A look at a printable version of the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament bracket, to help get you primed for March Madness
Let’s get it out of the way immediately. This tournament comes down to two teams: Wichita State and Illinois State. The pair are the only two teams in in the MVC with winning records in conference play, with matching 17-1 marks. Of course, their sole losses in conference play came to each other — double-digit losses for either away team.
Wichita State is the more interesting of the two, simply because of their efficiency margin (10th overall) and the potential debate over their at-large candidacy. No team ranked that high in KenPom’s metrics has missed the tournament. However, the Shockers played one of the easier non-conference schedules (168th, per KenPom). And, teams with a single RPI top-100 victory usually don’t make the tournament.
As a proponent of putting the best teams in the dance, I hope the committee could see past these deficiencies. They’re a solid team by the eye test, and any available metric that accounts for margin of victory sees them as top 25. But, it’s probably best for them to just win the games.
They’ll likely have to get through No. 1 seed Illinois State for the auto-bid. The Redbirds are fueled by their defense. Per KenPom, they have the 10th best defense in the country. They block 13.3 percent of all attempted shots, and do an excellent job of generating steals. Their 10.6 percent steal rate is top-40 in the country. Combined with excellent perimeter defense and solid defensive rebounding, it’s a potent combination.
But it’s paired with an offense that currently ranks 139th in the country by adjusted efficiency. Single elimination tournaments can be tough on defense-heavy teams that struggle to score. While this isn’t the Tournament, Illinois State could have a tough time overcoming a bad shooting night with just defense.
Keep an eye out for Loyola Chicago as spoiler. Their adjusted efficiency margin is 3rd in the conference, but they come in as the 5th seed. If anyone is likely to challenge the Big Two before the final, it’s probably them.
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What’s the path to the final look like for Wichita State and Illinois State? Check below for a snapshot of the 2017 MVC tournament bracket. A printable version can be found simply by clicking on it.
Keep an eye on early tournament games with Loyola-Chicago and Northern Iowa, but expect a heavyweight rubber match between the Shockers and the Redbirds for the MVC tournament title.