Will The Valley Get A Second Bid?

Wichita State 60, #22 Northern Iowa 51
In the middle of the last decade it looked like the Missouri Valley was going to establish itself as the best of the mid-major conferences, peaking with the 2006 NCAA Tournament when they had four teams make it, and two of them made it to the Sweet Sixteen. But that quickly fell apart, and the 2008 and 2009 Tournaments were the first two consecutive single bid Tournaments for the Valley in more than a decade. There are two ways that they might avoid a third consecutive season. One would be Northern Iowa dominating the league, earning a high ranking and then falling in the conference tournament, the way that the Horizon League earned multiple bids in 2007 and 2009 (when Butler was by far the best team in the conference). But if the Missouri Valley is on the rise again then they will need to prove that they have two legitimate at-large contenders, and Wichita State is making a legitimate bid to be that second team. This win pushes them to 6-2 in Valley play, and 16-3 overall. It's been against a soft schedule and this was their first good win, but their RPI is up to 46th and their Sagarin ELO_CHESS is 33rd. They'd probably be in the Tournament if the season ended now, but not with a lot of room to spare. Their at-large hopes will depend a lot on what happens around the rest of the nation, but I'd be surprised if they get an at-large bid with less than a 13-5 Valley record. As for Northern Iowa, they remain the Valley favorites and still get a chance to split this season series against Wichita State at home on January 19th. The Panthers fall to 7-1 in Valley play, and 16-2 overall, but their RPI remains 18th. As long as they don't allow this loss to snowball, they remain in good shape for that at-large bid.

#18 Georgia Tech 66, #16 Clemson 64
Neither of these teams are good at shooting free throws, and both were 50% for the game, so the end of this game was a bit of a mess. But two made free throws by Zachery Peacock ended up being the winning margin, and Georgia Tech moves into a tie for fourth in the ACC at 3-2 overall. Their overall resume is deceptively strong, with a 6-4 record against the RPI Top 100, including a win over Duke, and zero bad losses. They have an uphill climb to seriously contending for an ACC regular season title, but they do look to be in the discussion for a 3-5 Tournament seed. For Clemson, this is a missed opportunity for a huge road victory, and a chance to seriously contend for the ACC title. They now fall one behind Duke in the loss column, although they have a chance to get it back Saturday at Littlejohn Coliseum. Other than that game they have a relatively easy upcoming ACC schedule, and should separate themselves a bit from the pack. Like Georgia Tech, they are in the discussion for a 3-5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

#15 Purdue 84, Illinois 78
To steal a Bill Simmons joke, I would have bet a lot of money on the Purdue moneyline for this game, if gambling were legal in this country. There was no way that Purdue was going to lose four straight. Although Illinois put up a fight here. Purdue still doesn't look to totally have their mojo back, shooting only 3-for-18 behind the arc, turning the ball over 14 times, and getting a couple of key players in foul trouble (Chris Kramer fouled out). But that's how good Purdue is: even when they can't hit a shot and are having an off night, they still controlled a road game over a team that has a great homecourt advantage. The Boilermakers have time now to get their house back in order with a relatively easy upcoming schedule. Other than a home game against Wisconsin, their next difficult game is not until February 9th at Michigan State. Purdue is three losses behind Michigan State atop the Big Ten, but they still have a home-and-home against the Spartans, and a sweep will put them right back in the thick of the Big Ten title race. As for Illinois, not many people realized that they were actually alone in second place in the Big Ten before this loss. But it was against a soft schedule, and the final few weeks of the regular season for them are brutal. That means that taking care of the likes of Indiana and Iowa over the next few weeks will be key to Illinois locking up an at-large bid.