It is opening night for the Missouri Valley Tournament in St. Louis, and below are my predictions for how it will shake out. "Arch Madness" is one of the premeire, postseason conference tournaments in the nation, drawing over 84,000 fans last year, good for second best in the country. (One of my goals is to take a weekend off one of these years when the Bears are good again, and attend every game!) Can Missouri State win four games in four days? Doubtful... If they can't, the Hinson era will most certainly be over.
PLAY-IN ROUND(8) Indiana St. 63 (9) Wichita St. 56
(7) Missouri St. 75 (10) Evansville 55
QUARTERFINALS
(1) Drake 87 (8) Indiana St. 72
(4) Creighton 82 (5) Bradley 79
(3) Southern Illinois 59 (6) Northern Iowa 53
(2) Illinois St. 63 (7) Missouri St. 62
SEMI-FINALS
(1) Drake 86 (4) Creighton 90
(2) Illinois St. 61 (3) Southern Illinois 70
FINAL
(3) Southern Illinois 78 (4) Creighton 79
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
P'Allen Stinnett
Dane Watts (Most Outstanding Player)
Randall Falker
Josh Young
Osiris Eldridge
NCAA BIDS
Automatic: Creighton
At Large: Drake
NIT BIDS
Southern Illinois
Illinois State
(4) Creighton 82 (5) Bradley 79
(3) Southern Illinois 59 (6) Northern Iowa 53
(2) Illinois St. 63 (7) Missouri St. 62
SEMI-FINALS
(1) Drake 86 (4) Creighton 90
(2) Illinois St. 61 (3) Southern Illinois 70
FINAL
(3) Southern Illinois 78 (4) Creighton 79
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
P'Allen Stinnett
Dane Watts (Most Outstanding Player)
Randall Falker
Josh Young
Osiris Eldridge
NCAA BIDS
Automatic: Creighton
At Large: Drake
NIT BIDS
Southern Illinois
Illinois State