Arch Madness is 100 days out, and the start of the 2020-21 NCAA basketball season is upon us as seven Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball teams open play this week.




Moving Up
The 2019-20 MVC men’s basketball season marked a resurgence for the nation’s second oldest Division I athletics conference as the Missouri Valley Conference finished 11th in the NET rankings as a league, moving up three spots from 2018-19.  Notably, eight of the league’s 10 schools were 162 or better in the final NET rankings. Only three league schools were 162 or better in 2018-19. Led by UNI’s league-best 48 NET ranking in 2019-20, five league schools had final NET figures that were better than the league leader in 2018-19 (Loyola was 131 that season.)

New Scheduling Model
The Conference has adopted a new scheduling format for men’s and women’s basketball Conference games.  The Conference will continue to play an 18-game format in which most MVC teams will face one another in a two-game series on back-to-back days at the same site. Each institution will play four road series and four home series and will also face their designated ‘travel partner’ in a single-game, home-and-home series.  All Conference play begins after Christmas.

30 Games Over .500
The Missouri Valley Conference finished 30 games over .500 in non-league play with a 78-48 mark.  And before the cancelation of all post-season tourneys due to the outbreak of COVID-19, at least six MVC men’s basketball teams had received a post-season tournament offer or were under consideration for a post-season berth. 



No Seniors on First Team
The entire first-team all-conference unit had no seniors on it -- that’s the first time that’s happened in the 113-year history of the MVC.

Home Sweet Home
Collectively, the league won 71.1 percent of the time at home during league play this past year (after winning 90.2 percent of its home games in non-league play). That 71.1 percent winning percentage matches the best in the MVC since 1999-00, and it was the best in the NCAA last year.

Beating a Ranked Team
Two league teams knocked off a ranked opponent this past season. UNI toppled nationally ranked Colorado on the road, and Evansville made history with its win at #1 Kentucky in November -- it marked the first time UE had beaten a top-ranked team. It also marked the first time an MVC school had beaten a top-ranked non-conference team on the road. All-time, MVC schools now have 13 wins over non-league No. 1 teams. The last MVC men’s basketball win over a top-ranked school was on Nov. 21, 2015, when UNI beat North Carolina in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Panthers Take Crown
UNI’s 2020 men’s basketball title marks the third regular-season crown for the Panthers (2009, 2010, 2020).  Notably UNI reached 20 wins Feb. 5.  Bradley (20) and Loyola (21) also reached 20 regular-season wins before the MVC Tournament, marking the 10th time in 30 years of Arch Madness that three teams had 20+ wins prior to the tourney. Drake’s tournament run in St. Louis gave the MVC four 20-win teams for the first time since 2015-16.

30 Years in St. Louis
The MVC celebrated its 30th-straight conference men’s basketball tournament in St. Louis. Only the Big East has had a longer run with its neutral-site event in the same city (41). The Big East was unable to complete its tournament at Madison Square Garden in 2020.
 
Braves Win Tourney
Bradley won its second-straight State Farm MVC Men’s Basketball Tournament, marking the first time the Braves had won back-to-back league tournament titles (it also marked the first time Bradley had even played in two-straight title games.)  Bradley also qualified for the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons for only the second time in its history and the first time since 1954 and 1955.

Saluki Surprise
Southern Illinois became just the second school in league history picked last in the MVC preseason poll to win 10 conference games (SIU was 10-8 in conference play and finished in 5th).



Power Play
Last year, MVC schools recorded a 5-9 mark against teams in ‘power’ conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and the SEC), which includes a 3-3 mark against SEC programs.

Madness
Arch Madness was the maddest one on record as for the first time in league history the top seed (UNI) and No. 2 seed (Loyola) lost their first games. Drake became the first eighth seed to defeat a No. 1 seed, and Valpo became the first league team to reach the State Farm MVC Championship game after playing on Thursday night (Opening Round).

Green Takes MVP Honors
For just the third time in MVC history, a sophomore earned the Larry Bird Trophy, presented to the MVC men’s basketball Player of the Year. Sophomore AJ Green of UNI joined Doug McDermott of Creighton (2012) and Fred VanVleet of Wichita State (2014) on that list. He was joined on the first-team all-MVC unit by fellow sophomore Austin Phyfe. It marked the first time since 2014 that sophomore teammates earned selection to the league’s first-team unit (Ron Baker/VanVleet of Wichita State).

Sensational Debut
Southern Illinois true freshman Marcus Domask averaged 13.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, becoming one of only three freshmen in the nation to average those numbers. In addition to earning Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors, Domask also earned a spot on the All-MVC Second Team, becoming just the fourth MVC freshman in the last 25 years to earn First or Second Team All-MVC.

Back to Back, Jack
Drake hit the 20-win mark for the seventh-time in program history and registered back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1971. It was also the third time in program history the Bulldogs have recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons. The Bulldogs’ 44 wins over the last two seasons are the fourth-most in a two-year period in Drake history. Those 44 wins in Darian DeVries’ first two seasons are the most by a Drake head coach in his first two seasons.