MVC Final Four Notebook

MVC in the Final Four

 Including Loyola this year, MVC teams have combined for 18 trips to the Final Four and four NCAA titles.  Nine of the previous 17 MVC Final Four teams have reached the title game.  The MVC is 4-5 in title games.

Final Four • Alamodome • San Antonio, Texas

M31 — #11 Loyola vs. #3 Michigan, 5:07 ct

M31 — #1 Villanova vs. #1 Kansas (40 min. after)

 MVC All-Time Record in NCAA:  103-103

 Loyola in NCAA:  13-4 (4-0 as MVC member)

“Power” Aid

 Since 1994, an MVC member has beaten the following teams from “power” conferences in the NCAAs:  Alabama, Arizona, Cincinnati, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas (three times), K-State, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh (twice), Seton Hall, Tennessee (four times), Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, and Wisconsin.  MVC teams are a combined 38-44 in the NCAA Tournament since 1994 (with 11 Sweet 16 trips and two Final Fours).  Notably, 29 of the 38 wins in that span have been vs. power conference schools.

When it Matters Most

 Since the 2011 postseason, the MVC has the best cumulative record of any conference in the NCAA, NIT, CIT and CBI, combined.  That 56-31 (.644) overall mark includes an 18-11 record in the NCAA Tournament in the past eight years.

Winning in the NCAA

 The MVC has had a minimum of one NCAA tourney win in each of the past seven years (2012-present) for a cumulative 18-10 (.643) record.  Only four leagues are better than .600 in that span:  SEC (.643), ACC (.636), B1G (.623).

First-Round NCAA Streak

 Loyola’s first-round win against Miami (Fla.) gave the Missouri Valley a perfect 9-0 record in first-round games since Wichita State, then an MVC school, lost a first-round game against VCU in 2012.

How Seed It is

 The NCAA used a seeding process for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 1979.  Since then, the league has had teams seeded No. 9 or worse 46 times, including this season.  Those 46 teams have combined for 28 tournament victories, seven Sweet 16 appearances and two Final Fours.  Since 1994, the MVC has posted 14 NCAA Tournament first-round wins as a lower-seeded team.

Sweeping the Honors

 Loyola won the league’s top honors for Coach of the Year (Porter Moser), Larry Bird Player of the Year (Clayton Custer), Defensive Player of the Year (Ben Richardson) and Freshman of the Year (Cameron Krutwig).  Since the league began recognizing a Defensive Player of the Year in 1989, only one other league team has earned a combo of Coach-Player-Defensive-Freshman top honors (Tulsa in 1994).  Loyola’s Clayton Custer also shared the league’s top scholar-athlete honor (with Drake’s Reed Timmer).  Notably, Illinois State’s Milik Yarbrough earned MVC Newcomer of the Year.

An 11 Seed at the Final Four?

 Only three previous No. 11 seeds have advanced to the Final Four: LSU in 1986, George Mason in 2006 and VCU in 2011. All three lost in the semis. The lowest-seeded team to win the national championship was Villanova, a No. 8 seed in 1985.  Since then, only two No. 8 seeds have returned to the title game: Butler (2011) and Kentucky (2014).

Final Fours Since 2013

 A second MVC team has reached the Final Four since 2013 (six seasons).  No other conference can match the MVC’s success rate (2 Final Four teams out of only 9 total bids – 22%).  The SEC, with four Final Four teams (out of 27 bids) is next best at 15%.

Champions

 Loyola established a new school standard with 15 conference wins and claimed its first outright conference title since 1984-85.

Title Town

 The MVC has had eight different regular-season champs in the past 12 seasons (Creighton-2009, 2013; Drake-2008, Illinois St.-2017; Loyola-2018; Missouri St.-2011; UNI-2009, 2010; Southern Illinois-2007; Wichita State-2012, 2014, 2015, 2017).

A Bakers’ Cousin

 Only three times 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).

Power Play

 The MVC is 29-35 against the Top 6 leagues since 1994 in the NCAA Tourney, including 4-6 against the Big Ten.

Home Cooking

 The MVC has a 116-35 record in home games (inclusive of non-league and league games), third best in the NCAA.

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.

30-Win Seasons

 Loyola has become just the 11th team in MVC history (111 years) to reach 30 wins (and the sixth with 32 wins).  The league has had seven 30-win teams since 2010.

35 —      Wichita State (2014)

33 —      Indiana State (1979)

32 —      Bradley (1986) (1951) (1950), Loyola (2018)

31 —      UNI (2015), Wichita State (2017)

30 —      UNI (2010), Wichita State (2013), Wichita State (2015)

Rambling On …

 Loyola’s 65-59 win 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.  The MVC is 4-6 against top-25 schools, with all three wins by Loyola (Florida, Miami (Fla.), Tennessee and Nevada).

RPI:  40 or Better?

 Since 1990-91, 1035 of 1111 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 19 years 33 eligible teams, including eight from the MVC, have not made the NCAA Tournament with an RPI of 40 or better (including 5 this year).  In 2006, Missouri State had an RPI of 21 and failed to earn a spot in the field.  That remains an NCAA record. The MVC, with those 8 ‘snubs’ since 2000, have more than any other conference (the Mountain West is second, at 4).

Top-40 RPI Teams, Not in NCAA Tourney (2018)

33 — Middle Tennessee

34 — USC

38 — Louisville

39 — Western Kentucky

40 — Saint Mary’s

Previous MVC Final 4 Teams

 Loyola is the 18th MVC team to reach the NCAA Final Four in men’s basketball.  The league has 17 total basketball national titles, but notably 4 in the NCAA Tournament and six in the NIT.

Previous MVC Teams to Reach Final Four*

1945 – Oklahoma State (NCAA Champs)

1946 – Oklahoma State (NCAA Champs)

1949 – Oklahoma State (2nd)

1950 – Bradley (2nd)

1951 – Oklahoma State (4th)

1959 – Cincinnati (3rd)

1960 – Cincinnati (3rd)

1961 – Cincinnati (NCAA Champs)

1962 – Cincinnati (NCAA Champs)

1963 – Cincinnati (2nd)

1965 – Wichita State (4th)

1969 – Drake (3rd)

1972 – Louisville (4th)

1973 – Memphis (2nd)

1975 – Louisville (3rd)

1979 – Indiana State (2nd)

2013 – Wichita State (t3rd)

2018 – Loyola

*Bradley also reached the 1954 title game (finishing second) competing as a non-MVC member that year.  Loyola won a national championship in 1963 (also as a non-MVC school at that time).

Loyola Since Jan. 3

 The Ramblers, winners of 14-straight games, have lost just once since Jan. 3 (2-point loss at Bradley on Jan. 31).

Loyola National Ranks Since Jan. 3

Defense (PPG Allowed)  60.5       3rd

FG Percentage   50.9       2nd

2-Point FG Percentage   58.0       6th

Win Percentage 21-1 (.955)         1st

Steals:Turnover Ratio     0.64       28th

Assist:Turnover Ratio     1.44       25th

Assist:FG Made 61.0       16th

Loyola Ranks No. 3

 At .536, Loyola is No. 3 in the NCAA in FG percentage at home.  At .509 overall, the Ramblers are No. 3 for all games.  Loyola’s .509 mark is the best in the MVC since the advent of the 3-point line.  The Ramblers have shot 52.4 percent in their 32 wins, but only 41.2 in the 5 losses.

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 also be the case this season, too.

Land of Lincoln

 The MVC’s four Illinois schools all are in the Top 102 of the RPI (and are also the top four in Division I in the state.)  Loyola leads the way with its No. 14 rating and 32-5 mark (as of March 26).  The Ramblers are joined by Illinois State (82), Southern Illinois (96) and Bradley (102).

Top 50 RPI = Post-Season

 Since the 1991-92 season (the first year in which RPI was publicly shared), the MVC has had 51 teams with RPIs of 50 or better on Selection Sunday.  All 51 teams earned a post-season berth, including 37 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)

40 — Creighton (2009)

*denotes NCAA record