11/11 KenPom rankings update
MBB: The Racers have the chance for The Valley's biggest win of the year tonight at SMU
The Missouri Valley Conference again went 2-0 last night, With Drake and Indiana State picking up wins. Drake’s 89-51 win over Non-D1 Simpson will not impact the metrics, but Indiana State’s 64-55 road win at SIUE absolutely will.
As we’ve said before about these metrics, winning is good, but winning on the road is great, especially when you were an underdog going into the game. With the victory, Indiana State made the biggest move in the KenPom rankings of any Valley team this season, as they jumped up 35 spots to #187.
Tonight, Murray State has the chance to get The Valley’s best non-conference win of the year as they take on #50 SMU. This will be the first of five games this week for Valley teams against KenPom’s Top 100.
After last night’s games, here are this morning’s updated KenPom rankings for the Missouri Valley Conference:
#103 Northern Iowa — Up 1 spot (Next: Hosts #165 Furman Friday)
#104 Bradley — Up 1 spot (Next: Hosts #287 UT Martin Wednesday)
#112 Belmont — Up 1 spot (Next: At #305 Oral Roberts Saturday)
#122 Illinois State — Up 1 spot (Next: Neutral-site game with #22 USC on Friday)
#122 Southern Illinois — Up 1 spot (Next: At #90 Nevada Wednesday)
#123 Murray State — Up 2 spots (Next: At #50 SMU tonight)
#127 UIC — No change (Next: vs. Non-D1 St. Francis (IL) tonight)
#138 Drake — Up 1 spot (Next: Hosts #200 SIUE Friday)
#187 Indiana State — Up 35 points after 64-55 road win at #168 SIUE (Next: At #4 Duke Friday)
#263 Evansville — Down 1 (Next: Hosts #155 Middle Tennessee Wednesday)
#288 Valparaiso — No change (Next: Hosts #254 Nicholls on Wednesday)
In the conference rankings, KenPom has the Missouri Valley Conference still listed as the 10th-best league in the country. Last season, only seven conferences received multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament:
SEC +20.04
Big Ten +18.74
Big 12 +17.08
ACC +14.98
Big East +13.92
Mountain West +7.37
Atlantic 10 +5.82
The American +3.81
WCC +2.80
Missouri Valley +1.26 (Up +0.19)
Conference USA -0.91
Mid-American Conference -3.55