5 MVC games Saturday 2/25

[Da Coach]

There are 5 MVC games today, Sat. 2/25

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/scoreboard?d=2012-02-25&c=mvc&refresh=60

Illinois State at Bradley at 1:00 PM
Drake at Wichita State at 12:30 PM
Missouri State at Evansville at 1:05 PM
Northern Iowa at Southern Illinois at 2:05 PM
Creighton at Indiana State at 3:05 PM

This will be "Senior Day" with 3 senior players honored. Please come and honor Bradley's seniors!- Taylor Brown, Anthony Thompson, and Charonn Woods.

This game is a big game for Illinois State which can finish potentially as high as tied for 3rd place, or as low as 8th seed.
Bradley is locked into the 10th seed.
MVC standings after 17 games-
SCHOOL..........CONF....OVERALL
Wichita State. 15-2.......25-4
Creighton....... 13-4.......24-5
Drake..............9-8.......16-13
Missouri State...9-8.......16-14
Northern Iowa...8-9.......18-12
Illinois State......8-9.......17-12
Indiana State....8-9.......17-12
Evansville.........8-9.......14-14
Southern Illinois 5-12.......8-21
Bradley............2-15.......7-23

[Da Coach]

Here are the favorites in today's games (favorites in bold)-

Illinois State -8 at Bradley
Drake at Wichita State -16
Missouri State at Evansville -3
Northern Iowa -3.5 at Southern Illinois
Creighton -2.5 at Indiana State

Here again is the grid with all the scenarios.
If all the favored teams win, Bradley will play Drake (top line in grid)-

[Da Coach]

Here are the favorites in today's games (favorites in bold)-

Illinois State -8 at Bradley
Drake at Wichita State -16
Missouri State at Evansville -3
Northern Iowa -3.5 at Southern Illinois
Creighton -2.5 at Indiana State

There must be some money going on Bradley as the line has moved to ISU -7. Evansville is now -2.5, and Creighton -2. Wichita State is still -16, and Northern Iowa is still -3.5.

http://www.docsports.com/college-basketball-lines.html

[TheAsianSensation]

If current scores hold, it's Illinois freakin' State that goes to the 3 seed. And since the NIT committee is from the Ice Age, ISU becomes the first team in the pecking order for the NIT ahead of UNI and MSU, and since ISU's profile is terrible, they're going to single-handidly keep the entire conference out of the NIT.

[Da Coach]

If current scores hold, it's Illinois freakin' State that goes to the 3 seed. And since the NIT committee is from the Ice Age, ISU becomes the first team in the pecking order for the NIT ahead of UNI and MSU, and since ISU's profile is terrible, they're going to single-handidly keep the entire conference out of the NIT.

Does the NCAA/NIT committee use the same "seeding" or do they simply look at all the teams tied with the 9-9 records and take the best team?

[Da Coach]

Finals so far-

Wichita State 81 Drake 58 - Joe Ragland scoreless but Ben Smith scores 18

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201202250648

Illinois State 54 Bradley 53

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201202250062

Evansville 75 Missouri State 70 in OT

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201202250193

2 games in progress-

UNI 56 SIU 56 with 2:20 left-

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201202250528

Creighton 28 Indiana State 26 at halftime-

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201202250274

[TheAsianSensation]

Does the NCAA/NIT committee use the same "seeding" or do they simply look at all the teams tied with the 9-9 records and take the best team?

I honestly don't know. They are by far the more corrupt selection committee year after year and I truly believe they use archaic things like actual RPI and conference seedings based on their recent trends.

They usually don't leap over teams in the conference. And I think they won't take a Thursday team.

[Tulsa Brave]

UNI wins, so at least a 5 way tie for 3rd. ISU Blue can make it a 6 way tie with a win. Bring on the Bulldogs or Bears Thursday...

[TheAsianSensation]

Of course all that said, it's possible the 3-6 and 4-5 games become NIT-playout games (loser out, winner is one upset away).

Bottom line, ISU mucked things up. If we beat them today, all of a sudden Missouri St and Drake are 3rd and 4th in the majority of tiebreakers and both of them had puncher's chances at the NIT. Now it's Illinois St at the 4 and one of the Indiana schools at the 3, meaning disaster.

[Da Coach]

Northern Iowa pulls it out at the end 65-61-

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201202250528

By UNI winning, it eliminates them from a possible 7th place finish. It now is narrowed down to either Drake or Missouri State for the 7th seed vs. Bradley.
If Creighton wins their game this afternoon against Indiana State, it will be Drake who gets the 7th seed. If Indiana State wins, Missouri State will be the 7th seed.

Indiana State just took their first lead since very early in the game-
Creighton 29
In. State 30

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201202250274

[Tulsa Brave]

Of course all that said, it's possible the 3-6 and 4-5 games become NIT-playout games (loser out, winner is one upset away).

Bottom line, ISU mucked things up. If we beat them today, all of a sudden Missouri St and Drake are 3rd and 4th in the majority of tiebreakers and both of them had puncher's chances at the NIT. Now it's Illinois St at the 4 and one of the Indiana schools at the 3, meaning disaster.

Actually, had we won, 3rd would have been one of the Indiana schools anyway. We would have knocked ISU to 8th though.

[Da Coach]

For those who don't know, the Creighton-Indiana State game is live on ESPN2.
Currently 46-44 Creighton.

[Da Coach]

As much as I can appreciate how hard Indiana State plays, I think I'd rather play Drake next Thursday than Missouri State. But with 3 minutes left Indiana State has pulled out to a 58-54 lead over Creighton.


Wow...Manigat with a long three...now 58-57

[Da Coach]

Creighton made some clutch shots while Indiana State went cold the last 3 minutes. Creighton overcame a 4-point deficit to win 61-60-

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201202250274

So Bradley will play Drake in the 7-10 game next Thursday night at 8:35 pm (the second game of the night).

[tornado]

Creighton also seems to catch a break or two near the end of every close game and get to the FT an awful lot more than whoever they are playing..