4 games in and 7 teams within a game of 1st place.

Illinois State 3-1
Creighton 3-1
Missouri State 3-1
Wichita State 3-1
Evansville 2-2
Northern Iowa 2-2
Southern Illinois 2-2
Drake 1-3
Indiana State 1-3
Bradley 0-4

I still believe that it's a two team race and we'll start to see a little seperation develop over the next couple of weeks.

I would love to see ISU continue to win though. Starting after tonight.

Watching what has happened so far, it wouldn't surprise me that even if WSU and Creighton get some separation, that the bottom 3, whomever they end up being, would be awful records, but that the middle 5 would all beat up on each other. With that happening, hopefully the fact that the RPI's of those schools are high enough that they don't hurt each other much. I just hope the Shockers can stay in that upper separated 2. It starts with a win tonight at home.

Definitely. I must admit that the RPIs of a few teams aren't as bad as I was expecting at this point. Keeping teams in the Top100 can go a long way on the resume if the Shox win those games. Having one or two more in the Top50 would be even better.

As of yesterday, the Valley looked like this:
UNI 25
CU 30
WSU 35
MSU 57
ISUb 96
ISU 103
DU 108
UE 150
BU 218
SIU 256

Is it possible to have 7 teams get into the Top 100? Those teams need to beat the bottom 3 for sure. That could lead to another 10 or so games against the Top 100 for WSU and CU. MSU and UNI have a chance to be in the Top 50 at the end. So the RPIs shouldn't drag too much.

That makes it even more important for WSU and CU to create seperation. If they can get a few games on MSU and UNI it could do wonders for postseason. Best case scenario as a whole would be for Evansville, Bradley and SIU to lose as many games as possible to the rest. I'm still hopefull that we could get a third team in. But that may take someone other than WSU/CU winning in the Lou.

The issue is I don't see SIU and Evansville losing a LOT of games. Both are capable of finishing at .500 or better. ISUb is more than capable also of finishing above .500. Drake and Bradley are the two I see tanking, as they rely so much on one or two guys.

I'm not as sold on UE and SIU as you are. Yes, they're both capable of winning games, but I don't think either has a shot at .500. Maybe UE. But I'm not sure. Denver Holmes has stepped up to help out Colt Ryan, but if Colt is off, UE is not going to do well. Especially with such a nonexisten post game.

SIU has Seck who will battle to keep them in games, but I'm not sure about the rest. Some of that may have to do with the guys they just got back so I suppose I could be wrong there.

Drake is a team that needs one more piece. Rice and Simons are very good. Post play this year has killed them due to injuries. If it weren't for that, they'd be dangerous.

Bradley will definitely struggle. They have some talent, but no depth. Give Coach Ford a couple of years and they'll be in business.

All four of those teams are looking at Thursday this year. ISUb could join them in that race the way they've been playing. They have NOT taken the next step after winning in STL last year. I'm not surprised.

Dyricus Simms-Edwards is a guy I really wanted at WSU. He will be a stud. Im surprised I'm not hearing more about John Wilkens.

I don't know if Phelps is the problem at ISUb, or if they are just really missing Tuttle that badly.

SIU has Seck, and if Setty can get hot to keep defenses honest, they can go places.

I agree on Drake. Post play is the one think they absolutely lack, and is necessary in this Valley race.

Wilkins is at ISU. And it sounds like they're trying to make him play more with his back to the basket and he just doesn't seem comfortable with that.

I really like Simms-Edwards as well and was a little disappointed that he got away.

I will agree that if someone for SIU can keep teams honest and not focus completely on Seck, they could sneak up on some people. I still see them as a Thursday team though.

I don't know what ISUb's problem is. I'd guess they're not hitting three's like they did last year and still have little inside presense. Odom is good, but he's not that good.

Right now, I'd predict a finish of
CU
WSU
UNI
MSU
ISU
ISUb
UE
SIU
BU
DU (I think their big will RS due to injury) Could make some noise next year unless Phelps really is that bad.

I like that other than swapping ISUb and UE. I just like the way Simmons has them playing right now.

I honestly considered switching them but I decided to give ISUb the benefit of the doubt. Marty's teams play hard though and that'll get them some games.

The only good thing for the Valley is that every team better bring it every night. More so this year than others. I could very well see WSU and Creighton not being able to pull away and have a log jam at 12-6, 11-7, and 10-8. While it would make every night for the rest of the conference season more interesting, it would do nothing but hurt our chances for anyone but the St. Louis Champ to get into the Dance.

That could be as well, but I find it difficult to believe right now that CU wouldn't get an at-large bid. Even if they ended up 12-6 in conference with 4 of those loses to UNI, WSU and/or MSU.

The next week or so will be interesting to follow and see what happens with some of these teams. I haven't looked at everyones schedule but WSU, on paper, should probably win every game the rest of the month with the possible exception of at UNI. Nobody is going to roll over, but the talent is there to make a statement.