(04-06-2021 01:58 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(04-06-2021 09:13 AM)johnintx Wrote:  

(04-06-2021 08:44 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

(04-06-2021 08:07 AM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  Bird played in a MVC with Tulsa, Wichita St and Creighton in it. No Evansville.

More of an AAC type conference at that time where a Top 25 team was realistic for most members.

Yes, and its rating was a smidgen behind SWC (-0.09)/Metro (-0.19) and quite a bit ahead of the Eastern-8 with Villanova/Pitt/WVU (+3.20).

22-10 (11-5) got an at-large bid.

By no definition was it a soft conference.

Incidentally, New Mexico State was the team with the at-large bid from the MVC in 1979. The MVC was not a bad conference at all.

Indiana State in 1979 was very good. I'm not sure if they would have gone undefeated in another conference, but they would have won most, if not all of them. As mentioned above, they defeated the champions of the Big 8 and SWC on the way to the Final Four.

I can't believe that was 42 years ago. I'm getting old.

In the early 70s they talked of the MVC being the first superconference. Of course, Louisville, Memphis and Cincinnati all left by 79. But Drake and New Mexico St. had been in the finals in the 60s and were still in the MVC.

Drake was in the Final Four in 69 and Elite 8 in 70 and 71. Ironically New Mexico St coached by legendary Lou Hansen beat Drake in that elite 8 game to go the final 4...