The MVC Rundown

The votes of league coaches, media and sports information directors have all been tallied and the players and teams of the year have been announced. They follow below:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Paul Miller, WSU
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Nick Porter, CU
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Bryan Mullins, SIU
DEFENSIVE MVP: Patrick O’Bryant, Bradley
SIXTH-MAN OF THE YEAR: Kellen Easley, MSU
PRAIRIE FARMS SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Neil Plank, Illinois State

2006 All-MVC Men’s Basketball Team
——————————————————————————–
Blake Ahearn, Missouri State, Jr., Gd.
Ben Jacobson, UNI, Sr., Gd.
Paul Miller, Wichita State, Sr., Ctr.
Grant Stout, UNI, Jr., Fwd.
Tony Young, Southern Illinois, Jr., Gd.

Those of you in the Omaha area can hear me as a guest on Matt Perrault’s show around 2:30 CT this afternoon, on 590 AM.

Apparently the station has a huge coverage area, so even if you live as far south as Topeka, it might be on your radio.

You know you’ve made it as a conference when other mid-majors start calling you out.

That’s what has happened in the past day or so here at the Ledger, when an apparent fan of the Colonial Athletic Association more or less called out the Missouri Valley Conference, suggesting that there should be an MVC-CAA Challenge “to show the very small gap in talent if there even is one.”

Don’t get me wrong — the CAA is having a very good year and is certainly a premier mid-major conference. And I’d agree that they deserve multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament (George Mason and Hofstra/NC-Wilmington/Old Dominion, depending on how these last three do in the conference tournament).

Yesterday’s action finished off the 2005-06 Valley regular season.

Thursday is the start of the the MVC conference tournament in St. Louis — otherwise known as Arch Madness to any Valley veteran.

Here are the matchups:

(1) Wichita St.
vs.
Winner of (8) Drake/(9) Indiana St.

(4) Creighton
vs.
(5) Bradley

(2) Southern Illinois
vs.
Winner of (7) Evansville/(10) Illinois St.

(3) Missouri St.
vs.
(6) Northern Iowa

Now let’s break down the top teams’ NCAA tourney hopes and implications of the conference tourney.

As of today, the Valley should get five teams in. Six is a real possibility.

I will give some analysis of the conference tournament which starts March 2.

The Bulldogs outscored the Braves 46-35 in the second half, but it wasn’t nearly enough after the offensive explosion Bradley had in the first.

The Braves led 30-8 at one point and 51-20 at halftime. Marcus Sommerville had 18 for Bradley by the break.

Bradley stays sizzling hot and ends the Valley regular season at 11-7. Drake finishes up at 5-13.

No shocking upsets Saturday in Wichita.

Wichita St. withstood a barrage of Illinois St. three-pointers and clinched the regular-season MVC title, winning 64-57.

The Redbirds’ hot shooting kept them in the game most of the way. Down by two at half, center Levi Dyer hit consecutive threes to give Illinois St. a 30-28 lead.

But the Shockers answered, after missing their first 11 three-pointers, Sean Ogirri knocked down two straight threes, followed by another from P.J. Couisnard to extend the lead to 48-40.

The Purple Aces won for the third time in five games and look to be a dangerous matchup in the upcoming MVC tourney.

The game was tied 35-35 at halftime, and after a back-and-forth second half Evansville held on to a lead when it mattered most.

The Purple Aces guaranteed themselves a finish other than last place in the Valley by winning their second road game of the year.

Evansville improves to 5-13 while the Sycamores fall to 4-14.

Guard Tony Young hit a 9-foot jumper with :07 left to lift Southern Illinois to a much-needed win over Northern Iowa in Carbondale Saturday.

SIU broke a three-game losing streak with the win, while UNI has now dropped four of its last five.

In a game featuring several large runs by both teams, it came down to the final seconds.

After Young’s basket, UNI had time for a last shot, but guard Ben Jacobson’s fadeaway three-pointer was off target at the buzzer.

SIU scored the game’s first points and led 2-0, and UNI responded with a 14-0 run.

It’s a day that’s joyous and depressing all at once, the last day of men’s basketball intra-conference play in the Valley for about 10 months. On the other hand, it’s nearly that time where the pretenders are flushed out and sent home, when we get to see what some of the Valley’s best are made of.

That said, we’re still Fighting for Five here at the Ledger, and one man on the staff (not this writer) even believes six teams is a possibility (it is, but only if Bradley or Southern Illinois wins the conference tournament). A few teams are playing for their tournament lives tomorrow, so let’s get right to it.