Northern Iowa takes automatic bid with MVC Championship
Sunday, March 8th, 2009Arch Madness has now come and gone and the Panthers of Northern Iowa have won the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The seeding held true as UNI received the #1 seed for the MVC Tournament after a 14-4 conference record and defeated #9 Indiana State and #4 Bradley to advance to the Missouri Valley Conference Championship Game before topping #3 Illinois State 60-57 in overtime this afternoon.
With the win Northern Iowa improves to 23-10 and will await the 2009 NCAA Tournament selection committee to see where they will play next. It seems Creighton and Illinois State are the only MVC teams who have a shot at an at-large bid as the Tournament is now over. Creighton is 26-7 and #40 in the RPI with 11 wins in their last 12 games while Illinois State is 24-9 and #46 in the RPI and 7-5 in their last 12 games despit advancing to the Missouri Valley Championship Game.