Wichita Eagle · Dec 29, 2015
Bob Lutz: Ready or not, it’s Valley time
It seems like just yesterday that Missouri Valley Conference basketball was strutting around with a fat belly.
Now, though, the MVC is starving for acclaim.
The MVC is ranked 14th among Division I basketball conferences as the calendar prepares to turn to 2016, continuing a slide that began after the Valley rose to sixth nationally in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Those were the days.
Northern Iowa (53) and Wichita State (56) are the MVC schools in the top 60 of the RPI, according to RealTimeRPI.com. Evansville and Southern Illinois, who sport the Valley’s best records at 11-2, are 73rd and 116th.