(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)
CEDAR FALLS, Ia. — A clear women’s basketball hierarchy has formed inside the Missouri Valley Conference.
It’s undoubtedly Drake’s league right now. With five combined regular season and conference tournament titles since 2017, the Bulldogs are the MVC’s crown jewel until further notice. Missouri State has also wedged its way into Valley respect. Toppling Drake for the league’s automatic bid, then parlaying that into a Sweet 16 run will do that. The Bulldogs and Bears were picked 1-2 in the preseason poll for a reason. Both cracked Charlie Crème’s initial bracketology, as well.