The Creighton Bluejays (14-4, 25-6) and the Northern Iowa Panthers (14-4, 20-10) closed out the Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball regular season winning the co-championship on Saturday. The Bluejays are hot, winning ten straight games, nine in the Valley to finish with UNI at 14-4. Creighton beat #3 Illinois State (11-7, 22-8) 74-70 at the Qwest Center Omaha to avenge a disappointing loss at home last season.
Arch Madness, the State Farm MVC basketball tournament, will take place this week in St. Louis, beginning on Thursday with the play-in games, with the finals airing on CBS Sports next Sunday afternoon. The top four seeds are: UNI, Creighton, Illinois State and Bradley (10-6, 17-13).
With the major conferences getting most of the at-large seeds in the NCAA Tournament, neither Creighton nor UNI have earned a lock for the Big Dance, with a co-championship in the Valley.
Creighton is certainly a team that would be fun to see make the Big Dance in 2009. Senior Booker Woodfox is certainly one of the many unsung heroes in mid-major basketball, as Creighton's win over George Mason in the Bracket Buster game on Feb. 21 showed.
Arch Madness is always a joy to follow. Today, as we celebrate March arriving and the coming of Spring. Who will make the 2009 Big Dance is in full drive?
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