MVCfans.com

I know that there aren't many that post on here, but for what it is worth, I'll get something started. Belmont took 7th ranked Louisville to the wire. Belmont lost it in the last minute of play. I'm hoping that we play with that kind of intensity with the rest of the out of conference.

The last several years the MVC has done very well in women's basketball. Drake dominated the conference for a few years then other teams, most notably Missouri State, rose to the occasion. Early on I was optimistic the Drake-Belmont games might be battles of ranked teams but that has not come into fruition.

Drake started out with an overtime loss to Iowa in one of the best atmospheres I've ever seen for any basketball game in Des Moines. Typically Drake schedules a very, if not the most challenging non-conference schedule possible. Drake was able to take advantage of injury-ridden Nebraska but couldn't close the comeback against Creighton. South Dakota is having a down year and the Iowa State game got cancelled due to weather.

Drake currently sits 47 in NET. UNI next at 72. The conference as a whole is not as strong as it has been and I would expect both teams to drop as the conference season progresses as NET tends to favor power conference teams especially as conference play continues.

Unfortunately we're likely going to be a 1-bid league this year to the NCAA Tournament with a low seed.

Belmont's record isn't as good as I would like, but it will prepare them for league play. Their schedule was brutal this year. They played 3 teams that were ranked when they played them. They also had to play an ACC team twice and an SEC team. Here's what they played in the non-conference.

Lost to #5 Louisville by 5
Lost to #4 Iowa by 11
Lost to #23 Villanova by 3
Lost to Georgia Tech by 6
Lost to Georgia Tech by 4
Lost to Georgia by 11

They kept most of those games close, but couldn't get over the hump.