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The NCAA Tournament is a few weeks away, which means it’s conference tournament time to set the table for March Madness. We’ll be taking a look at some of the best teams in each conference, and providing picks and predictions each conference tournament. Plenty of favorites will win, but we’ve got some sleepers to consider that might be able to pull off a big upset on the way to the NCAA Tournament.
Here’s the bracket for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with TV listings, dates and times.
Depending on what happens in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, we very well could be looking at a two teams getting into the field of 68 on Selection Sunday. The Northern Iowa Panthers come in with a NET Ranking of 37, putting them squarely on the bubble. If they slip up against a fairly competitive conference, there’s a possibility of two teams representing the Missouri Valley. Northern Iowa is right around a 10 seed on bracketology sites.
Favorite: Northern Iowa
The Missouri Valley Conference tournament is being played in St. Louis, so Northern Iowa will not have home-court advantage like a few of these smaller conference tournaments — but the Panthers are the top seed. That will not be much of a factor because Northern Iowa is the only team in the conference with a winning record on the road at 8-4. This team is very comfortable away from home.
Sleeper: Indiana State
Just a few weeks ago, the Indiana State Sycamores had a .500 record in the conference before busting off four consecutive victories heading into the tournament. This is the hottest team in the Missouri Valley right now, and they even took down top-seeded Northern Iowa. No team in the conference wants to play the Sycamores at this point.
Dark Horse: Drake
Let’s go way back and dive into the No. 8 seed of this tournament. The Drake Bulldogs are a fascinating team, absolutely dominating at home and hardly ever finding a way to get the victory away from its home court. Drake comes into the tournament 14-2 at home and 2-10 on the road. Drake’s overall record is 18-13, which is the fourth most victories in the conference. It’s very unlikely Drake pull this one off, but hey it’s a dark horse.