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2009 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd

mvc-3309 Over the past several years, the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament has been one of my favorites. While the league is a little down this season, I still expect a great show. The tourney gets underway Thursday March 5th in St. Louis, Missouri and concludes on Sunday March 8th with the championship game being broadcast on CBS. Keno Davis, now head coach of Providence, led the Drake Bulldogs to regular season and conference tournament championships in 2008. Another Iowa team in the Valley, the Northern Iowa Panthers, are the No. 1 seed in the tournament this season. They finished tied atop the conference with Creighton at 14-4, but received the No. 1 seed by virtue of the tiebreaker. Find out if the state of Iowa can bring home another Mo Valley title in 2009. Let the Arch Madness begin. Bet the MVC Tournament at Bookmaker.

The Favorite: Creighton Blue Jays
While Northern Iowa is the top seed, I consider Creighton the favorite. The Blue Jays bring a 10-game winning streak into the tourney, which includes wins over No. 1 seed Northern Iowa, No. 3 seed Illinois State, and No. 4 seed Bradley. Creighton finished the regular season with an impressive 25-6 mark, which is the best record of any team in the conference. The Jays will receive a first round bye and will then play the winner of the Wichita State vs. Missouri State matchup. Wichita State handed the Jays a loss on the road in mid-January, but I can’t see the Shockers shocking a red hot Creighton squad here. 6′1” guard Booker Woodfox, leads the way for Creighton with 15.9 points per game. Guard P’Allen Stinnett is second on team in scoring with a 12.6 points per game average. Three other players average 8 or more.

Another Team That Can Win: Illinois State Redbirds
22-8 Illinois State was a bit of a disappointment this season. The team knows that and will look to set things straight with a conference tourney title. The Redbirds started the season 14-0, which included a 22-point win over Creighton. They were then a mediocre 8-5 over their next 13 games and then ended the season with three straight sour losses – a bracket buster defeat to Niagara, an overtime defeat to Northern Iowa, and a 4-point loss to Creighton. You can expect the Redbirds to be out for blood when they tip off the tourney against Evansville on March 6th. If they win that game, we will likely see a rubber match with Creighton to decide who plays for the title. Illinois State is led by talented 6′5” guard Chamberlain Oguchi and his 14.8 points per game. The former Oregon Duck has been the go-to guy for the Redbirds and has a chance to take home tournament MVP honors.

2008 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Recap:
The Drake Bulldogs cruised through the 2008 MVC Tournament and captured the title with a 30-point win over No. 2 seed Illinois State in the championship game. The closest thing to Steve Nash in the Valley, point guard Adam Emmenecker took home tournament MVP honors. Drake received a No. 5 seed in the Big Dance but became a victim of the all-popular 12 over 5 upset as Western Kentucky edged out the Bulldogs on a three-point buzzer beater in overtime.

Do your NCAA basketball betting this March with Jimmy Boyd’s college basketball picks for the most winners against the basketball odds.

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