dawg
03-03-2007, 04:54 AM
Missouri Valley (title game at 2 ET)
And last on the list but not least, the granddaddy of all mid-major conferences. Arch Madness has begun again in St. Louis, and it's important to remember that in this league, a 20-win season and a high league standing are great and all, but it's how you do this weekend that matters. By Monday morning, it could very well be that everything we've known about the 2006-07 Valley so far is completely wrong.
It's no coincidence that the four Valley NCAA teams last year are the four semifinalists. In the eight straight multibid years of the Valley, every NCAA representative but one -- the 2005 Northern Iowa team that lost in the quarters but rode a 21-9 record to the dance -- has achieved the Arch Madness semis. If you fail to survive quarterfinal Friday, as notable 2006 snub Missouri State did, you're not getting in.
And although nationally ranked Southern Illinois now seems to be the best team in the league by an overwhelming margin, consider the history. No regular-season champion has reached the Arch Madness final since 2003, and the last eight tourney titles have been won by No. 2 seeds or lower.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/champweek2007/columns/story?columnist=whelliston_kyle&id=2785653
Sheesh... maybe he went to bed early ...
And last on the list but not least, the granddaddy of all mid-major conferences. Arch Madness has begun again in St. Louis, and it's important to remember that in this league, a 20-win season and a high league standing are great and all, but it's how you do this weekend that matters. By Monday morning, it could very well be that everything we've known about the 2006-07 Valley so far is completely wrong.
It's no coincidence that the four Valley NCAA teams last year are the four semifinalists. In the eight straight multibid years of the Valley, every NCAA representative but one -- the 2005 Northern Iowa team that lost in the quarters but rode a 21-9 record to the dance -- has achieved the Arch Madness semis. If you fail to survive quarterfinal Friday, as notable 2006 snub Missouri State did, you're not getting in.
And although nationally ranked Southern Illinois now seems to be the best team in the league by an overwhelming margin, consider the history. No regular-season champion has reached the Arch Madness final since 2003, and the last eight tourney titles have been won by No. 2 seeds or lower.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/champweek2007/columns/story?columnist=whelliston_kyle&id=2785653
Sheesh... maybe he went to bed early ...