2016 NCAA Tournament: Missouri Valley Conference bids
Here we are. March. This is the month that provides so many things for sports fans. The NHL and NBA are jockeying for playoff spots. The official beginning of the NFL “year” is here, and so are the cuts and trades that will form next year’s championship landscape. The Cubs have hopes of ending their championship drought. And the 2015 NCAA tournament is just a little less than a week away.
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Here at Fantasy CPR, we will keep you up to date on which teams are fighting for a tournament berth, which teams are in, and which teams should be in. We will go conference by conference for the major conferences. The traditional one bid conferences will all get their day in print as well. Follow along as we unveil our projected teams up until Selection Sunday!
This time around we will be taking a look at the Missouri Valley Conference. Will the regular season champion get in after losing in the conference tournament?
A big win is a win against a RPI top 50 team. A bad loss is a loss to a team under 100 in the RPI. RPI rankings are in parenthesis.
Just in case you missed any:
ACC
A-10
American
Big East
Big Ten
Big 12
Northern Iowa (22-12, 11-7 MVC, RPI: 68, SOS: 93)
Big Wins: vs. (7)North Carolina(71-67), vs. (21)Iowa State(81-79), at (46)Wichita State(53-50), vs. (46)Wichita State(57-52)
Bad Losses: at (114)Illinois State(67-76), at (115)Richmond(67-82), at (139)Southern Illinois(73-75), at (141)New Mexico(57-76), at (172)Indiana State(60-74), vs. (181)Colorado State(78-84), at (238)Missouri State(58-59), vs. (241)Loyola-Chicago(41-51), at Loyola-Chicago(56-59)
Busting Brackets
The Panthers wouldn’t be in without the automatic bid. They took out Wichita State in overtime in the conference tournament en route to beating Evansville to take the crown.
This is a balanced, well rounded, team. They rely a lot on outside shooting, so if they go cold, it could be a problem. That said, they are in the top 10 in the country in points allowed. They will take you out of your game and slow you down to beat you.
Northern Iowa has a ton of bad losses, but they beat North Carolina, who is a one seed, and Iowa State, who will also be a high seeded team, out of conference. Wherever they end up, they could put a scare into someone.
Projected seed: 13
Next: Can Wichita State Get In?
Wichita State (24-8, 16-2 MVC, RPI: 46, SOS: 105)
Big Wins: vs. (6)Utah(67-50)
Bad Losses: at (114)Illinois State(53-58)
Cincy on the Prowl
Is the win over Utah enough to get the Shockers in? They only have three other wins over RPI top 100. They stayed close to Seton Hall and USC. They likely needed at least one of those to be comfortable with where they are at.
The Shockers are led by senior guard Fred VanVleet. You probably remember him from last two NCAA tournaments. He is what makes this team go, he just didn’t have a whole lot of help this year outside of Ron Baker.
The loss in the MVC tournament hurts. Now they are at the mercy of the committee, and they don’t have a lot of good wins. I would love to see them in the tournament again just because I like to watch Fred VanVleet play. I’m afraid that I may have to watch the NIT. Let’s just hope the committee wants to see him one more time as well.
Projected seed: OUT
Next: 2016 NCAA Tournament Big 12 Bids
Stay tuned for the rundowns of the rest of the major conferences and our mock seeding. It is a couple of busy days for us at Fantasy CPR!