NCAA Basketball: Every Missouri Valley team’s most successful season since 2000
By Shea Irish
The Missouri Valley Basketball Conference has achieved status as one of the most reputable mid-major conferences in the country over the years. How many other leagues at the mid-major level can say they have sent multiple teams to the Final Four in the same decade, while also claiming notable players the caliber of Larry Bird and Hersey Hawkins to their past.
Year after year the MVC has sent teams to the NCAA Tournament that no top-seeded teams want to see themselves matched up with when the bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday. In fact, of the 12 different teams that have competed in the Valley since 2000, eight of them have won at least one NCAA tournament game during that time and six different schools have advanced to the Sweet 16 or further.
With the Valley set to experience drastic change next season, this isn’t the first time they have had to deal with a transition. Two of the premier schools for decades, Creighton and Wichita State, left the conference in the past nine years. Thought to be detrimental at the time, this conference full of such rich history was able to continue its success.
Now the Loyola Chicago Ramblers, the class of the Missouri Valley for the past half-decade, will be headed to the Atlantic 10. A school that has been to three NCAA Tournaments, one Sweet 16, and one Final Four in the last five years will undeniably be tough to replace.
Even though they are losing one of the best mid-major teams in the country, the conference will add Murray State and Belmont, two of the most respected mid-majors in all of college basketball over the last twenty years. A third team, the UIC Flames will also be headed to the Missouri Valley, making it a 12 team league for the first time in the 115 year history of the conference.
Moving forward, the Missouri Valley Conference and its conference tournament should be just as competitive as ever. If history tells you anything, the team that survives ‘Arch Madness’ every year will be a tough out in the NCAA Tournament. As the conference gets ready to enter a new era, let’s dive into the most successful run each Missouri Valley affiliate has experienced since 2000.