Big Day for the Valley

As a graduate of a Missouri Valley Conference school, I was delighted to learn yesterday afternoon that four teams from the Valley will be playing in the men's NCAA tournament. I think that Missouri State had a strong case to be the fifth representative, but I'm happy with four, in itself an unprecedented number. Overall, as an advocate of the little guy, I was glad that so many teams from non-power conferences were given at large bids.

And I don't want to hear anyone complain about Michigan or Florida State being snubbed. Sure, the Wolverines are probably a better team than Utah State, and would probably win a best-of-seven series against the Aggies; but Michigan lost seven of its final nine games. No team that loses that many contests down the stretch should get invited to the tourney. Florida State, as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, could have scheduled challenging non-conference competition, but (aside from an early game against Florida) chose not to. When your athletic director pads your schedule with easy wins, you can't lose in the first round of your conference tournament and expect to be rewarded with an NCAA bid. Give that slot to Bradley.

The team that might have a legitimate beef is Cincinnati: The Bearcats' had a top-ten strength-of-schedule ranking, finished 8-8 in the nation's toughest conference, and had several big wins against top competition. I would have put in Cincinnati before Seton Hall or Texas A&M, but none of these teams (in my opinion) is likely to be hanging around after the first weekend.

Final Four picks coming soon.