11/28 KenPom rankings update
MBB: Illinois State won the Valley's only game on Thanksgiving Day
Illinois State was the only Missouri Valley team in action on Thanksgiving Day, and they took advantage of their holiday opportunity, beating Charlotte, 79-69 in Kissimmee, Florida. With the win, Illinois State jumped up eight spots in the KenPom computer rankings to #112 nationally.
The Redbirds will be one of three Valley teams in action on Friday. Illinois State will challenge #157 Furman in the game of the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational, while Indiana State will host #333 Alcorn State. The main event of the day will be in Destin, Florida where Drake will try to grab the conference’s best non-conference win this year as they take on #37 LSU and former Murray State Head Coach Matt McMahon. That game will be on at 8:30pm tonight on the CBS Sports Network.
After last night’s games, here are this morning’s updated KenPom rankings for the Missouri Valley Conference:
#90 Belmont — No change (Next: At #163 Charleston Sunday)
#92 Northern Iowa — Up 2 spots (Next: Hosts non-D1 Coe Monday)
#112 Illinois State — Up 8 spots after 79-69 neutral-site win vs #192 Charlotte (Next: Neutral-site game vs. #157 Furman today)
#118 Murray State — Up 2 spot (Next: Home game vs. #302 Morehead State Tuesday)
#122 Bradley — No change (Next: Hosts #161 Washington State Tuesday)
#135 Southern Illinois — Down 2 spots (Next: Hosts #259 Little Rock Saturday)
#141 Drake — No change (Next: Neutral-site game vs. #37 LSU tonight)
#166 UIC — Down 1 spot (Next: Hosts #363 Arkansas Pine Bluff Wednesday)
#168 Indiana State — Down 2 spots (Next: Hosts #333 Alcorn State today)
#251 Valparaiso — Down 1 spot (Next: Hosts #236 Western Michigan Saturday)
#304 Evansville — Up 1 spot (Next: Hosts #289 Ball State 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. Here are the updated KenPom conference rankings:
SEC +19.08
Big Ten +18.22
Big 12 +17.27
ACC +15.01
Big East +14.21
Mountain West +6.46
Atlantic 10 +5.60
West Coast Conference +3.69
The American +3.08
Missouri Valley +1.71 (Up 0.03)
Conference USA -1.81
Mid-American Conference -2.80
Hey with the really cold weather coming Monday an Tuesday is the game Tuesday night going to be played?