December 2018 saw the Rainbow Invitational, and let's take a look at that.
Northern Iowa started out strong, winning their first round game over (7) East Tennessee St. 78-68, then lost in the winners bracket to (6) UMass 96-85. They also lost the 3rd place game to (1) South Carolina 83-77.
Here are the MVC standings through Dec. 26, 2018
Code:
TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
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Missouri State Bears 0 0 .000 8 3 .727 56 50
Wichita State Shockers 0 0 .000 8 2 .800 76 75
Northern Iowa Panthers 0 0 .000 6 6 .500 73 63
Southern Illinois Salukis 0 0 .000 6 6 .500 108 60
Drake Bulldogs 0 0 .000 5 6 .455 11 51
Bradley Braves 0 0 .000 4 6 .400 26 48
Illinois State Redbirds 0 0 .000 3 5 .375 46 72
Evansville Aces 0 0 .000 3 7 .300 109 61
Indiana State Sycamores 0 0 .000 2 8 .200 142 58
Loyola Chicago Ramblers 0 0 .000 2 8 .200 270 40
Not pretty, not pretty at all. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about losing my job as the MVC AD, as I've signed a lifetime contract to the position. Only way I leave this job is if I resign on my own. But.. we've got to get that conference prestige back up to a 4, and god forbid if we let it drop to 2.
Bradley (Alex Donovan) got that big season tournament upset over College of Charleston. Their other big win was at Kansas. They have played a brutal schedule though, losing on the road to Michigan St., Kentucky, Marquette, and Oklahoma St., all who are ranked in the top 15. Kudos to Alex for playing a tough schedule.
Drake (Randolph Childress) has road wins at Illinois and Missouri, along with a 9 point loss at a top 10 Wisconsin team. They also had those 2 close losses in their November tournament, giving me hope that they will compete in MVC play this season.
Evansville (DeShawn St. John) has also played a fairly tough schedule, getting blown out at Georgetown, and St. Louis, as well as losing by single digits at Oklahoma St. They beat Northwestern at home in their last game, and hopefully that'll spark the Aces.
Illinois State (Timmy Tribble) has beaten Missouri and TCU, but had that opening season loss to Texas Tech, and a 20 point loss to Florida Atlantic. As seems to be the theme with most of the MVC teams, they scheduled tough and had some close losses.
Loyola Chicago (Jawouk Bafou) is struggling this season. They lost their first game to IPFW, but did beat Western Michigan by 22. Their other win came at Illinois Chicago. Losing to teams like IPFW and Oakland hurts though.
Northern Iowa (Ernesto Lopez) had the tough run in the Rainbow Invitational, and had a 3 game losing streak to Washington St., South Dakota St., and IPFW. Yikes! They have, however, beaten Indiana and Notre Dame, both on the road.