At-large bids

[jsaluki080]

Are we confident in saying Loyola is safely in the NCAA tournament?

How about Drake? I know losing at Bradley hurt but if they perform well in ArchMadness but lose in the the championship game, would they be likely to be in?

[ISUSOX13]

Loyola is a stone cold lock regardless of what happens.

I think Drake is in if the Bulldogs get to the championship game.

[Salukimadness86]

Are we confident in saying Loyola is safely in the NCAA tournament?

How about Drake? I know losing at Bradley hurt but if they perform well in ArchMadness but lose in the the championship game, would they be likely to be in?

No matter what happens at the tourney, the Valley gets two teams in. If everything were to fall right, I could see three teams.

[goramblers2011]

Are we confident in saying Loyola is safely in the NCAA tournament?

How about Drake? I know losing at Bradley hurt but if they perform well in ArchMadness but lose in the the championship game, would they be likely to be in?

No matter what happens at the tourney, the Valley gets two teams in. If everything were to fall right, I could see three teams.

Not sure about this (as much as I want it). I think there are two scenarios where the Valley gets in two teams:

1. Anyone other than Loyola wins on Sunday (and Loyola doesn't suffer a 10+ point loss on Friday which might make them a bubble squad).

2. Drake loses on Sunday, preferably to Loyola. If Drake loses on Fri or Sat, they will be a risky bubble squad.

[Adunk33]

The way to three bids:
Loyola: In. As long as they don't get blown out by SIU or Bradley (hehe) they're safe. The committee still remembers their Final 4 runs and understands that in March, casual fans will tune for the scarves, Sister Jean, and the potential for team's the Blers are playing to get "upset."

Drake: Loses by single digits to Mo State on Saturday in a really close game. The dogs got some national pub this year, being ranked and one of the final remaining undefeated teams. The reason to keep them out will be "who they played" but you can only play who is in front of you. Now, look at the injuries they've sustained and how they have persevered it'll be tough to keep out a 25-4 team. They've sure got a lot of wins under their belt.

Mo State: Second most likely team to win it all behind Loyola. Prim and Mosely are probably the best duo in the league and I look forward to hopefully that Prim-Krut matchup on Sunday.

Other interesting storylines for Arch Madness...
It'd be really cool to see INST make a run, especially with what is going on with Lansing. Might be tough to can a guy who takes you to the NCAAs.

UNI is also playing some good ball and seemed to click against ILST (like everyone else). I wouldn't at all be surprised to see them go from Thursday to Sunday.

I won't be in STL but I'll surely be tuned in to every game! It's the most fun 9 games of the year. I miss the hell out of going down for the weekend and hope everything is back to normal in 2022!

[JoeTony]

I think the limit is two.

We're (Loyola) safely in barring an embarrassing loss on Friday. Even then, we just go from being a bubble lock to maybe thrown into the various bubble debates, while still being pretty safe. If we make it to Saturday or Sunday and lose, I think it's irrelevant how we lose.

Drake is not a lock. Drake needs to make it to the finals and win or make it to the finals and lose to Loyola and only Loyola.

Any other team beating Drake in the final is just going to take Drake's spot.

There's too many blue bloods and teams with better resumes on the bubble for the MVC to get three teams in with Drake losing down the stretch.

[VUGrad1314]

I want to believe that we have a shot at two bids but the drops in the metrics of our teams as they've had their layoff have been worrisome. Drake is a very bubbly 41 right now in the NET and even Loyola has dropped all the way to 18 after a high of 10. Who knows where another loss might drop them? The close loss to Richmond stings but if North Texas continues to do well they should be okay. Our best bet is if chalk holds in the MVC Tournament and the higher seeds to flex their muscles against the lower seeds. Drake needs that Q2 opportunity against Missouri State and if they don't get to the final I have to believe that they're done even with the injuries. Conversely another loss by Missouri State even to Drake might knock them out of the top 100 when it's all said and done which would make that a Q3 game.Q3 wins don't do much for the committee. Beating for instance UNI and Valpo wouldn't do much to pad their resume unless the loss to Loyola is very close. If chalk doesn't hold and Drake gets blown out we could be looking at another Illinois State situation where they looked like they would be in and then got absolutely crushed in the Final which kept them out. We also need fairly orderly and predictable results in the upper tier mid major leagues. A team below Drake in the NET stealing a bid in another conference would not be good. I don't see any path to 3. We'd need a stronger year for that. Maybe we can do it one year but I think that might take some outside help and terrific outlier years by several teams in the conference.

[MVCfans]

Seems to me like the bubble results over the past week have been quite favorable for Drake. Frankly, I would be very surprised if they aren't in comfortably right now although the First Four is a possibility. That said, the Bulldogs should be dancing for sure.

[Red]

Seems to me like the bubble results over the past week have been quite favorable for Drake. Frankly, I would be very surprised if they aren't in comfortably right now although the First Four is a possibility. That said, the Bulldogs should be dancing for sure.

WHEW!!