Tuesday, Feb. 21 and Wednesday, Feb. 22 MVC games

[Da Coach]

One game Tuesday, Feb. 21-
Murray State (10-8 ) at Missouri State (10-8 ) - 6 pm on CBSSports Network- in a battle for 6th place
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...30221/group/18

5 games Wednesday, Feb. 22- All 5 top teams are in action-
Bradley (14-4) at Valparaiso (5-13) - 6 pm on MVC TV Network (Bally Sports and NBCSports Chicago Plus Network) and ESPN+ (blackouts may apply)
Indiana State (13-5) at Belmont (12-6) - 6:30 pm on ESPN+
Northern Iowa (9-9) at SIU (12-6) - 7 pm on ESPN+
Illinois State (5-13) at Drake (14-4) - 7 pm on ESPN+
UIC (3-15) at Evansville (1-17) - 7 pm on ESPN+
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...30222/group/18

[BUfan14]

So who do we root for, Indiana St. or Belmont? Indiana St. winning helps us for first as it pushes Belmont further down in a tiebreaker scenario. However, it seems unlikely a tiebreak will be needed for first anyway and it will come down to BU versus Drake barring a major upset for one of the two Wednesday. Belmont winning means Bradley is for sure a top two seed if Bradley also wins Wednesday. I think we would hold the tie break with Indiana St. anyway by virtue of head to head though. So really if we win Wednesday we are guaranteed a top two seed, correct? It won’t even mean much if ISU beats Drake because we’d still have to win Sunday to get first against Drake or they’d own the tiebreak because of beating us twice. So really we don’t have much rooting interest in any of these games. Just win Wednesday for top two, and then win Sunday for the championship! Really nice to control our own destiny!

[BRAVE82]

So who do we root for, Indiana St. or Belmont? Indiana St. winning helps us for first as it pushes Belmont further down in a tiebreaker scenario. However, it seems unlikely a tiebreak will be needed for first anyway and it will come down to BU versus Drake barring a major upset for one of the two Wednesday. Belmont winning means Bradley is for sure a top two seed if Bradley also wins Wednesday. I think we would hold the tie break with Indiana St. anyway by virtue of head to head though. So really if we win Wednesday we are guaranteed a top two seed, correct? It won’t even mean much if ISU beats Drake because we’d still have to win Sunday to get first against Drake or they’d own the tiebreak because of beating us twice. So really we don’t have much rooting interest in any of these games. Just win Wednesday for top two, and then win Sunday for the championship! Really nice to control our own destiny!

It would be huge for Illinois State to upset Drake, because if we beat Valpo we are then guaranteed a tie for first place, even if we lose to Drake. Who really cares about Arch seeding, as long as we're on the opposite side of the bracket with Drake. I just want to hang a regular season title banner, even if we have to share it.

[BUfan14]

It would be huge for Illinois State to upset Drake, because if we beat Valpo we are then guaranteed a tie for first place, even if we lose to Drake. Who really cares about Arch seeding, as long as we're on the opposite side of the bracket with Drake. I just want to hang a regular season title banner, even if we have to share it.

I guess I’ve never had to think about this before, but does the tie break only apply to the tournament seeding? The conference championship can be split multiple ways? In my old enough to realize life, Bradley has never been in contention like this, so I guess I didn’t even think of it before. The seeding is less of a concern to me than the auto NIT bid.

[Da Coach]

It has been called the MVC Tournament Tiebreaker or Arch Madness Tiebreaker. And the MVC only applies it to seeding for the tournament.
If two or more teams tie at the top of the conference at the end of the regular season, they are co-champions.

It last happened in 2019 when Loyola and Drake tied with 12-6 records. But Loyola had a 2-0 record against Drake and was the #1 seed. In the tournament, Bradley upset Loyola in one semifinal, and UNI upset Drake in the other semifinal. Then Bradley overcame an 18 point second half deficit in the final to win the 2019 MVC Tournament Championship.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba.../2019/group/18

It also happened in 2017, when Illinois State and Wichita State tied with 17-1 records. They were 1-1 against each other, and at that time the second tiebreaker was RPI. Wichita State had an RPI of 34, while ISU's RPI was 40. So Wichita State got the #1 seed. They both ended up in the championship game, and WSU clobbered ISU 71-51, and went to the NCAA Tournament. They lost in the 2nd round to Kentucky.
ISU got an NIT bid (not an auto-bid, since they were not the #1 seed in the MVCT) and made it to the 2nd round before losing to Central Florida.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba.../2017/group/18

[Dubl R 1]

Wiki shows ISU got the #1 seed that year.

in fact BU lost to Wichita after we beat Drake.. as a 7 seed I believe.

[Da Coach]

Wiki shows ISU got the #1 seed that year.

in fact BU lost to Wichita after we beat Drake.. as a 7 seed I believe.

Yep, that's right. It was ISU who had the better RPI (34) vs. Wichita State (40).
Tough break for ISU to not get an at-large NCAA bid with a 34 RPI, and a conference co-championship.

[Da Coach]

One game Tuesday, Feb. 21-
Murray State (10-8 ) at Missouri State (10-8 ) - 6 pm on CBSSports Network- in a battle for 6th place
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...30221/group/18

I'm watching this MSU vs. MSU game, and the most noticeable thing is how empty the stands are at Missouri State. There appear to be only a few dozen fans in the 3 large sections along the side court. Their fans seem to have given up on their team.

As far as the game goes... Missouri State leads Murray State 24-18 with 10:53 left in the first half. Both teams playing pretty well, but Missouri State rebounding and shooting a bit better so far.

[Da Coach]

Tuesday Final-
Missouri State 84 Murray State 69-

https://missouristatebears.com/sidearmstats/mbball/media

5 games Wednesday, Feb. 22- All 5 top teams are in action-
Bradley (14-4) at Valparaiso (5-13) - 6 pm on MVC TV Network (Bally Sports and NBCSports Chicago Plus Network) and ESPN+ (blackouts may apply)
Indiana State (13-5) at Belmont (12-6) - 6:30 pm on ESPN+
Northern Iowa (9-9) at SIU (12-6) - 7 pm on ESPN+
Illinois State (5-13) at Drake (14-4) - 7 pm on ESPN+
UIC (3-15) at Evansville (1-17) - 7 pm on ESPN+
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...30222/group/18

[bigjimmy]

Missouri St started the game on an 8-0 run and never trailed. In fact they led by double digits for the last 27:00 of the game. Their 84 points was their 2nd highest point total of the season. The Bears had 4 starters score 13 and more points with Donovan Clay leading the way with 19. Rob Perry of Murray State led all scorers with 20. Murray State has been blown out in all 4 of their February losses, by 44 to ISU Blue, by 24 to Drake, by 35 to BU and now by 15 to Missouri State. It's looking like a 3 way dance for 6th, 7th and 8th between the 2 MSU's and UNI.

[braves16]

Missouri St started the game on an 8-0 run and never trailed. In fact they led by double digits for the last 27:00 of the game. Their 84 points was their 2nd highest point total of the season. The Bears had 4 starters score 13 and more points with Donovan Clay leading the way with 19. Rob Perry of Murray State led all scorers with 20. Murray State has been blown out in all 4 of their February losses, by 44 to ISU Blue, by 24 to Drake, by 35 to BU and now by 15 to Missouri State. It's looking like a 3 way dance for 6th, 7th and 8th between the 2 MSU's and UNI.

I thought early in the 2nd half Murray cut the lead down 6 or 7 pts. but I might be mistaken.

[Da Coach]

I thought early in the 2nd half Murray cut the lead down 6 or 7 pts. but I might be mistaken.

Yeah, according to the Play-by-play, they cut it to a 5 point deficit a couple times (46-41 and 49-44) early in the 2nd half, but then Missouri State pulled away again and continued with a 10-21 point lead for the final 15+ minutes.

[BUfan14]

It last happened in 2019 when Loyola and Drake tied with 12-6 records. But Loyola had a 2-0 record against Drake and was the #1 seed. In the tournament, Bradley upset Loyola in one semifinal, and UNI upset Drake in the other semifinal. Then Bradley overcame an 18 point second half deficit in the final to win the 2019 MVC Tournament Championship.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba.../2019/group/18

It appears Loyola got the NIT bid that year, so does that mean the conference tie break still applies for the auto NIT bid if two teams (or more) tie for for first and none win the NCAA auto bid?

[Da Coach]

It appears Loyola got the NIT bid that year, so does that mean the conference tie break still applies for the auto NIT bid if two teams (or more) tie for for first and none win the NCAA auto bid?

Yes, the NIT will only offer one auto-bid for a conference regular season champion if they fail to win an NCAA bid. Their rule is to take the #1 seeded team for the auto-bid if there is a tie.
They can choose to take additional teams as at-large NIT bids if they are deserving.

[Da Coach]

Indiana State lead 81-70 with 5:52 left, but then Belmont made a comeback and went ahead 89-88 with 2.5 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Ben Sheppard on a questionable foul call when Sheppard seemed to lose control of the ball. Indiana State had one last half court heave that missed, and Belmont wins 89-88.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401490230

Belmont ties Indiana State with 13-6 records in the MVC.

The other 3 games are in progress in the 2nd half.
Drake pulling away from Illinois State
SIU with a huge lead over UNI
UIC with a thin lead over Evansville

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard/_/seasontype/2/group/18