We are just under a month away from what may be the only thing in college basketball that is better than March Madness in Arch Madness and the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. Despite serving as a feeder league with players constantly transferring out to bigger programs, the MVC is as competitive as it has ever been and is fighting to get two teams into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.
With only a few weeks remaining in the regular season let’s take a look at how things currently stand in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Things have not been great to say the least for the Bears in their first season of the return of head coach Cuonzo Martin. This comes as no surprise as this team is young and features almost all new faces from a year ago. With this being the last season for Missouri State in the MVC before heading to CUSA, it is safe to say they will not be going out with a bang.
11. Valparaiso Beacons 10-15 (3-11)
Things were looking good before turning very bad quickly for Valpo in their second season under head coach Roger Powell. The Beacons began the year at 10-6 and surpassed their 2023-2024 season win total through just 14 games. But since a 3-0 stretch in league play that ended on January 8th they have not won a game.
It does not help that they have been without their leading scorer from 23-24 in Isaiah Safford but former MVC Freshman of the Year Cooper Schweiger is putting together another good season averaging 14.4ppg and 7.4rpg. The Beacons have shown the ability to compete with some of the top teams in the league, but I do not expect them to make much noise in Arch.
This year is going just about how you would expect, or maybe better, for a team who lost their head coach and basically all of their production from a 32 win team a year ago. Former CIAA guard Samage Teel is having a nice year averaging 16.8 ppg which is good for second in the league. The Sycamores are just a few conference wins away from being much higher on this list and they will try to make that happen in the coming weeks.
This is not a bad spot to be for Evansville considering that prior to last year they had four straight seasons without 10 or more wins and were nowhere near .500 in MVC games. Gabriel Pozzato has been a pleasant surprise for the Purple Aces ranking in the top 15 among freshmen averaging 15.4ppg. The next three games are key win opportunities as they all come against teams ranked below them.
Murray State had a bad run going 1-6 from mid-January to early February that has put them in this spot. Since then they have won two straight games and have a crucial matchup with Northern Iowa on Sunday. With a lot of experience I would describe the Racers as a team that you would not want to see on your side of the MVC bracket.
Not too long ago UIC was one of the biggest surprises in college basketball sitting at 14-7 overall, 7-4 in conference play, and near the top of the MVC. They have now lost four straight and have joined this middle clump of the league. They do have wins over two of the top three teams in the league and have the MVC leader in rebounds at 8 per game by Xavier transfer Sasa Ciani. No matter how things finish out for the Flames, I would consider it a great first season with head coach Robert Ehsan as they will likely finish outside the bottom two in the conference for the first time since joining in 2022.
Another team with a new head coach and a lot of new players who has fared well thus far. They have two of the league's top four scorers in Ali Dibba and Kennard Davis Jr. This team has sat round .500 all season and they’ll have to pull out some big wins against better teams to end the year if they want to finish there.
Illinois State sits atop this middle clump with an impressive overall record. The Redbirds have taken care of business in games they should have but have yet to pull off a signature win against a top team in the MVC. They are currently ranked 12th in the country in 3-point percentage and are led by athletic big man Chase Walker who is having a breakout year averaging 15.4 ppg, a 12.2 uptick from last season. Over the next two weeks the Redbirds will get to face both Drake and Bradley at home where they have been an impressive 10-3.
The Bruins are well on pace to make this their 15th straight season with 20+ wins, but they have yet to break through and make the tournament while in the MVC and with Casey Alexander as head coach. I am not sure if this is the team that can do that, but a favorable schedule to end the year should have them comfortably in a first round bye spot in the MVC tournament.
The Braves once again are their consistent self in their 10th season under head coach Brian Wardle. They rank third overall in the country in 3-point percentage at 40.1, but have skidded as of late losing three of their last four. Games against Drake on Sunday and UNI to end the season could very well be what decides this league. This is a team filled with guys who have stayed at Bradley with the hope of finally getting over the hump and winning the league and this could be their last chance to do so.
2. Northern Iowa Panthers 17-9 (11-4)
In the midst of a four game win streak, UNI might be getting hot at just the right time. They have one of the leagues best in Tytan Anderson who has spent all five of his years in college in Cedar Falls. The Panthers will surely have a first round bye, but they also will have a chance to secure a regular season league title with games remaining against Drake and Bradley.
If you have not heard the story yet you must be living under a rock, but the Bulldogs are having a phenomenal season. After six straight 20+ win seasons and back-to-back MVC Championships head coach Darian DeVries, along with just about the entire roster, left. Now in their first season under former Division II head coach Ben McCollum the Bulldogs are in a great spot to win the league and make it back to the big dance. The coolest part of it all is McCollum brought a bunch of his guys with him from Northwest Missouri State as their three top scorers are former D2 players including Bennett Stritz who is making a strong case for MVC Player of the Year.