CBSsports article on Wichita St & MVC

[MVCfans]

I read this earlier today figured it was worth sharing. It's hard to argue any of it and shows how much the Valley needs UE, UNI and anyone else to elevate their season profile.

"FINAL THOUGHT: One of the issues with playing in a league that doesn't have multiple other top-shelf teams is that you basically have to make your at-large resume for the NCAA Tournament's selection committee in November and December.

I bring this up today because it could end up being a problem for Wichita State.

Yes, the Shockers are banged-up -- specifically without their starting point guard (Fred VanVleet) and back-up point guard (Landry Shamet). And they lost their second-leading scorer (Anton Grady) Friday to what coach Gregg Marshall described as a "spinal concussion." None of this is ideal, obviously. And the selection committee will consider it all. Still, one thing we've learned over the years is that schools without quality wins rarely get at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, and Wichita State has already reached the point where it'll be difficult for the Shockers to stack quality victories.

The Shockers are 2-3 with only one win over a Division I opponent so far. They've lost to Tulsa, to USC and to an Alabama team that lost to Dayton by 32 points. And they only have two more games against teams that are currently ranked in the top 50 at KenPom."

The first of those games is Sunday against Iowa.

The second is next month against Utah.

And I cannot overstate how important those games -- in addition to the two MVC contests against Northern Iowa, which is ranked 55th at KenPom -- are for Wichita State because the Shockers might find themselves in a situation where they need an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament if they don't win at least a couple of those four. I mean, remember Stephen Curry's final year of college at Davidson? He was great and everybody knew Davidson could be a problem in the NCAA Tournament if the Wildcats got in, if only because everybody watched Davidson make the Elite Eight the season before. But Curry and his teammates didn't have enough quality wins on Selection Sunday even though they finished 18-2 in the Southern Conference. So the Wildcats were left out of the NCAA Tournament after Charleston Southern upset them in the Southern Conference Tournament.

To be clear, I'm not predicting a similar fate for Wichita State; the Shockers will probably win the MVC Tournament and be fine. But no talented team wants to be in a position where it has to get its league's auto bid just to make the Field of 68. And that's why these upcoming games with Iowa and Utah are bigger for Wichita State than they'll be for Iowa and Utah."

[Wufan]

Sums it up pretty well. The Shockers aren't missing the field just yet, but they have put themselves well behind where they need to be and have to make up a ton of ground.

[PantherSigEp]

Injuries suck. Hope the Shox can right the ship