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Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Presenting our annual list of what we simply call our list of teams to keep an eye on coming into the season. Some fall in the category of up-and-coming teams or sleeper picks. Some are powers. Some are just teams we enjoy watching. In most cases, we just think these are teams you’re going to be hearing from before the end of this year.
Last year was the end of a storied run in the Missouri Valley Conference, and the 2016-17 season was too, as Wichita State concluded a 68-year run in the league.
In a tough situation early, Illinois State used its depth to keep its terrific season going with a MVC Tournament quarterfinal win over Evansville.
After winning its 2017 MVC Tournament opener, Evansville is poised to continue the conference’s tradition of top seeds given a tough time in the quarterfinals of Arch Madness.
The end of the 2015-16 season marked the end of an era in the Missouri Valley Conference, and that’s saying something in a 109-year old conference where names like Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, Wes Unseld and Ed McCauley grace the list of former stars.
Maurice Newby. Ben Jacobson (the player, not the coach). Ali Farokhmanesh. Wes Washpun. A growing history of memorable buzzer-beating shots is building at Northern Iowa. Not coincidentally, so is a record of postseason success.
Seventh-seeded Missouri State had No. 2 seed Evansville right where it wanted in the teams’ Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinal Thursday night-tie game, 15 minutes to play, pressure squarely on the higher seed. Then, with quiet efficiency on its next three possessions against the Bears’ matchup zone defense, the Purple Aces scored six straight points-layup, layup, two free throws. Evansville would not trail again.
On a day where few underdogs won, as opposed to the day before, the heroes were fitting named Valentine and Balentine. Plus a missed opportunity in Florida, a tie emerges out west, and a couple of wild games in the east.
North and south, east and west, there were high-level games and fantastic finishes last night. We’ve still got more than a month yet until we get to March-including a Leap Year day-but it felt like a snapshot from the greatest basketball month of the year.
If there was any temptation to dismiss the NCAA Tournament chances of Georgetown, North Carolina State and UNLV, all three provided reasons Tuesday why you shouldn’t do that yet. The night was emblematic of this never-count-a-team-out season, as these perennial NCAA Tournament contenders earned unlikely victories.
