wichita State made a Final Four as a 9-seed in 2013 and built a perfect run into the following year’s tournament. Loyola-Chicago took an 11-seed and ran to the Final Four in 2018. Ten of the last eleven MVC Basketball teams in the NCAA Tournament have won a tournament game.

Moving forward, the conference may not seem as strong as when Creighton and Wichita State were members. The recent rise of Loyola has certainly helped strengthen the conference, while other flagship programs continue their rebuilds. This is a strong mid-major conference with a handful of teams who could get hot at the right team and walk away with that vital automatic bid.

Northern Iowa has been the class of the league for most of the season, winning the regular season title. Those Ramblers sit well-positioned in the 2-seed, while Indiana State sits just below them after a hot streak to end the season.

One big surprise was the struggles of Missouri State, picked in the preseason to win the conference. The Bears never asserted themselves in the conference race, clinging to the 6-seed and narrowly avoiding the opening round action. However, there’s still talent on this roster and now would be quite a time for them to play to their full potential.

A surprise on the positive end is the play of Southern Illinois, under first-year head coach Bryan Mullins, a former Loyola assistant. Picked to finish dead last, the Salukis ended up with the 5-seed and it’ll be interesting to see how this young team reacts to the pressure of Arch Madness.

As the MVC’s ten teams head to St. Louis, expect the unexpected. Evansville shocked the nation with an upset win at #1 Kentucky in November before finishing 0-18 in this league. The top seven teams finished at or above .500 in conference play and any one of them can make a run in this intense tournament.