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Sunday, December 22, 2024
College basketball’s first big day of the season was really almost all we could’ve asked for. From early morning to into the night, the day offered a number of outstanding games that might already get some people thinking March. Exciting finishes, back-and-forth games, offense, defense, big schools, little schools, fantastic inbound plays-you name it, you could find it on Tuesday.
As a whole, this wasn’t the best year for the Missouri Valley Conference. But one team stood out in a big way nationally.
Did you expect Notre Dame to be in fourth place in the Big East this season? In all likelihood, unless you work in their athletic department, the answer is no.
Northern Iowa returns a solid nucleus of players. However, that doesn’t include Lucas O’Rear, one of the hardest-working players in college hoops — and grower of some of the most ferocious facial hair in the game.
It wasn’t a good weekend for Valley teams in the ESPN BracketBusters event. The league combined for a 3-7 record in the competition, with all six postseason hopefuls falling, and we take a look at the postseason hopefuls heading into the final week of regular season play.
The Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge Series didn’t exactly go the Valley’s way, but some big matchups are ahead for a few teams.
We’ve learned a little about the Valley through November, like which teams are helping their at-large potential thus far and a bottom team last year showing plenty of improvement.
It’s been a few years since the Missouri Valley has sent multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament. Is this the year that changes? The same two teams that made big runs in 2006 could be poised for another attempt at it, while plenty of others will try their best.
If last weekend taught us nothing else, it’s that we can’t count out any team, from any conference, this season. The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight could easily feature upsets as shocking as some of the ones we have witnessed thus far.
Northern Iowa suspended its second-leading scorer, Jordan Egleseder, but keeps winning. A big BracketBusters game against Old Dominion could sew up an at-large bid and boost the Panthers’ NCAA Tournament seeding.
