Day 9 Reactionary Look: Southern, Southland, SWAC

Southern
A team goes undefeated in their conference, 20-0, plays three top 10 teams, goes 29-7 overall, and has a 25 game winning streak, longest in the nation through the NCAA Tournament and makes the Elite 8. Now if you had no idea who this team was, it would be assumed it might be a team like Gonzaga, North Carolina, UCLA, etc. That would be mistaken. Tiny Davidson has traveled from insignificant to national power all based on the talent of Stephen Curry. Curry captivated the nation in March, scoring 40, 30, 33, and 25 in each round of the tournament as the Wildcats were seconds away from becoming Mason II. After a one point loss to NC State on December 21, Davidson did not lose again until March, having the nation's longest winning streak all year long. If its the ACC or CYO, going undefeated in your own conference is a mighty acheivement and Davidson did just that, barely even being tested during the SoCon docket. The real scary thing for conference foes must be that they will see more of Curry next season, and that is reason enough for Davidson to believe they can return right back to the Sweet 16. Elon at 14-19 almost made the greatest coup of all Championship Week when they met Davidson in the SoCon final. The Phoenix had been unsuccessful much of the year, but managed to fit the pieces of the puzzle together at just the right time to make a very respectable run in the tourney. Appalachian State and Chattanooga tied atop the conference's North division at 13-7. App State had looked for an at-large bid last season, but they were a very young team, losing much of their scoring from the '06-'07 squad that finished second to Davidson. Chattanooga was figured to be the second best team in the SoCon in the preseason, and had a decent season at 18-13, but in their meeting in Davidson they were beaten by 27. Go figure.

2007-2008 Southern Conference Grade: A
The story of the NCAAs was Davidson, and they probably should have been the story of the regular season. Such a small school with undersized big men, undersized guards, an unathletic point guard and a suspect coaching staff absolutely overachieved, managing to break every school record in the book. Even though they had by far the greatest talent in their league, Bob McKillop pulled all the right strings managing to keep the heads cool and attitudes positive. I believe it can be sometimes more difficult for a team to be managed when they are undefeated rather than, say, a .500 ballclub. That does not mean that I would rather have a .500 team, it is just harder adjusting to attitudes when players know they are better than everyone else. Regardless, Curry was amazing, McKillop was impressive and all added up to a great season for the SoCon solely because they made noise in March and on a national scene.

Southland
Texas-Arlington started out the season 8-0. There was reason for excitement and hubabaloo because the Mavs had their best start of the decade, and maybe they could unexpectedly make some noise in the SLC. They were a .500 team the rest of the way going 10-11 entering the SLC tournament and simply showed no signs of life until a victory at Stephen F Austin on March 1. The Mavs ended up knocking off three of the top four seeds in the league tournament and traveled to the big bracket before getting blasted by Memphis in the first round. The real impressive team out of this league was Stephen Effin Austin. Led by Josh Alexander with 16 PPG and 6 APG, the Lumberjacks went 26-6 showing their best talent and overall athleticism all year, losing only three league games. Stephen F Austin made the NIT, but were defeated by Massachusetts in the first round in a thwarted 80-60 loss; they showed no energy after hoping and praying for an NCAA at-large bid. Lamar also had an impressive year out of the SLC; going 13-3 in the league after a 1-5 start and snagging the top spot in the East division and a 19-11 overall mark.

2007-2008 Southland Grade: B
Maybe a little bit of an overrate here with a B, but I really believe it was a fairly successful year for this league. Did they make noise in March, no; did they make any noise in the non con, no to that one either. They did have four pretty solid teams though in SFA, Lamar, Tx-Arlington and Sam Houston State. SFA, Lamar and Sam Houston all had 20 wins, in the west division which shows that there is some depth. I am not here saying that the SLC had an amazing powerhouse season, but I do think that of the bottom five or six "low-majors" this league had the most success.

SWAC
To the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils, I congratulate your dedication. 2-11 against their non SWAC foes, and 0-11 against their division 1 opponents. That did not mean that the Delta Devil magic had ended for the season. AS they proceeded to work their way up the standings, they managed to finally get over .500 in the SWAC semis. 17-16 for the year, victories over the 4, 5, and 7 seeds in the SWAC tourney and they earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament and get shabammed by UCLA. Alabama State was a team that actually deserved a spot in the significant bracket rather than the NIT. The Hornets had a great point guard in Brandon Brooks, who really led the Bama State team to a 15-3 conference record and their first 20 win season of the decade. He had 6 APG, good enough for all-SWAC honors, but they were shocked by defending champion Jackson State in the SWAC tournament. The great thing about Bama State was they played ONE non conference home game against a division I opponent. That was against SEC power Auburn, and they nearly beat them, dropping it 63-60. THey traveled out on the road and played SMU, UAB, Tulane, Southern Miss and Miami (FL). That may not seem like such an impressive non con docket, but for a conference that is lucky to play ONE MID-major foe, the fact that the Hornets played 2 BCS conference teams and four mid-majors is impressive to me.

2007-2008 SWAC Grade: D
I am not going to waste any more of my readers time discussing this conference. It is awful. Every season, maybe three of these teams even deserve to call themselves NCAA Division I-A programs. This year, Mississippi Valley State was not one of them. Yet, they managed to go to the NCAA Tournament. This is the perfect reason why low-majors need another method of getting to the dance. The Delta Devils were terrible and did not defeat a D-I team until January 14th. That does not sound like a top of the line team to me, but Alabama State at least showed some signs of life. Unfortunately they did not win any decent games. 15-3 is an impressive mark regardless of the league, but when its the SWAC it does not mean a whole lot, especially when you were 5-8 in the non conference. I, for one would not be against giving the NCAA bid to the regular season champion out of this league. That way we know that a 70-29 result like UCLA/MS Valley ST won't happen. Maybe.

Day 8 Reactionary Look: Pac-10, Patriot, SEC

Pacific 10
In all of Division-I college basketball, two teams went winless in their respective conference play, Rice (C-USA) and the Oregon State Beavers from the Pac-10. Oregon State managed to lose their final 21 games, and only came within single digits twice in conference play, giving them the honor of the first ever Pac-10 team to go winless. Do not let that fool you however because the Pac-10 was arguably the best league in the nation this season from top to bottom. UCLA made their third consecutive Final Four trip led by fantastic frosh Kevin Love, Stanford appeared in the top 10 for much of the season after January, Washington State started the year in the top five and USC finished strong giving the Pac-10 another top 25 team. WHen all was said and done, the Pac-10 received six bids to the NCAA Tournament and probably should have received a seventh when Arizona State was snubbed by the committee. The Bruins were the Pacific elite this past season, dropping only two league games, and victorious in 35 of them. They have four players testing the draft waters (Collison, Love, Mbah A Moute, and Westbrook) and look to simply reload every year. Ben Howland has managed to rise the UCLA program from the ashes with three consecutive Final Fours and now three consecutive Pac-10 titles. The surprise of the year was undoubtedly Stanford. The Cardinal started out the season unranked, but that quickly changed when they jumped out to an impressive 20-2 mark to begin the year. Brook Lopez will be earning a paycheck next year, due largely to the dominance that he showed this past season out west. The Cardinal were nearly upset in the second round of the NCAAs, but Lopez's clutch play kept the Stanford season alive. The Cardinal are now left to pick up the pieces from the Trent Johnson era, as Johnson said "Thanks for the Memories" and is headed to LSU. Stanford hired ex-Duke assistant Johnny Dawkins. Washington State was 15-2 in the non con, but could only muster up an 11-7 Pac-10 record, which was partially disappointing considering they had challenged UCLA all season last year and returned almost everyone from a 26-8 tournament team. SOuthern Cal was the hype team in the league this season with star freshman point guard OJ Mayo. Mayo made his prescence felt early and often, averaging 21 points per game for the Trojans and guiding them directly out of the tournament against K-State.

2007-2008 Pac-10 Grade: A-
The only reason this grade is not an A-plus relies solely on the Beavs from Corvallis. Having a winless team in your league is mighty embarrassing, and that very well may have been the only thing to go wrong for the Pac this past year. An amazing season for the teams at the top, and the league sent three Sweet 16 teams nationally. Oregon, Arizona and Arizona State were in all in one big jumble with 9-9 and 8-10 conference marks. They all did gather significant wins and played very difficult schedules, representing the Pac-10 very well on a national stage. California and Washington struggled, but it was difficult for these young teams to compete with these national juggernauts like UCLA and Stanford. The one thing you can look at and know just how good the Pac-1o was this year is that Arizona finished 7th. The Wildcats have a legitimate three NBA prospects on their team, and although they suffered chemistry and injury issues still could not win games against these tough teams. An amazing year for the Pac, they get the vote at Midnight to March for TITL; Tops In The Land.

Patriot League
Somewhere writer John Feinstein is smiling. Writer of The Last Amateurs, Feinstein analyzed in his book that the Patriot League is the best representation of true intercollegiate athletics. These players are student-athletes; no full scholarships and amazing educations. Well the question could be posed, "What about the Ivy League?" The Ivy League does not exist to me; I do not want to cover any Ivy league basketball ever again. Those "players" are students, not student-athletes. Regardless, the Patriot League has made its mustard off of overachieving, not-so-athletic teams jumping up and shocking the big boys. Holy Cross and Bucknell have provided some teams fits in the NCAAs over the last several years with their frustrating play and consummate fundamentals. Just ask those folks in Lawrence, eh? This year, our nation's capital received much attention for the play of Georgetown, but another team, American, was just as exciting and nearly capped of the tournament's biggest upset. Granted AU lost to Georgetown by 27 in December, but ex-UVA coach Jeff Jones had a vision when he went to American five seasons ago, and he finally reached it. The Eagles led the league all season long, going 10-4, 21-12; the first twenty win season for AU this decade. Garrison Carr led the Eagles in scoring at 18 per game, and dropped a cool 26 that oowed and awed the nation against Tennessee in the dance. American won 10 of their last 11 to end the season. With the exception of American, there was not too much excitement in the Patriot this year. Navy finished the season and rebounded nicely after jumping out to a putred 3-9 start. The Midshipmen were led by Greg Sprink who averaged 21.8 PPG, good enough for tops in the conference. Colgate finished third and went on a brief run at the end of the year, winning their final six games to get into a championship meeting with American, but the Eagles grinded out a six point win just as they had done in their two previous meetings during the regular season.

2007-2008 Patriot League Grade: B-
I thought that the American story was incredibly fascinating. Maybe it was because I watched the program play at the turn of the decade, and they were an absolute laugher. Since Jeff Jones was treated terribly at Virginia, he has bounced back and built a house in the nation's capital that will be heard from in March for years to come. Jones took the team from worst to first in five seasons, and it appears that a new dynasty is here to stay in the Patriot. Gone are the days of Bucknell and Holy Cross fighting it out every season for non-scholarship supremacy, say hello to the Eagles

Southeastern
The more college coaches we have that are like Bruce Pearl, the happier I am with the state of college basketball. Orange blazers, groping beautiful sideline reporters, constantly looking like he is on uppers, Bruce Pearl makes watching and listening to coaches fun. For Once. Not only is he fun, but he can coach a little bit too. The flamboyant Pearl led UW-Milwaukee to the Sweet 16 before taking the reins at Tennessee, and take the reins he has. Pearl has instituted his fun and gun style which makes the Vols very exciting, and it did not hurt that he had the second most athletic team in the country (state, too). Senior Chris Lofton seems like he has been at UT for 27 years, but he is finally gone taking with him the mark for most three pointers made in a career in the SEC with 346. Tennessee ran the league all season, reaching the top spot in the polls after defeating Memphis in the best game of the regular season. The Volse were plummeted in the Sweet 16, a disappointment after this season was believed to be the last go round for a Final Four run. 31-5 aint too bad of a season though. The rest of the SEC was really a head scratcher all year. Kentucky was under .500 in the non con but managed to go 12-4 in league play and capture second place in the east division. Vanderbilt, third in the east division, was knocked out in the first round of the NCAAs and could not win on the road all year, but at home they looked like a top 10 team, going 26-8 and 16-2 in the non con. Florida's young Gators struggled all year with severe growing pains, and missed the tournament after being back-to-back national champs. Do not look for the Gators to be chumps next year, an early elite 8 pick at Midnight to March. The best story of the SEC was Georgia's March Run. After a tornado hit the Georgia Dome, the Bulldogs were unphased and simply went on to win TWO games in ONE day, and win the SEC title the next day. Georgia finished the regular season 4-12 in the league. As far as the western division, Mississippi State won it by three games, but was never a national factor and did not have any true excitement to speak of. The Bulldogs went 23-11 and gave Memphis a scare in the second round of the tournament. Arkansas was a disappointment, only managing a 9-7 record in league play for the preseason top 20. The Razorbacks were a serious SEC threat at home, but could not remain consistent for all their talent, dropping 5 of their last 7 in the regular season. Mississippi believed they were snubbed by the NCAA Tournament, but oh were they mistaken. THE most overrated team in the nation this year, the Rebels went 7-9 in the league and 24-11 overall, which may sound impressive, but their only top 100 GAME, not win, GAME was against Clemson, which they won. No way did the Rebs deserve to be in the field, but still a decent rebuilding job going on in Oxford.

2007-2008 SEC Grade: B-
One really good team, about five decent teams and a heck of a disaster was what the SEC can be summed up with this past year. Tennessee rolled through proving they will be a force for years to come even without Lofton and the Smiths. Vanderbilt, UK, Florida, Mississippi State and Arkansas were all decent, respectable teams that could cause some damage when they faced opponents on their home court in the league. None of these teams were consistent enough to be serious contenders come March, and that is why Tennessee was the only SEC team playing in the second weekend. The bottom of this league has some serious work to do. Trent Johnson at LSU, good luck; maybe Dennis Felton can keep up the momentum in Georgia, but I doubt it; Darrin Horn at South Carolina, good luck as well, you will need it with the young teams in that division around the bend. The SEC was not much to speak of this season, but next year? You are looking at one of the top three leagues in the land, headed by Florida and Kentucky.

Day 7 Reactionary Look: Mountain West, Northeast, Ohio Valley

Mountain West
The branch-off of the WAC in 1999 has quickly become one of the top tier mid major conferences, and easily surpassed the WAC as the best conference other than the Pac-10 west of Texas. The Mountain can always be reliable for three quality teams with NCAA resumes, and normally one will get the "snub," but two will be featured in the field of 65. Such an occurance has happened the last two seasons, and did this year as well. BYU and UNLV led the Mountain all season, with the Cougars from Provo winning the league by two full games at 14-2. BYU nearly clipped UNC in November out in Las Vegas after Ty Lawson was injured in the second half. The Cougars managed to appear in the Top-25 briefly, and earned another trip to the NCAA Tournament where they were defeated by a team that managed to match their great size and physicality insinde, in Texas A&M. UNLV made it to the second round after trouncing Kent State. The Runnin Rebs captured their second straight MWC conference tournament championship, beating BYU in the final by 19 points in their most impressive game of the season. Lon Kruger has tremendously turned the UNLV program around after the departure of Charlie Spoonhour. Kruger led this team to the Sweet 16 in '07, and back to the dance in '08. Look for UNLV to remain atop the Mountain West in the future if Kruger continues at the helm. New Mexico finished exactly where they were predicted this season. Journeyman JR Giddens led the Lobos to third in the M-West, a 24-9 record and a first round NIT appearance. Giddens led the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.3 and 8.8 respectively. San Diego State also appeared in the NIT after finishing fourth in the league, but they were thinking greater goals after they began the season at 11-3. Air Force ended the season with a very disappointing .500 (8-8) record in conference; they finished fifth and only two games above the even mark at 16-14 this season. The Falcons' huge problem is that they continue to be unable to score, averaging only 63 points per game and scoring under 55 twelve times. A team to watch out for next year has to be the improving Utah Utes. Junior Luke Nevill was everything for this team, leading them in scoring, rebounding and assists. The 7-1 center from Australia helped the Utes return to the postseason in the CBI, and will have the inside track at MWC player of the year next year. Look for the Utes to be right with UNLV atop the MWC next season.

2007-2008 Mountain West Grade: B
I think that the Mwest did a solid job this season in sending five teams to the postseason, and really having an interesting race all year. Teams like BYU and UNLV were very impressive, and showed that they could perform on a national landscape. New Mexico, San Diego State and Utah all showed flashes of brilliance, especially inside the league which aided in the overall RPI for this conference. I would like to see the return of powerhouse Mountain West teams that gain spots in the top 10 however which has not happened since the Andrew Bogut era in Salt Lake. Until then the Mountain will continue to send two teams into the tournament and probably not feature anybody in the second weekend, as UNLV last season backed into it facing the weakest 2-seed of the draw in Wisconsin. I think that the Mountain West will be a force next year nationally, and I think that BYU, UNLV and Utah could all see time in the top 25.


Northeast
A great season helped by intelligence, blood, sweat and tears can be ripped away in literally an hour. The Robert Morris Colonials went 16-2 in the NEC regular season, capturing their first ever conference title, one seed in the tournament, home court throughout and had finally showed they arrived in Division-I basketball after struggling for their first three seasons out of NAIA. Booom. Mount St. Mary's defeats the Colonials, big; 83-65 the final, on the RMU home court, as The Mount celebrates their triumph and later their trip to the field of 65 and Dayton, Ohio for the opening round game. The Colonials were led by point guard Tony Lee who maneuvered this team in and out of jams all season long. He led the team in assists and rebounding and earned the NEC player of the year award. Unfortunately, Robert Morris settled for the NIT, still an astounding accomplishment for a team that had only three wins three seasons ago. The Mount on the otherh and waited until March to get going. Recording only a 19-15 regular season mark, the Mountaineers won four games in the NEC tourney, including beating the top two seeds and won a game in the NCAAs before getting balasted by North Carolina. If there was a theme in the NEC this season, it had to have been that anything could happen on any given night. Robert Morris dropped a game at home to cellar-dweller St. Francis PA which set the tone for a quirky, topsy turvy year for the league. The disappointment of the year was Quinnipiac. The Bobcats featured league top scorer Demario Anderson at 21.7 PPG, but they never managed to get things together and never won more than four games in a row on their way to a 15-15, fifth place finish in the conference.

2007-2008 NEC Grade: C-
Another middy conference with nothing to speak of in the non con really is not a shocker. This league has always been a whipping boy from the MAAC, which certainly has not showed any sort of intense leadership nationwide. The NEC has earned consecutive 16 seeds, and has not won a tournament game in years other than the play-in game. The Mount had an incredible run this season, but Robert Morris ruled their territory all season long, and deserved a shot with the big boys for that domination. Unfortunately for them and the league, it was not meant to be. Featuring only two 20-win teams in Robert Morris and Wagner, multiple teams with coaching changes, and four 4-14 campaigns at the bottom of the standings, a subpar year for the NEC with no real superstars to speak of.


Ohio Valley
Second straight conference title. School record 24 wins. 32 0f 36 wins in OVC play. The Austin Peay Governors have turned into the neo-Murray State of the Ohio Valley. The Govs made their 24th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and led the league from start to finish as they won their eighth OVC tournament title. The Govs featured five players in double figures, a balanced attack which helped them drop only two games after January 31st. Second in the league was Murray State, who finished four games back of the Govs, at just 18-13, but managed their 21st straight winning season, the fourth longest streak nationally. The Racers were eliminated by upstart Tennessee State in the semifinals of the OVC in Nashville. Tenn State finished 10-10 in the conference, 15-17 overall, but knew they were ready come March because they went out and played big boys, Indiana, Illinois, a victory by two, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. The Tigers prepared themselves for difficult contests in league play although starting out 5-12 is not always the best recipe for a successful season. Tennessee-Martin captured third in the league with a 17-16 overall record, and an 11-9 mark in league. The Skyhawks featured junior Lester Hudson who averaged 25.7 PPG and earned OVC Player of the Year in the process. Also, freshman Marques Weedle earned Freshman of the Year honors while averaging 17.1 for the Skyhawks. That 1-2 punch returns next year and figures to help the Skyhawks have the inside track to the OVC championship

2007-2008 OVC Grade: C+
The "Other" Valley Conference only managed three teams over .500 for the season, and just four over .500 in league play. Although those numbers are certainly not very gaudy, the league was difficult, especially to win on the road. Just ask Austin Peay who lost four league games all on the road to Samford, SE Missouri, Murray State and Tennessee State. When home teams manage to win games regardless of their record, I believe this proves that a conference may be on its way to having success. The Valley has a few young teams like Murray, Tenn State and Tenn Martin that can all make some noise next season; the most difficult task for these coaches is to stress to their young players how important winning in November and December is on the road against low majors to gain confidence. If these top teams learn to win on the road, and continue to improve, look out; the OVC will have at least three 20-win teams next season.

Day 6 Reactionary Look: MAC, MEAC, and the Valley

MAC
One year the MAC will get multiple bids again. I guarantee it; its just unknown when it will happen. The parity in the MAC makes every season incredibly interesting and always very nebulous with the predictions. This season, Kent State led the pack with a 13-3 conference record and an overall mark of 28-7. They fended off challengers Ohio and Akron inside their own Eastern division to capture the MAC's automatic bid. Before getting pummeled by UNLV 71-58 in the first round of the NCAAs, the Golden Flashes were considered by many to be the most underrated mid-major team in the tournament. After an impressive BracketBuster win AT Saint Mary's, Kent State entered the top 25 for the first time since their elite 8 performance in 2001. Kent was led by standout guard Al Fisher, who averaged 13.9 PPG and 4.0 APG and earned honorable mention All-American honors. Fisher was the enigne that made this well-oiled Flash engine run; he did everything for them and a well-deserved All-American honor for an outstanding season. Akron was figured to be the team following Kent State all the way, and to get an at-large bid to the tournament. Unfortunately, the Zips saw stud forward Jeremiah Wood go down to injury in late January, and they dropped five of eight before making a late-season surge to capture second in the MAC. Wood averaged 14 and 7 for Akron, and was believed to be player of the year had he not gotten injured. Ohio also had an exciting year capped off with victories over tourney teams Kent State and George Mason. The Bobcats appeared in the CBI, but were dropped in the opening round to Bradley.

2007-2008 MAC Grade: C
The MAC has a tremendous track record as a successful mid-major conference always featuring multiple teams with 20+ wins. This season it was Western Michigan, Kent State, Ohio and Akron. Although the bottom is incredibly empty and lacking any sort of star power, the top of both divisions at the MAC prove their worth year in and year out. The shift of power is always evident in this conference, no more indication than 2007 league champion Miami of Ohio finishing fourth in their division and sixth overall in the league going 17-16. Look for another team to bust out of obscurity next season and make some noise in the MAC. It always happens.

MEAC
Imgine during a basketball season that on February 2nd you are sitting at 4-19, and 1-8 in the conference. Visions of March, postseason, multiple victories, any sort of success are simply miles away. Eh, you might as well get hot, win 12 out of 13 and go to the NCAA Tournament. No sweat. This is what Coppin State did this season in the MEAC. Coppin showed no signs of life all year, but they decided to start ballin when they needed to and they showed the conference that the first few months do not mean squat. The Golden Eagles reached the NCAAs for the first time since 1997 when they defeated South Carolina as a 15 seed. This Golden Eagles team ran out of their luck when they met Mount St. Mary in the opening round game, but an incredible run just to even fathom the NCAA Tournament. Morgan State led the league all season long and captured the regular season title. The Bears went 22-11, and 14-2 in the league and were defeated by Coppin in the league title game by a last second jumper. The Bears featured three players on the first-team all-conference, and received their first bid ever to the NIT where they were defeated by Virginia Tech in the first round. The MEAC has showed no signs of improvement in the last five seasons. Still with only three teams over .500 overall, there is no signs that point to a dynasty forming in this league filled with HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). Coppin certainly did not help matters by being the second under .500 team ever to be in field of 65, and the impression of this league nationwide is that of embarrasment.

2007-2008 MEAC Grade: D
I want to enjoy this league. They have all sorts of history, talent, and pageantry, but the teams are all just terrible. Morgan State had a great season and should be applauded for their great MEAC mark, but everyone else in this league was terrible. Coppin State did not even look like they wanted to play basketball until league play opened up, and that is truly unfortunate. Occasionally, these MEAC schools spring upsets on bigger mid-majors or even majors, but they are often returns for guarantee games; and most of the time when they are playing a major they are down by 50 in November just appearing to get a check. The budgets for these schools are so pathetic that none of them will ever manage to continue to be successful. I hope the MEAC gets better, but odds point to another play-in game loss next season.

The Valley
There should be no argument here- down year for the Valley. A league that the last four seasons has featured a Sweet 16 squad, only managed to squeak one time into the NCAA Tournament, and it was a good one in Drake. The Bulldogs were picked to finish 9th in the preseason poll; shows how much the "experts" know. They went 28-5 under first year head man Keno Davis point guard Adam Emmenecker and scorer Josh Young and started the conference season 13-0 before dropping one at Southern Illinois. Emmenecker was named the Larry Bird MVC player of the year, and the senior earned it averaging close to six assists per game. Outside of Drake this season, there was no national success for the Valley to speak of. Southern Illinois started out in the AP top 20, but fizzled out by December struggling to recapture the form that took them to the Sweet 16 last season. Illinois State managed success going 25-10, and reaching the second round of the NIT. Creighton and Bradley were figured to be atop the MVC along with the Salukis, but Creighton struggled to find their swag in the middle of the Valley, dropping five out of eight at the end of January. Bradley had chemistry issues all season, and could not run everything together until the postseason in the CBI. Underachieving all season, the Braves lost 8 of 9 in the non-conference, but were the only team in the Valley to win in Des Moines all season. The disappointment of the year belonged to Wichita State. Ta-State and new coach Gregg Marshall (Winthrop) managed an 11-20 record and an embarrasing 4-14 in Valley play. Although in just his first season, Marshall cannot expect too high regard from Wheatshocker fans if he continues those perfomances.

2007-2008 Valley Grade: C+
My favorite conference in all the land. I am always partial to whoever wins the MVC when they are featured in the NCAA Tournament. In a standard year in the Valley, there are seven or eight teams that could legitimately capture the title of Arch Madness. This year, it just was not happening with Drake the clear cut cream of the crop all season. The Valley did send five teams to the postseason, an amazing accomplishment for a mid-major league. However I expect more than just one NCAA team out of this conference, and the fact that Drake came from nowhere to win the league shows that there was no real powerhouses to be heard from. I liked Bradley and Creighton both this season, but the way they just played uninspired ball throughout the whole season showed that the face of the Valley may be beginning to change. Regardless, I look for the Valley to come back stronger next season with three bids to the tournament, or else some coaches will severely be on the hot seat.

Day 5 Reactionary Look: Horizon, Ivy, and MAAC

Horizon
Hinkle Fieldhouse has not seen this kind of national recognition since Jimmy Chitwood was draining jumpers for Hickory High in Hoosiers. The Butler Bulldogs have quickly assimilated themselves as the current top mid-major program in the nation, superceding Gonzaga within the last two years. The Bulldogs have had consecutive second round appearances as well as consecutive Horizon titles. Player of the year Mike Green led the bulldogs in scoring with 14.6 PPG, but they were so much more than just Green. First-team performer AJ Graves finished his career with 1,807 career points and a very impressive 303 3-point field goals. Graves was widely regarded as the nation's most feared sniper behind Chris Lofton from Tennessee. Butler will have to replace five seniors next season, but this crew of leaders won 59 games the past two seasons, capped off by a 16-2 conference record this season. Butler has managed to put the Horizon League on the map, and down the line the other teams in the conference will realize what is being accomplished at Hinkle has been magnificient. The Horizon League featured four 20 win teams: Butler, Wright State, Cleveland State and Valparaiso. Cleveland State received a berth to the NIT after finishing second in the league and highlighting their season with a victory over Butler at home in January. The Vikings capped off their best season of the decade with a 21-12 year, and a highly touted recruiting class coming in for head coach Gary Waters. Wright State was snubbed from a postseason bid as Brad Brownell's Raiders finished third in the league with one of the more dominating home courts. Brownell has really turned this program around, and proved that there is more than just one relevant team in Dayton, Ohio. After dancing a year ago before losing to Pittsburgh, the Raiders went 21-10 with a 12-6 conference mark. Valparaiso returned to the postseason in the first CBI; the Crusaders went 22-14 and reached the Horizon League semis. They featured an explosive offensive attack, led by a Horizon league record 330 3-point field goals this season.

2007-2008 Horizon Grade: B-
This league has gone from putred to quite highly respectable in just two short seasons. Give the credit to Butler and the entire organization that just reloads from a mid-major persepective. One of the most historical mid programs in all of the land, the Bulldogs will maintain to be talented, well-coached, and win games. This league is very top-heavy, with the aforementioned 20 win teams dominating much of the league. I really think that things are looking up for this league, even with the graduation of Butler's seniors. Cleveland State has shown signs of resurrection, we all know Brownell will coach Wright State to excellence, and I have faith in Valpo and UW-Milwaukee. I am going to predict, very early I must add, that the Horizon will be the mid-major conference of the year next season. I think that after watching Butler going on the road this season and struggle the way they did gives some real validity to the depth of the league. The real question is whether that was the overrating of Butler, or if it was the talent of the other teams in the league. If these schools that feature young teams (Wright, Valpo) learn how to win on the road, look out. The Horizon will be fun.

Ivy
ZZZ. zzzz. zzzzzzzz. Gone are the days of Pete Carrill's Princeton upsetting 3 seed UCLA (1996); gone are the days of "the other" Michael Jordan making plays for Pennsylvania on a national stage. Arrived are the days of Tommy Amaker, Sydney Johnson, and the Cornell Cinnamon Chewing Gum, er, Big Red. The Ivy League took on the form of its students this season; uninteresting, unassuming, innocent and boring. Look, even the kids can't stay awake for Harvard vs. Yale. Cornell rolled the entire league, going 14-0, and not being tested the entire season. They won ten games by double figures, but did absolutely nothing in the out of conference other than getting pummeled by Duke, and got stomped in the first round of the tournament. The league managed just two teams over .500, an all-time low. The head-scratcher is how did Cornell get a 14 seed when the league was this terrible. The Ivy League champ belonged in the play-in game with this embarrassing of a season. Perennial league topper Princeton? 6-23. They lost to NAIA Chaminade in the Maui Invitational by four, but it was not that close. Chaminade looked like the superior team physically AND mentally. Princeton was terrible. Sydney Johnson deserves to lose his job after that pathetic material he made Tigers fans watch all season. Fellow over-achiever Pennsylvania? Not so much. The Quakers went 13-18, and finished third in "The League." They had four non conference wins. Four. This is the same team that was in the at-large discussion a couple years ago if they dropped the regular season league title to Columbia.


2007-2008 Ivy League Grade: D-
The only reason they don't fail is Cornell. I feel bad not dedicating and praising the Big Red for an amazing unblemished conference mark, but that performance they had against Stanford resembled mine in my math class last semester...lackluster and uninspired. This league is awful, and it seems to be just getting worse. Each of the last four seasons, the amount of over .500 teams has steadily dropped. There is no reason why the Ivy League does not have an automatic bid go to thier conference tournament. It is because they want to dedicate more time to school. Well I got a great idea for the Ivy League, give up your auto bid so we do not have to watch this crap you call college basketball. I have had enough of unathletic, untalented players making their way onto Ivy League teams and being respected because they play and go to class. That is what you are supposed to do, and you certainly cannot perform on the court, so stay in the classroom. Here is one vote for the abdication of the Ivy League to Division II.

MAAC
Four really good teams in the Metro this season. Normally that is not the common thread, where there is a standard one team who runs through the league capturing the regular season title by multiple games and then getting clipped in the tournament. Marist (2007) is the most recent example of this. Rider won the regular season due to a tiebreaker, and captured the top seed in the league tournament only to be defeated by second seed Siena in the title game. Siena went 23-11, identical to Rider, and went to the NCAA for the first time since 2002 when star guard Prosper Kwangra guided them to an opening round win as the first ever under .500 team to win a game in the NCAAs. The Saints defeated Vanderbilt in the first round, absolutely stroking the COmmodores into oblivion. Siena ended Vandy's solid campaign in a flash, jumping out to a 26-11 lead midway through the first half. Rider was thought to be the best team in the league, led by two-time first teamer and player of the year Jason Thompson. Thompson led the Broncs with 20.4 PPG (second in the MAAC) and 12.1 RPG (tops in the MAAC), and grabbed the Haggarty Award as top player from the New York Metro Area. Rider appeared in the CBI and fell to Old Dominion in the first round. The other two real good teams in this league were Niagra and Loyola. Niagra lost their top two scorers from last season's NCAA team, but this was thought to be their year. They backed into the NCAAs last year when favorite Marist was beaten. The Purple Eagles beat Rider at home and went a respectable 7-3 in the non-con. They were led by absolute superstar forward, senior Charron Fisher; he averaged 27.6 PPG, tops in the MAAC and 9.5 RPG. Watching him and Thompson feud back and forth for top player in the league was the best part about the MAAC this season. Loyola was the real surprise of the conference this season; the Greyhounds won five of their last seven and were thought to be a darkhorse for a MAAC tourney run. At one point Loyola won eight of nine conference games in January, and were tops in the league, but their inexperience outside of scorer Gerald Brown took its toll, and they dropped 11 road games on the year. Disappointing year for Manhattan; the Jaspers managed to only muster up five conference wins and twelve overall. They never seemed to match up well in terms of chemistry and it showed on the floor, dropping 11 out of 12 MAAC games in January.

2007-2008 MAAC Grade: B
I think it was a real good year to be a top team in the Metro. I always fall in love with one of the top teams in this league and think they can make some noise in March. This year, I thought it was Rider, not Siena. Go Figure. The Saints were very impressive and exciting to watch in beating Vanderbilt, but then getting handled by Villanova easily. Although that did not fair too well for Siena, I think there is a lot to be proud of in Albany this season. They were not expected to contend for tops in the league, that honor belonged to Rider. The Broncs on the other hand had to be somewhat disappointed, but a regular season title and postseason berth is never a throw-away season. Alot of seniors are graduating out of the MAAC this season however; as Thompson, Brown, and Fisher all sing their swan song. Siena graduates only one senior however, so look for the Saints to keep a stranglehold on the MAAC next year.

Tomorrow: MAC, MEAC, MVC