Champions
The Feb. 24 victory against Illinois State extended Loyola’s winning streak to seven games and gives the Ramblers their most wins since 1984-85, when that squad went 27-6 and reached the NCAA Sweet 16. It was a record-breaking regular season for Loyola, which established a new school standard with 15 conference wins, claimed its first outright conference title since 1984-85, and won its most overall games since that year.

MVC Tournament Notes (PDF)

Title Town
The MVC has had eight different regular-season champs in the past 12 seasons

A Bakers’ Cousin
Only three in the league’s 111-year history have all teams reached 13+ wins, including this year.  The MVC has not had a season in which every team reached 14 or more wins.  In the league’s 111 seasons, the MVC has had all teams reach 11 or more wins 10 times (including this year).  Only five times in the MVC’s 111 seasons have all league teams reached 12 wins (including this year).  

No Teams with 20 Losses
This season will mark the first time since 2006-07 that no MVC team lost 20 or more games.  That’s only happened three times in the past 20 seasons (1999, 2006, 2007) -- all years in which the MVC had multiple bids in the NCAA Tournament.  The 2006-07 season was also the last time no Valley team lost as many as 19 games, which will be the case this season, too.

MVC Rated No. 8
The Conference ranks No. 8 in the RPI.  The MVC hasn’t been as high as No. 8 in a season-ending RPI since 2012-13.  Notably, the MVC joins the Big East, the Big 12 and the SEC as the only leagues this year with all teams 175 or better, through games of Feb. 24. (There are a total of 351 Division I teams.)  The MVC also has seven teams in the Top 150.  The last time the MVC had seven top-150 teams was also in 2013. 

No. 9 in KenPom Ratings
The MVC’s No. 9 conference rating in KenPom is its best since the 2012-13 season (also No. 9).  The last time the league was better than ninth in KenPom’s rankings was in 2008, when the league hit its high-water mark of No. 7 (also achieved in 2005, 2006, and in 2007).

The Gap Band
Loyola (15-3) won the MVC regular-season race by four games this season over second-place Southern Illinois (11-7).  In 2014, Wichita State (18-0) tied a league record with a six-game margin between it and the league’s second-place team (Indiana State, 12-6).  Recently, Southern Illinois won the league by five games in 2003-04, and only two other schools since 1986 have won the league by a gap of four games (Illinois State in 1997-98 and Wichita State in 2015-16).  Bradley shares the league record with a six-game cushion (achieving that in 1985-86).
Every eligible MVC team since World War II to win the league by a four-game (or more gap) has played in the NCAA Tournament.  Including Loyola this year, it’s happened 11 times since 1945.  The previous eligible nine teams combined for a 15-8 NCAA tourney mark (Wichita State was on probation in 1983.)  

No. 1 Seed “Success”
Counting 2017, the top-seeded team has won the tournament 15 times in 41 tries, but it has happened only eight times in the 27-year history in St. Louis.

History of Top Seed in STL
In 27 previous MVC Tournaments in St. Louis, the No. 1 tournament seed has:

10 - Lost in the Semifinals
9 - Lost in the Championship Game
8 - Won the Tournament

Good News for Champs?
In the 41 seasons the league has conducted a post-season tournament (from 1977 through last year), there have been 47 regular-season champions (outright or shared).  Thirty-eight of those 47 teams earned either the AQ or an at-large berth into the NCAA tourneys.

Top Seed = NCAA
In 2011, Missouri State became the first No. 1 MVC Tournament seed and regular-season champ in 18 years not selected for the NCAA Tournament.  Notably, only six top-seeded teams in 40 MVC tournaments have failed to reach the NCAAs (Bradley-1982, Southern Illinois-1990, Southern Illinois-1992, Illinois State-1993, Missouri State-2011, and Illinois State-2017).

Top Two Seeds = Semifinals
In the 27 previous MVC Tournaments played in St. Louis, the top seed has reached the semifinals every time, and the No. 2 seed has lost just once in the quarters (a combined 53-1 record in their first tournament games).

Best Pole Position?
Thirty-eight of 41 previous MVC tournament champions were seeded 1, 2, or 3.  The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds have had the most success, combining for 31 titles.  Last year, Wichita State was the No. 2 seed and defeated top-seeded and regular-season co-champion Illinois State in the title game.

Avoiding Thursday
In the 41 previous seasons of the MVC Tournament, only three times has a seed worse than a No. 3 won the title (No. 4 Creighton won in 2000, No. 5 Indiana State won in 2001, and No. 4 UNI won in 2016).  Only one team that played in the opening round has won a quarterfinal game (No. 7 seed Bradley beat No. 2 seed Creighton, 76-68, in the 1998 tournament.)  Only 36 times in NCAA history has a team won four (or more) games to win its conference post-season tournament title.  Last year, four teams accomplished the feat.

Worst Pole Position?
The sixth-seeded teams have gone a combined 7-27 in tournament games in St. Louis.  Since the league expanded to its current 10-team format in 1997, only one team that has played in the opening round has reached the semifinals (won two games).  Bradley, seeded No. 7 in 1998, beat 10th-seeded Drake and then it toppled No. 2 seed Creighton, before falling in the semifinals to Missouri State.  Notably, the Braves were 9-9 in league play that year, despite being a No. 7 seed.  

Only Five Have Done It
Just five MVC coaches have won or shared the league’s regular-season title after having won an MVC title as a player, including current MVC coaches Dan Muller and Porter Moser.

Players, Then MVC Coaches?

• Only MVC coach to win MVC Tournament as a player and coach:  Chris Lowery, Southern Illinois
• Only MVC coaches to win MVC Tournament as a player and reach title game as a coach:  Chris Lowery (Southern Illinois), Dan Muller (Illinois State)
• Only MVC coaches to reach title game of MVC Tournament as a player and coach:  Chris Lowery (SIU), Dan Muller (ILS), Jim Les (Bradley)
• Only MVC coaches to win MVC Tournament as a player and later become head coach for a team in the MVC:  Chris Lowery (SIU/SIU), Paul Lusk (SIU/MSU), Porter Moser (CU/ILS-LUC), Dan Muller (ILS/ILS), Jim Les (BRAD/BRAD), Kevin McKenna (CU/INS).

No. 15 for Hinson
Barry Hinson of SIU (15) and Ben Jacobson of UNI (12) are two of three to coach their teams in 12 or more MVC tourneys.   Hinson’s 15th tournament surpasses former Creighton coach Dana Altman for the most Arch Madness coaching appearances.

RPI:  40 or Better?
Since 1990-91, 1030 of 1071 eligible teams with an RPI of 40 or better have made the NCAA Tournament.  Illinois State, at 33 last year, was the only Top 40 RPI team excluded in 2017.  In the past 18 years, only 28 eligible teams, including eight from the MVC, have not made the NCAA Tournament with an RPI of 40 or better.  And in 2006, Missouri State had an RPI of 21 and failed to earn a spot in the field.  That remains an NCAA record. 

Top 50 RPI = Post-Season
Since the 1991-92 season (the first year in which RPI was publicly shared), the MVC has had 50 teams with RPIs of 50 or better on Selection Sunday.  All 50 teams earned a post-season berth, including 36 teams who were rewarded with an NCAA Tournament bid.  The other 14 teams played in the NIT (12 of those 14 have occurred since 2005).

MVC Top-40 RPI Teams, Not in NCAA Tourney
21* -- Missouri State (2006)
33 -- Illinois State (2008)
33 -- Illinois State (2017)
34 -- Missouri State (2000)
36 -- Missouri State (2007)
37 -- Bradley (2007)
39 -- Creighton (2006)
*denotes NCAA record

When it Matters Most
Since the 2011 post-season, the MVC has the second-best record of any conference (behind the SEC) in the NCAA, NIT, CIT and CBI, combined.  That 51-30 overall mark includes a 14-11 record in the NCAA Tournament.

Land of Lincoln
The MVC’s four Illinois schools all are in the Top 114 of the RPI (and are also the top four in Division I in the state.)  Loyola leads the way with its 25-5 mark and No. 33 rating in the RPI (as of Feb. 25).

M*A*S*Hed
The league recorded non-conference success despite a rash of injuries and illnesses that hit the starting lineups.  During the regular-season non-league slate, a total of 63 games were missed by starters (or projected starters).
League-champion Loyola, notably, lost only one game this year (at Bradley, by two points) when both starting guards -- Ben Richardson and Clayton Custer -- were in the lineup.  Richardson missed 10 games (broken hand), while Custer missed 5 games (sprained ankle).  They were both out for losses at Milwaukee and at Missouri State.
In addition to the 63 non-conference games missed by starters, a total of 33 league games were missed by established starters.

Rambling On ...
    Loyola’s 65-59 victory at No. 5 Florida on Dec. 6 was its first over an AP Top 25 team since a 71-67 victory at No. 15 Butler on Feb. 15, 1984. It also marked the Ramblers’ first win over an AP top-five squad since a 63-62 win vs. No. 4 Illinois on Dec. 22, 1984. Prior to the Florida win, Loyola had never defeated an AP top-five team on its opponent’s home floor.

MVC vs. the Top 25
Loyola beat No. 5 Florida on Dec. 6, marking the ninth-straight season the MVC has had at least one non-conference top-25 victory.  In four of the last six years, the league has had regular-season top-25 wins by multiple MVC schools.  Loyola’s top-5 win marked the 31st top-5 non-league win in MVC history, but marked the first top-5 non-league win on the road since Dec. 6, 1967 (exactly 50 years), when then-MVC member Louisville beat No. 5 Kansas, 57-51.

“Power” Aid
Since 1994, an MVC member has beaten the following teams from “power” conferences in the NCAA Tournament:  Alabama, Arizona, Cincinnati, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas (three times), Louisville, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh (twice), Seton Hall, Tennessee (three times), Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, and Wisconsin.  MVC teams are a combined 35-44 in the NCAA Tournament since 1994 (with 10 Sweet 16 trips and one Final Four).  Notably, 26 of the 35 wins in that span have been vs. “power conference” schools.

Centurions, 3x
UNI’s Bennett Koch scored 25 points and joined the 1,000 point club for the Panthers in a 68-63 road victory over Valparaiso on Feb. 20.  Koch is the third member of his family to score 1,000 points for the Panthers. His older brothers Adam (1,186 points - 2006-2010) and Jake (1,113 points - 2009-2013) each reached 1,000 career points.  The Koch trio is one set of four known brothers to reach 1,000 career points as Division I athletes:

Koch:  Adam (1,186), Jake (1,113), Bennett (1,000)
Tripucka:  Tracy (1,973), Todd (1,445), Kelly (1,719)
Barry:  Jon (1,355), Brent (1,304), Drew (1,253)
Tallent:  Bob (1,017), Mike (1,085), Pat (1,725)

Loyola Ranks No. 2
At .536, Loyola is No. 3 in the NCAA in field goal percentage in home games.  At .514 overall, the Ramblers also are No. 2 in the NCAA for all games.  Loyola’s .514 mark is the best in the MVC since the advent of the 3-point line (t9th-best all-time).

Home Cooking
The MVC has a 115-35 record in home games (inclusive of non-league and league games), third best in the NCAA.

Dialing In From Long Distance
Indiana State’s Jordan Barnes is averaging 3.7 3-pointers per game and is third nationally with 112 makes.  His 112 3-pointers made this season is an ISU single-season record (surpassing Michael Menser’s 92).  Only five times in MVC history has a player reached 100 treys in a season.  Kyle Korver’s 100 treys were the previous most in league history by a sophomore.

MVC All-Time Leaders, 3-Pointers in a Season
134    Troy Hudson, Southern Illinois, 1996-97 (Sr.)
129    Kyle Korver, Creighton, 2002-03 (Sr.)
118    Jeremy Crouch, Bradley, 2007-08 (Sr.)
112    Jordan Barnes, Indiana St., 2017-18 (So.)
103    Adam Leonard, Missouri St., 2009-10 (Jr.)
100    Kyle Korver, Creighton, 2000-01 (So.)

Braves are Best at Home
Bradley leads the nation in field goal percentage defense at home.

Freshman Rebounders
UNI’s Tywhon Pickford - the nation’s leading rebounder for players 6’5” or shorter, established a UNI freshman rebounding record, and he moved into the MVC’s all-time Top 10 for single-season rebounds by a freshman.  Loyola’s Cameron Krutwig has 194 and is poised to become just the 15th MVC freshman to reach 200 caroms.

Winning with Defense
Since 2010, every team that has led the MVC in field goal percentage defense has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament.  Both Bradley and Missouri State rank in the Top 35 in the nation in both scoring defense and FG pct. defense.

Best Since Jan. 7
Loyola is 9th-best in the NCAA since guards Ben Richardson (Dec. 30) and Clayton Custer (Jan. 7) returned from injuries, allowing just 61.7 points per game (in 15 games).

Doubling Up
Alize Johnson of Missouri State has a league-leading 19 double-doubles, and he is tied for fourth in the NCAA.  Only five MVC players in the past two decades has had 15 or more double-doubles in a season, and only one (Egidijus Mockevicius) has reached 20 double-doubles in a season.