CTC Day Five Preview: The Valley Hits a Fevered Pitch

An underwhelming Opening Round in the MVC tournament has set the stage for, quite possibly, the best quadruple-header in recent memory.  This is gonna be absolutely fantastic.

#1 Wichita St. vs. #8 Indiana St.
The Sycamores knocked off S. Illinois last night and their reward is the red-hot, sleeper Sweet 16 pick, Wichita State Shockers.  Wichita should be in the NCAA tournament no matter what happens this weekend, but they would be smart to not leave it to chance and get at least one victory here in St. Louis.  There is one lone voice calling out for the huge upset (not a bad place to take a shot, actually) in this one and that voice answers to the name of “Dave.”  Most of the field has WSU winning this whole thing.

#2 Creighton vs. #7 Drake
Doug McDermott and the Blue Jays got to watch as Drake had to scratch and claw with Bradley in the Opening Round.  Now, these two will play the MVC nightcap in the quarters.  Like Wichita, I think Creighton is solidly in the Dance, but should probably cement it with at least one win in this tournament.  Mountain Street believes in this Drake team, as both J and KA took them in a nice upset pick here.

#3 Evansville vs. #6 Missouri St.
Two names that you probably have never heard – Colt Ryan and Kyle Weems – are two guys to pay attention to if you get a chance to watch this game.  Weems, the reigning MVC POY, can do everything from the forward position, including score with his back to the basket, as well as step outside to hit a jumper or even take you off the dribble.  Ryan is a lightning-quick two-guard with a dead-eye jumpshot who can just flat-out score.  This should be a war.  Talk about a live underdog, as nearly half the field (Alexi, Bry, Dave, Doogan, Gross, Lil Lohse, Rikey, RDoc, Waters) took MSU in the upset here.  Doogan and RDoc have the Bears actually making the finals.  J, KA, and Lohse all have Evansville reaching the finals.  KA has the Purple Aces winning the whole thing.

#4 Illinois St. vs #5 N. Iowa
All four games are fantastic, and I am so looking forward to, but maybe none more than this one.  Not only are these two teams so evenly matched, but whichever team survives this battle is going to be a really tough out.  Furthermore, this game itself is the classic “battle of styles.”  Illinois St. might be the quickest, most athletic team in the Valley, while UNI might be the most methodical, disciplined team under Coach Jacobson.  If the Redbirds can get this game into a fullcourt style, they should have the edge, whereas if UNI can force the game into a battle between halfcourt execution on both ends, they should come out on top.  Should be fascinating.  The majority of the field actually likes UNI in the mild upset, as only Dave, Doogan, Gersh, Mac, and RSmith have Illinois St.  Dave and RSmith both have ISU actually going to the finals – Dave has them winning it all.  Surprisingly, only KA has UNI reaching the finals.