Is the Magic Gone, or Is There More Than One Kind of Magic in March?

I did, as usual, write up my annual travelogue (Last Hurrah), but since two of the tournaments I normally attend will transform considerably - and not without controversy - I wanted to do a deep dive on why I do this every year.

What Makes Arch Madness Magical?

Now that the Missouri Valley has seen fit to change the format of the conference tournaments by (1) bringing the women's tournament (currently known as Hoops In The Heartland) to the Enterprise Center and moving it up a week to combine it with the men's tournament, (2) excluding the 11th place team in both brackets, and most importantly (3) giving the top two teams in each bracket a bye to the semifinals, I'd like to explore the question of what makes Arch Madness in its 2026-and-before form so special.

It was the third change above that seemed to generate the most negative reaction among MVC fans, which suggests that these fans think the magic is in the standard, conventional bracket where some teams escape playing on Thursday - because the math requires it - but the only way to play in the semifinals is by winning in the quarterfinals. In other words, the 1 seed has to beat either the 8 or the 9 seed in order to play in the semifinals.

To be clear, I also think that it is bad form to give the 1 and 2 seeds a bye all the way to the semifinals. But my question is: is that the sole reason Arch Madness is magical? Is the new setup not magical in any way? I ask because I saw some comments to the effect that some have no intention of attending the tournament unless their team makes it to Sunday (or perhaps it was Saturday).

Apparently, there are some fans who will only think seriously about coming to the tournament if their team plays on Friday on a level field with everyone else, so they have to win the same number of games to reach Sunday as everyone else has to. In other words, a complete lack of favoritism in the bracket from Friday on is the inducement needed to get them to commit to coming to the tournament.

What I wonder is: how many fans come to Arch Madness to see the whole tournament, not just their own team? To be fair, not everyone is free to just automatically commit to the whole tournament. Coming at all represents a sacrifice of some sort, and they will make the sacrifice only if they think it is worth it. At the same time, this has often been an issue even with the traditional bracket at a neutral venue. There have always been fans who come only to games their team is playing in. This new bracket doesn't seem to change anything for those fans.

Of the fans who will refuse to come unless their team makes it to the semifinals or title game because of the new bracket, how many of them have ever attended all or almost all of the games at Arch Madness in the past? What percentage of the entire attendance for the event will that be? These are questions that fascinate me.

If you are like me, and you're lucky enough to not be encumbered by outside obligations, would you still scale back your attendance as a form of protest against the new bracket? I would not, but I can't speak for anyone else and how they should look at it. I anticipate still taking in the entire event in 2027 (with the possible exception of attending a send-off rally for my team). I don't like the 1 and 2 seeds getting a double bye, but I still look forward to gathering with a decent group of Valpo fans as I have in past years, and being able to see both women's and men's tournament game during the same week at the same venue.

There is more than one way to enjoy a tournament. Purely as an MVC fan, my favorite Arch Madness game remains a quarterfinal game from 2023 between Belmont and Indiana State. That game was magical to me, a Valpo fan.

What was magical about Arch Madness 2026?

I had more fun this year than in previous years interacting with fans from other teams. I was able to break the ice with some Bradley fans, who all made me feel respected as a Valpo fan. I was able to parlay with a couple of Bradley fans on Thursday night over that tense semifinal battle we had in 2025. And after an even more tense double OT quarterfinal this year, a couple of Bradley fans stopped me in the concourse and engaged me in a wonderful, fun conversation for at least a half hour (or at least it seemed that long). I felt like both myself and Valpo were respected on equal footing (and that has not always been my impression in the past). Needless to say, this year's Arch Madness was magical to me, and the magic for me had little to do with the structure of the bracket.

Part of the magic, no doubt, resulted from the increasingly good vibes around the Valpo fan base, more of whom showed up this year than in previous years - to say nothing of the team's performance in the tournament, of course. The Beacons were a few degrees horizontally in either direction (a half court buzzer beater at the Ford Center) from earning a 5 seed, which would have been unprecedented.

Obviously Drake fans loved seeing their team make it all the way to the semifinals. As a Valpo fan, I remember what that felt like in 2025. Of course, if we had been using the new bracket in 2026, Belmont and Bradley would have gotten double byes, Evansville would have been excluded, and Illinois State, Murray State, and UIC would have been playing in the opening round instead of getting byes. Drake would have faced Murray State instead of Belmont, and might have lost. But even if they had won, it probably would not have been as magical a game for them and their fans. They would have had to make it to Saturday to get their chance at Belmont (being the 9 seed puts them in line to play the 1 seed in the semifinals).

This won't affect someone like me, but there may well be some Drake fans who wouldn't be willing to show up until their Bulldogs make it to Saturday. From the conference's point of view, the only operative question is: what is the MVC going to do to convince those fans to show up earlier than Saturday? The onus is on the conference, and one possible conclusion is to not switch to a lopsided bracket in the first place. In 2017, the Horizon league did two colocated tournaments in 5 consecutive days at Joe Louis Arena with both tournaments using traditional brackets. It makes sense: no matter how you slice it, a total of 18 games are needed to end up with a men's champion and a women's champion. I believe the stated reason for the double-bye bracket is basically the same rationale used by the Horizon League after 2002 - increasing the chance of doing damage in March Madness.

Magic is possible, no matter what bracket is used. It just depends on where you find your magic, I guess. From the standpoint of MVC fans, it seems to me the operative question should be: am I going to see more magic or less? Is magic defined by the upset factor only? Or do you look for magic in well-played games in which the two teams are going at each other like a couple of heavyweight boxers going the full 15 rounds? Does that mean precision offense, a clean game, breathtaking 3 point shooting (Belmont - Indiana State, 2023) or a bloody, physical game that goes to double overtime (Valpo - Bradley, 2026). There have been games I have experienced where my attention was so completely captured that the outside world disappeared for a couple of hours, and only one of them involved two teams with a huge separation in seed numbers. In 1997, I was spell bound for two hours watching (on TV) Arizona beat Kentucky in overtime for the national title.  In 2005, #7 Oakland University knocked off #1 Oral Roberts in the Mid-Con title game, and I and another Valpo fan sat there in attendance mesmerized - hypnotized even - for the whole game. It wasn't necessarily a well-played game, but it was the opposite of boring. We were on pins and needles - and Valpo had been eliminated in the opening round.

It will be far from impossible to find magic in Arch Madness in 2027. Some fans may even discover the MVC women can play some exciting tournament basketball as well. And, of course, much fun can be had interacting with fans of other teams, as I mentioned above. In 2026, had we used the new bracket, Valpo's first game would have been against UNI. That would have been interesting. The winner would have probably played Illinois State in the 2nd round for the right to take on Bradley in the semifinals (though Indiana State might have given the Redbirds a run for their money and scored the upset, of course). I wonder who would have won Drake-Murray State or SIU-UIC? And maybe the fan interactions I experienced would have been different. But it wouldn't have killed the magic, just changed it.

I'm going to skip Hoops In The Heartland because for me anyway, there has never really been anything especially magical about the MVC Women's tournament, and now this tournament will be folded into Arch Madness starting in 2027. I don't think that tournament has ever been boring. There are at least a handful of teams who put on a good show every year. But I mostly am by myself and the extracurricular entertainment is nothing special.

What is magical about the Horizon League tournament? 

The main thing that is great about the HL tournament is the halftime entertainment. There's the professional Simon Says guy. There's the Pacers dunk fest tumbling team. There's the frisbee catching dog. These are always fun.

For me, getting to say hi to some friends I still keep in touch with is always special, including a few from Green Bay who I sit with every year. I am also privileged to know a couple of guys from The HoriZone Roundtable, which covers HL basketball better that most of the traditional media in the Horizon League's so-called "Major Cities". And if Oakland makes it to the semifinals, I try not to miss a chance to say hi to my friend Greg Kampe (their head coach). This is what makes it magical for me. My Green Bay friends have been going to their team's conference tournament every year going back to the 1990s, so they have been doing this even longer than I have.

Mind you, the HL has an even weirder - if more traditional - bracket than what the MVC will use in 2027. The event starts on a Tuesday night, with the 10 seed hosting the 11 seed in a play-in game. Then on Thursday night, #1 hosts the play-in winner, #2 hosts #9, #3 hosts #8, #4 hosts #7, and #5 hosts #6. The winners of those games head to the neutral site (Indianapolis in 2026, Noblesville - on the outskirts of Indianapolis - starting in 2027). The five remaining teams are reseeded, with #4 playing #5 in a semi-final play-in game on Sunday, and the winner of that game plays #1 on Monday, while #2 plays #3. The semi-final winners play for the title on Tuesday. Both men and women use the same bracket and meet up at the same neutral site with their final 5. I have to say, the MVC has a great track record in consistency compared to the wishy-washy HL, which has changed its format at least a half-dozen times since Valpo joined in 2007.

For me, the magic is in my familiarity with the teams and the friends I made from 2007-2017. But the tournament itself - the games I mean? How about this: teams that in the recent past have been perennial doormats have seriously contended for the title. Robert Morris joined in 2021, and struggled to compete, but in 2025 they won the tournament, after winning the regular season title. This year they were the 2 seed. Youngstown State has been a doormat for a long time in the Horizon League. They are the team RMU beat in the 2025 title game. That was their first conference championship game since 1998 when they got blown out by Valpo in the Mid-Con title game. They've only made the semifinals once or twice since them (their last semifinal loss was in 2023, and their coach at the time succeeded at Utah State and now coaches the UC Bearcats in the Big 12 starting in the 2026-2027 season). If Green Bay makes it to the semifinals, Doug Gottlieb might be worth the price of admission all by himself. Detroit Mercy has been a disaster since the Ray McCallum era, but this year they made it all the way to the championship game and almost prevailed. And I'm probably just getting started. The conference is not top-heavy any more. There are no bottom feeders.

Meanwhile, in 2022, Wright State handled Bryant in the First Four pretty easily. In 2023, NKU gave 1 seed Houston nightmares before finally succumbing. In 2024, Greg Kampe's Oakland Golden Grizzlies toppled Kentucky and almost took down ACC darling NC State. In 2025 Robert Morris led Alabama late in the 2nd half before losing. Last year, Wright State led Virginia by 5 at the half, trailed by 4 mid-way through the 2nd half, and ended up losing by 9. The Horizon League is once again not a pushover in March Madness, no matter who gets the auto-bid.

So, to sum up, the magic in the HL tournament has consisted of parity, halftime entertainment, and good friends. 

What is special about the First Four?

Let me count the ways it is special, perhaps even magical. Here too, a major change will be implemented starting in 2027. But through 2026, the play-in round has been completely hosted by the University of Dayton Arena.

There is some sentiment out there that the NCAA Tournament actually starts on Thursday with the round of 64, and that these 4 games in Dayton on Tuesday and Wednesday are beneath us. I want to state at the outset that I fundamentally disagree with such sentiments. No one is required, of course, to pay attention to the play-in round, but for those of us that do, these games absolutely are part of the tournament. That, as the kids like to say, is a hill I'll die on.

Anyway, I have now been to 10 First Fours (2015-2019, 2022-2026), and I can say the following:

• Every year, without fail, UD Arena is at least about 3/4ths full, and a significant (though not major) portion are UD fans. It is true that in 2015 Dayton was one of the last four in and was part of the First Four so they got a home game in the tournament, but in all other years, I still saw bunches of UD fans at the event every other year I was there (when Dayton was not in the First Four).
• The hotels in the area roll out the red carpet for the 8 teams coming in. A couple of times I've stayed in hotels which hosted two of the teams. I've seen the welcome when the team bus rolls up. I've seen the hallways and elevators plastered with framed highlights of each team's season.
• Monday evening and Tuesday early afternoon, open practice is held and everyone is invited to attend for free. One year, the local news channel sent reporters and photographers to do a feature story for the nightly news.
• There's at least one great (admittedly a bit pricey) restaurant on or near the campus that is really popular during the First Four and among First Four fans. I and some friends make it a point to go at least once each year.
• Even if not every fan is on board with it, the First Four is treated like the beginning of the tournament in several important ways:
• The NCAA tournament logos are everywhere on the court.
• The official tournament program and official tournament merchandise (including the standard "Road to the Final Four" T-shirts) art sold at the event. The program covers the entire tournament and is the exact same one sold at every other tournament site all the way to the Final Four.
• The broadcast (although shown on TruTV) is literally the same as the broadcast at every other site. The announces are the same ones who do pbp in the other rounds. Except for 2026, halftime included a snippet of the halftime show from the broadcast being shown on the jumbotron at the arena. It's the same halftime show involving the same people who man tournament HQ throughout the tournament.
• During timeouts and halftimes, the scoreboard runs the same NCAA Tournament promos, trivia quizzes, contests, and ads as in every other round.
• The 8 teams that play there are announced on Selection Sunday along with the other 60 as one group, known as the field of 68.
• In short, every NCAA official and every media outlet involved in the First Four treats it like it is the beginning of the tournament.
• In addition, if you've been to a 1st or 2nd round site, you would notice the same crowded concourses at the First Four that you experience at those other sites.

Needless to say, the University of Dayton and the Dayton community do an outstanding job of putting on this event every year. Certainly the at-large teams bring a significant amount of fans, and sometimes the autobids do as well. But the Dayton community itself attends this event. I can only assume they do because they love basketball more than anything and love the tournament and that they get to host 4 games.

Oh, and a story from this year: I sat next to a UD fan on Tuesday night who told me about why Dayton was playing their first round NIT game in Peoria at Bradley even though the Flyers were the higher seed. 7 years ago, they would have just rescheduled the game at UD arena for Thursday night after the First Four was over. However, in 2021, when the NCAA saw fit to move the First Four to the state of Indiana, the city of Dayton scrambled to fill the void, and the OHSAA reached out to ask if their boys high school basketball tournament could be held at UD arena during the time when the NCAA tournament was conducting it's first and second rounds. Of course UD Arena enthusiastically embraced the opportunity. Apparently the event was so successful that the OHSAA signed a 7-year contract to continue the event. So, the normal reschedule option wasn't available this year, and Dayton was forced to play a road game which they were supposed to host. Again, an avid UD fan tells me this as we're sitting together in UD Arena watching the First Four. He was not on the road to Peoria to follow his Flyers. He was enjoying the First Four.

What will the Play-in round look like in 2027? 

Next year, the field is expanding to 76, and the play-in round is expanding to 24 teams, with 12 being sent to Dayton and 12 being sent to Wichita, Kansas. All we know is that there will be 3 games at each site on Tuesday and 3 games at each site on Wednesday. We don't know if each night will be a single session, running continuously - which would alter typical plans to have dinner somewhere before the games - or if there will be one early afternoon game and two evening games with plenty of time in between sessions for dinner (concession stands are not exactly rife with quality dinner menus). Or maybe it will be some schedule I haven't thought of.

I will be interested to see if the Wichita community truly can put on as good an event as Dayton does, and whether the Wichita and Shockers communities will be as supportive as the Dayton and UD communities have been.

I'm also not sure what the breakdown of at-large teams and autobid teams will be starting next year, and when the start times will be for each play-in game. All I do know is that the Dayton officials who are in charge of putting on the event every year have stated that they are confident they will be able to continue their fine tradition in 2027 with 2 extra games to support. I personally am willing to take the chance that the event in Dayton next year will be just as magical as it has always been.

In conclusion

Even though things are changing for possibly questionable reasons, I think it is an exaggeration to say that Arch Madness or the NCAA Tournament has been ruined. I wasn't clamoring for these changes either. The traditional MVC bracket was just fine with me, and I was fine with 68 teams in the NCAA tournament. Solutions "in search of problems" always opens us up to making things worse rather than better. Or as the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." People deserve a chance to be convinced the "problem" being solved is real.

At the same time, I still think it will be possible to find true March magic and madness in 2027 and beyond.

Last Hurrah

This season is different than previous seasons in the Missouri Valley - for Valpo, anyway....

Arch Madness

Thursday

The mega session - 3 games. Something new this year since there's only 11 teams. Instead of two 2-game sessions, we had one 3-game session.

Afternoon: #9 Drake Bulldogs 67 vs. Southern Illinois Salukis #8 63

I consumed most of this game by listening to Luke Martin call the game while waiting in the hotel for the Beacons to attend their send-off and eating a makeshift dinner.

Got to the arena midway through the second half and watched Drake break a long losing streak against a team that came in on a 4 game winning streak. Most of Drake's nine straight losses were hard fought games where they had a late lead or tie but couldn't finish. It was not that surprising to me that they finally got a win. Also, SIU has been snake-bitten this year for some reason.

Early evening: #10 Indiana State Sycamores 62 vs. #7 Valparaiso Beacons 63

Valpo led for a grand total of 2 minutes and 1 second in this game. Indiana State got so many easy layups because Valpo was trying to defend the 3 point line. ISU's offense is very difficult to defend because they run it so well. Meanwhile, Valpo could not seem to get much going in the paint and relied on 3s to stay with the Trees. It took a Chaney 3 at the buzzer to avoid going to halftime with a double-digit deficit.

On the other hand, Valpo did draw a bunch of fouls in the paint, which continued their conference play in 2026 of leading the value in FTR (via kenpom) of 40.1 (FTA*100/FGA). ISU did not go the line once in the first half. Valpo did go several times, though they still missed too many for their standards this season. 

In the end, this was a typical Valpo-Indiana State game. Valpo's 3 wins were by a total of 6 pts.

The Sycamores led 62-55 (with 4+ minutes to go!!) and Valpo scored the last 8 points of the game.

Late evening: #11 Evansville Purple Aces 59 vs. #6 Northern Iowa Panthers 68

We sat behind 4 Bradley fans who had several page of prop bets they were tracking either for this game or for the tournament. Indeed, over 100 prop bets covering games 2 and 3 today.

We ended up having some fun talking with them. The game started out lopsided, but Evansville stormed back. AJ Casey drained a 3 at the halftime buzzer to put the Aces up 36-35. 

Looking back, this has to be UNI's toughest game of the entire tournament. They had their hands full with the Purple Aces the whole game. 

Friday

Early afternoon: #9 Drake Bulldogs 100 vs. #1 Belmont Bruins 79

You know it's a Belmont game when the first offensive set is Tyler Lundblade coming across a high ball screen, receiving a perfect pass and draining a 3 as casually as you and I draw oxygen. Of course he proceeded to miss his next 3....

Meanwhile, Jalen Quinn continued to be a force on the court. He and Owen Larsen kept Drake neck and neck with Belmont. The Bulldogs also got a few easy layups through the back door. 

[It wasn't until the under 12 media timeout that I noticed all the rugrats in the end zone seats]

At the 8 minute media timeout, the fouls were Drake 7 Belmont 1.

It was strange to see Drake flipping the switch after losing 9 straight to end the regular season. 

Halftime: Drake 48, Belmont 41

Drake played them tight in Des Moines, losing 78-76, and the game in Nashville was a high scoring affair with the Bruins winning 103-90.

But I am confused as to how Belmont was losing and how Drake was looking nothing like they did in the regular season. How are the Bulldogs so good in Arch Madness and so bad in the regular season (6-14)?

Under 8 media timeout, Drake is up by 18, and I am at a loss for words. This is bizzaro world. 

With 3 minutes to go, Drake achieved a statistically safe lead. I am reminded they did the same thing 6 years ago to #1 UNI.

Late afternoon: #5 UIC Flames 92 vs. #4 Murray State Racers 79

First true oddity of Arch Madness: Momoh of UIC flipped one up at the rim as he was fouled and the ball just laid resting on the back of the rim.

This blowout I saw coming. Murray State really struggled down the stretch. They started the conference season 8-0, and went 4-8 the rest of the way. At times they looked undisciplined during that stretch, and when this game started getting away from them, those tendencies came out. I listened to Jeff Bidwell do play-by-play for one final time before he transitions to full-time attention to his new job, and I could tell how sad he was to see their run end before it could start. I suspect he was not really shocked. I also felt sorry for Murray State fans who probably were so pumped about the season at one point. 

Early evening: #7 Valparaiso Beacons 84 vs. #2 Bradley Braves 90, 2OT

This game sticks out like a sore thumb because it went to 2 overtimes while the other 3 games were blowouts. Valpo-Bradley was the opposite extreme. The MarchToTheArch podcast reported in their Arch Madness review episode that as the game wore on, UNI and Illinois State fans started rooting for Valpo, so that the rooting was evenly distributed throughout the Enterprise Center. 

6 years ago, Valpo ran out of gas midway through the second half, which probably led to Valpo's 14 point loss to Bradley. Last year, Darius got crunched late in the game, which may or may not have led to Valpo's 5 pt. loss to Bradley in regulation. This year, Rakim Chaney got a concussion, Shon Tupuola lost a tooth, Owen Dease cramped up, and all of that may or may not have led to Valpo's loss by 6 to Bradley - in double overtime. 

Baby steps...

After the game, I started walking around the concourse and was stopped by a couple of Bradley fans who wanted to commend Valpo's performance. Had such a great conversation that I missed the start of the Illinois State vs. UNI game. 

Suddenly the total lack of respect from a couple of UNI fans on Twitter no longer bothers me. 

Late evening: #6 Northern Iowa Panthers 74 vs. #3 Illinois State Redbirds 52

I think I made it back to my seat before halftime. During my conversation and walking the concourse, I noticed that UNI maintained a lead and seemed to be dominating play even if they weren't leading by a ton. In the second half, the Panthers gradually lengthened their lead until the Redbirds were struggling to stay with 12 or 13, then after the final media timeout the lead stretched to 20 and the game was over.

Saturday

Afternoon: #9 Drake Bulldogs 51 vs. #5 UIC Flames 72

If Drake had won this game, my plan was to leave bright and early Sunday morning to catch the two semifinal play-in games in Indy because I've had my fill of Drake in the title game, and to be honest, I've had my fill of Northern Iowa and Bradley as well. Fortunately, UIC easily prevailed.

Actually, it took them the better part of the game to put Drake away. UIC led almost the entire game and pretty much kept Drake at bay, but around the 6 minute mark, the Flames finally achieved comfortable separation. Jalen Quinn was still impressive, but against UIC he was simply not enough. In the final minutes, Drake just ran out of gas. So, I came back for the title game after all.

Evening: #6 Northern Iowa Panthers 73 vs. #2 Bradley Braves 69

Still waiting to hear the Avengers theme song from the UNI band this weekend, but during a timeout in the midst of Bradley's furious comeback, their band gave me Blitzkrieg Bop (Spiderman: Homecoming).

UNI's path to the title game was somewhat reminiscent of Valpo's run in 2020 (both highest seed playing on Thursday). Question: How do the Panthers keep hitting every shot???? Their roughest game was against Evansville on Thursday. That struggle was never to be seen again in St. Louis. And how are they making it seem so easy? Well, in 2020, Valpo was not 100% healthy. John Kaiser played the whole tournament with a bum foot. Javon Freeman Liberty was still recovering from pneumonia. There may have been one or two others who were toughing it out. I spotted no such limitations among the UNI Panthers this year.

Meanwhile, Bradley was pushed to the limit on Friday, while UNI had an easy time against Illinois State. In 2020, Valpo went to overtime to beat Loyola after staging a huge 2nd half comeback with a full court press, and did pretty much the same thing the following night to get past Missouri State.

Bradley did storm back in the 2nd half and UNI started missing more, so perhaps this was the game when the Panthers felt some fatigue. But like Valpo in 2020, they had enough in the tank. Well, just barely. In the final minutes, play got very ragged. UNI kept turning it over, leaving the door open for Bradley to complete the comeback, and Bradley kept fumbling their opportunities.

Sunday

#6 Northern Iowa Panthers 84 vs. #5 UIC Flames 69

I got off the Metrolink at the Enterprise Center and walked with a very young couple who were UNI fans. Most likely they came down on Sunday. They asked me how Valpo did in the tournament. I said, "Valpo lost to Bradley in double OT Friday, and YOU'RE WELCOME!!!" They laughed. 

Glory Hallelujah! I finally got my Avengers theme song from the UNI band - well a snippet of it during a 2nd half media timeout. It's the least they can do after becoming the first team to win 4 games in 4 days at Arch Madness.

Horizon League Tournament

Crazy detour through Illinois. I-70 closed just as I got to Effingham. I didn't make it back to 70 until I was near the Indiana border. In between I must have used half dozen state/county roads (some of which were gravel).

While I toured the Illinois countryside, I listened to the NKU-Green Bay men's play-in game (the women's game coincided with the Arch Madness title game), and I was surprised at how the Norse completely dominated the Phoenix. I was also sad for my Green Bay friend who I know was there watching and had to take in such a one-sided game that meant the end of the road for his team. 

I had seen this before, but had forgotten: when you're at the game and someone scores, you can then look up at the scoreboard and watch the score change.

Except at Corteva Coliseum. By the time you look up, the score has already changed. The scoreboard operators here are lightning fast, or else the scoreboard is extremely simple to operate.

Monday women's semifinals

(5) Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons vs. (1) Green Bay Phoenix

My friend loved this game for obvious reasons. I was kinda hoping the Mastodons would find a way to win because they've been surging in recent years and because Green Bay is the gold standard in the Horizon League, and I have a tendency to find that boring.

(3) Cleveland State Vikings vs. (2) Youngstown State Penguins

Weirdest play I saw so far. Halfway through the 4th quarter, with a 4 point lead and the ball, Cleveland State was in danger of a shot clock violation. One of their guards literally threw the ball at the basket just in time. Result: a fortuitous wedgie, because the Vikings had the possession arrow.

 

Shot taken with 1-2 seconds left on shot clock

Wedgie achieved

Saved by the possession arrow! Note: ESPN score bug had been slow to recognize which team had the arrow.

Later in that same quarter came a rarely seen play: Viking defender ran over a Penguin screener just as her teammate drained a 3, and they decided to count the 3-pointer and assess the foul, which gave YSU another possession. They ended up splitting FTs after a foul - though at first the Vikings got a steal, only to cough it up back to the Penguins. So it was a rather unconventional 4-pt play (only because the 3-pt shooter wasn't the one fouled). This also was a crucial turning point in the game. CSU had led for most of the 2nd half, and only trailed by 1 before this play. It did not lead to YSU pulling away - the Vikings actually fought back to take a 1 point lead with about 35 seconds to go, but YSU countered with a wide open 3 by one of their hot shooters, and that ultimately sealed CSU's fate.

This was a much more entertaining game, and it was YSU's first HLWBB semifinal win ever, and set up a possibly exciting championship game with Green Bay.

The interlude between sessions is always spent at the Valeo Fanzone across from the entrance to Corteva Coliseum. They have big screen projectors set up with the ability to select games to show. This year they also decided to go to the YouTube March Madness channel and play the Oakland-Kentucky game from 2024. Always fun to see Jack Gohlke torch Kentucky for 10 3s.

Monday men's semifinals

(7) Northern Kentucky Norse vs. (1) Wright State Raiders

As of the under 8 media timeout in the first half, this is looking like it will go down to the wire. It has been tight so far, and there have been many very athletic play by both teams.

Halftime featured Simon Says guy. This year he had to ask for a better microphone. Otherwise it was pretty much the same show as last year.

It took most of the game, but Wright State finally pulled away and won by 13. For 30 minutes, it was a pretty exciting game.

(3) Detroit Mercy Titans vs. (2) Robert Morris Colonials 

After winning the regular season title and the conference tournament title last season, Andy Toole had to rebuild around 1 returner (Valpo fans should find this familiar). So, they did that and finished second this season. RMU has finally figured out how to compete in the Horizon League, portal be damned.

This game was extremely exciting. Detroit Mercy started to pull away halfway through the second half, but this time it still went down to the wire, but the Titans held on to win. For the first time since 2012, they make it to the Horizon League championship game.

Tuesday

Women's title game: (2) Youngstown State Penguins vs. (1) Green Bay Phoenix

Like an idiot, I waited until halftime to scrounge a chocolate chip cookie from one of the concession stands, forgetting that the place is crawling with elementary school children, LOL.

This was a very fun, exciting game. I thought it was well played. Green Bay finally started pulling away with about 4 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. Crucial was a negated turnover on the Green Bay end.

 

YSU stole the ball in the post

 

But the ball was loose and lodged in between the legs of a YSU player

As she reached down to extricate the ball from between her legs, the ref on the baseline called a kick ball violation

Sarah Baker can't believe it

 

Neither can Melissa Jackson, her coach

The Phoenix promptly drained a 3 on the ensuing out of bounds play to extend their lead to 4. The Penguins never completely recovered after that.

In between, my Green Bay friend and I ate lunch at our usual spot, The Ale Emporium, where they serve Diet Mt. Dew! Of course we stayed for the championship ceremonies so my friend could gets some pictures. Speaking of pictures, before we headed off to dinner, we took this picture with the National Championship trophy:

Men's title game: (3) Detroit Mercy Titans vs. (1) Wright State Raiders 

This game started weirdly enough. The Titans won the tip, but the recipient caught the ball just barely in the front court and casually flipped the ball back to his teammate who had not yet crossed the timeline. Oops!

This game was also fun and exciting. Really the only boring game I witnessed was the first Women's semifinal where Green Bay blasted Purdue Fort Wayne.

The difference in this game is that after a tight first half, Detroit Mercy built up an 11-point lead on the Raiders in the early part of the 2nd half. Then the Raiders stormed back and took a 6 point lead with less than 2 minutes to go, but amazingly enough, the Titans had a shot to tie with a few seconds left. Lovejoy found an open path to the basket and went up for a layup, but Kellen Pickett (a freshman!) met him at the hoop and blocked his shot without fouling. The Raiders held on for a 3 point win (after splitting a pair of free throws after a Detroit Mercy foul).

This is goodbye to Corteva Coliseum, because next year the neutral site portion will be held in Noblesville (a suburb of Indianapolis) in a newer arena where the Pacers G-League team plays.

On Wednesday, I went from 70s and rain in Indy to just above freezing in Corralville.

Thursday

I noticed a walkway that ran from my hotel to Xtream Arena that snaked under the I-80 ramps and over the highway, which is cool, so I gave it a try. It .9 miles one way and took a half hour to walk. I left an hour before game time, so I got there in plenty of time.

I asked one of the event staff why some random seats were colored yellow in Xtream Arena:

The answer I got was basically "Just to be different! No special significance."

Afternoon: (9) Indiana State Sycamores vs. (8) Southern Illinois Salukis

The Lady Salukis suffered the same fate as their manly counterparts - losing to the 9 seed. The Trees built a 9 point lead at the half, and extended it out to 11 at the beginning of the 3rd quarter, and I worried that this was going to be a blowout. Indiana State drew several charging fouls and just looked better. But then in the 3rd quarter, SIU found something and cut the lead to 3 after a successful appeal of an out-of-bounds call. They began the 4th quarter with the ball, but then lost a tie-up before they could get a shot, and the Trees reasserted themselves and put the game away in the final seconds.

Early evening: (10) Evansville Purple Aces vs. (7) UIC Flames

A lot more Evansville fans behind their bench than the Sycamores had. All during the second half, the UIC coach was complaining very demonstrably to the refs (Ron Hunter would be proud). At one point, the Aces fans started yelling at her to get off the court.

Except for a short stretch in the first half, this game was anybody's game until the final minute when Evansville built a 5 point lead and held UIC at bay, but the game always felt like the Aces were in control the whole way. 

Late evening: (11) Valparaiso Beacons vs. (6) Drake Bulldogs

That's me in yellow T-shirt and Brown Valpo hat, 2nd from the right.

I was gifted a courtside ticket for this game and got to sit with coach Boyd's family just a few feet from the action. It has its drawbacks visibility wise, but all in all it was fun. Valpo actually led by a point at the end of the 1st quarter, but from then on - as often happened this season - they steadily fell further and further behind. Coach Boyd said during the post game that it was a typical issue this year - "We execute the game plan in the first quarter, and then forget the plan after that." It could just be that they struggled to deal with the opponent's adjustments.

Friday

Early afternoon: (9) Indiana State Sycamores vs. (1) Murray State Racers

I decided to risk missing the first part of this game and grab lunch at a nearby Subway. Then I drove to the arena to see if I could figure out parking. Event parking is on the opposite corner of the block, but I didn’t see an event price, just a per hour price. It seemed like it would be a long walk, so I just drove back to my hotel. I had to pee so I ducked into my room. When I emerged from my room, the Bradley send-off had completely taken over the lobby. I had a bit of trouble finding another exit, but eventually I did.

Once inside the arena I asked one of the event staff where the fan parking was, and he confirmed what I discovered. I asked how much it was, and he said I should have been presented the option to purchase a parking pass for the tournament that would have allowed me to park without paying each time. 

This game was in the middle of the 3rd quarter and the Racers were leading the Trees by 25 or so. I sat down in my seat during a media timeout and the Indiana State pep band treated me to their rendition of Elton John's I'm Still Standing.

I'm not sure rhere's a more competitive coach in MVC WBB than Rochelle Turner. Even up 20+, she is intense.

Late afternoon: (5) Bradley Braves vs. (4) Northern Iowa Panthers

Brian Wardle is here to watch his daughter play for the Braves. My impression is that Mya Wardle is the quarterback of this team when she's out there. Expect nothing less from a Wardle.

This game was a lot of fun, once the Braves got their act together. It looked like a blowout in the 1st quarter, but for most of the 2nd half, Bradley ratcheted up the intensity, and though they had to hang on for dear life, UNI matched their effort and prevailed in the end. 

Early evening: (10) Evansville Purple Aces vs. (2) Belmont Bruins

With about 3 minutes to go in the third quarter, KK Brodie of Belmont has 7 blocked shots at the basket, and every time she looks like she's taking out the trash and hates it. Maybe she looks miserable doing it because her teammates can't hit the broadcast side of a barn or get any stops on the other end. They have trailed Evansville for most of this game. At the end of the third quarter, the Aces led 53-42 (I looked up after writing this and the arena scoreboard had them leading 105-42. I mean, Evansville seems to be dominating, but really!).

1 seed Belmont MBB lost by 21 to 9 seed Drake. 2 seed Belmont WBB loses by 13 to 10 seed Evansville. Oh, the humanity!

Late evening: (6) Drake Bulldogs vs. (3) Illinois State Redbirds

I have forgotten everything about this game except that ISU won. I do enjoy watch Kristen Gillespie coach. She can be intense, but her players embody that intensity so much that the coach can often be seen trying to calm them down: "We're okay!"

Saturday

Early afternoon: (4) Northern Iowa Panthers vs. (1) Murray State Racers

We know now what the problem is with the scoreboard, because it happened again in this game. When they review a called 3 and downgrade it to a 2, the software running the board malfunctions. So they have to leave the score where it is, and the next point scored by that team is ignored.

Murray State jumped out to a huge lead, but UNI battled back to even take the lead in the 3rd quarter. It was a fun, well-played game. The Racers, unlike their manly counterpart 1 seed (Belmont Bruins MBB), took nothing for granted. They brought their A-game every day of the tournament. Notably, UNI was the only team to beat Murray State this year. I was genuinely unsure which way I thought this game was going to go. 

Late afternoon: (10) Evansville Purple Aces vs. (3) Illinois State Redbirds

This was also a great game that went to overtime, but the story here is that the 10 seed made it to the title game, which was unexpected. I didn't check the stats, but it sure seems like Camryn Runner had herself a hell of game and tournament for Evansville. They almost won it in regulation, but Mary Gillespie drew up two straight out-of-timeout plays that her players executed to force overtime - the second one tied the game with a few seconds left. Evansville got a corner 3, but the shot was short. In OT, the Aces built a 5 point lead, but the Redbirds didn't go down without a heroic fight, at one point cutting their deficit to 1 with about 15 seconds to go, and had another chance to tie it with a 3 but the shot fell short, and that was it.

Sunday

The two restaurants next door to the arena I have eaten at both serve diet mountain dew. I love this place!

Also, @UMBCAthletics is at it again since the Retrievers made the tournament for the first time since 2018 - No. 16 UMBC upsets No. 1 Virginia: The Complete Game (March Madness on youtube)

And the person running their Twitter account is absolutely hilarious.

(10) Evansville Purple Aces vs. (1) Murray State Racers

Like Valpo MBB 6 years ago, the Aces ran out of gas on Sunday and Murray State prevailed again. They are now unquestionably the gold standard in MVC WBB, having won two straight tournament championships and 2 straight outright regular season titles.

First Four

Lots of snow on the drive to Dayton, but most of the time it was light - and never scary.

Tuesday

Supper at the Pine Club solo again. Friend Ben was running late and his friend Brian was under the weather and couldn't make it. Was almost finished with my dinner when the proprietor recognized me as someone who ate there last year. The food (rainbow trout) was excellent, and the server was friendly. On the whole, it was a great dining experience. 

As I walked out, someone noticed my Valpo hoodie and asked if the Crusaders were playing. Setting aside the absurdity of even asking the question, I corrected his mascot mistake. 

"We're the Beacons now."

With a shocked look on his face: "That's politically correct!"

"It's marketing, branding." (Dude, it's only about mascot, I'm thinking to myself). "There's nothing sacred about the name."

"Not anymore, anyway!"

"Nor should it be."

"Have to disagree."

(16) UMBC Retrievers vs. (16) Howard Bison

Broke the ice with some fans behind me when I overheard one of them ask, "What is UMBC?" I turned and said, "University of Maryland in Baltimore County." "Thank you, Valpo fan!" Later, he was opining that there was no way Charles Barkley was going to be on the broadcast for the second game. He also doubted that Dick Vitale was going to be there because he was staying the same hotel and saw him today and said he looked kind of shaky.

(11) Texas Longhorns vs. (11) North Carolina State Wolfpack

As the game time approached, Vitale was noticeable at the broadcast spot, but they were still doubting that Barkley was there. The cameras were clearly on, so I pulled up NCAA March Madness Live app on my phone and showed them that indeed Charles was in the house. At first one of them assumed that I was showing a picture on my phone (?!?!?!??!), but his friend pointed out it was a video of the live broadcast.

To my left was a Dayton fan who I had some good conversations with as well. Nevertheless, I left at halftime. Before the game, the guys behind me asked who I was rooting for, to which I said, "Neither team. I don't do power conference basketball."

Wednesday

The proprietor at the Pine Club recognizes me now. Each night he made a point of saying hi and engaging me in friendly conversation. The fact that I missed my friends this year was offset by the number of people who I was able to interact with both at dinner and at the games. I hope next year Ben, Brian, and Steve are able to make it, however. And maybe one or two others will be interested. As I walked from the UD parking lot to the north entrance, a women noticed my Valpo hat and introduced herself as someone who works in Valparaiso University Athletics Department. She recognized me from Arch Madness this year in St. Louis. She told me this was her first ever time going to the First Four.

(16) Prairie View A&M Panthers vs. (16) Lehigh Mountain Hawks

I didn't have any interesting interactions during this game, though during the 2nd half I found myself surrounded by Redhawks fans (Miami, OH). Just to fill in something about this game, which was entertaining, College Basketball Reference has the following 4 Factors which do tell the story of the game:

Four Factors

		Four Factors
	Pace	eFG%	TOV%	ORB%	FT/FGA	ORtg
Prairie View A&M	65.7	.500	12.6	21.9	.175	102.0
Lehigh	65.7	.414	19.1	30.8	.121	83.7

The first half was tight, PVAM's defense was suffocating at times. I like FT/FGA, which measures a team's (or an individual's) ability to draw shooting fouls from their opponent. I suspect neither team was particularly exemplary at this (During the MVC conference season, Valpo was in the low 40s, percentage wise, according to kenpom).

(11) Miami (OH) Redhawks vs. (11) SMU Mustangs

I was impressed by the fact that the worst weather at the first four since 2015 by far did not dampen attendance one bit at this year's event. Announcement near the end of both nights put attendance upwards of 11K out of 13K and change. And most of that was out of town fans. That's pretty damn good.

The Redhawk fans certainly made their presence known, and their team responded accordingly, though it was a tight battle down to the finish.

St. Louis

I normally don't go to a 1st round site anymore, but this one was in St. Louis so I figured why not. I don't have to book a hotel.

Paul Oren and the March to the Arch guys were there on Friday, but they had media passes and there really was no way for me to bump into them to say hi. I was kind of bummed about that, but they don't owe me such a privilege.

Friday afternoon

The only game of the 3 I attended that was any good was the first afternoon game, and Santa Clara's dramatic regulation win was snatched away by a banked in 3 that would have made AJ Casey proud. I hate it when P5 teams get so damn lucky! UGH

The second game was a laugher, but during halftime, the Iowa State pep band served up a couple of minutes of the Iron Man 3 end credits song. YAY! 

Friday evening

I wore my Carson Schweiger Valpo T-shirt, that anomaly the NIL store sent me when I ordered the Cooper Schweiger T-shirt a year and a half ago, but the ticket I bought was in section 334 (one of the end zones). It ended up feeling like an empty gesture, unfortunately. I did enjoy watching Carson start the game and play decent. He hit a couple of 3s. But he is clearly a role player and not the main guy. Every time he scored or grabbed a tough rebound or got a steal, I clapped loudly, and the Purdue fans around me didn't give me any dirty looks, so that's a win.

Of course, by the under-12 media timeout in the 2nd half, Purdue had a statistically safe lead, so I got up and left (the 2nd game is Mizzou-Miami - not staying for two P5 teams playing each other). I also did not return on Sunday for the same reason.