St. Louis — The most newsworthy cat of Missouri Valley Conference media day wasn’t supposed to come out of the bag on Tuesday, but it escaped during a coaches’ news conference.
The Missouri Valley and Mountain West Conferences have initiated a conference challenge series that will begin during the 2009-10 season. The league didn’t want to make the Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge announcement on Tuesday, but it was accidentally mentioned by Bradley coach Jim Les during a news conference and the Valley confirmed it minutes later.
The challenge will be like the Big Ten-ACC Challenge as selected schools from one conference will travel to another. The league said it hopes to agree on a four-year commitment starting in 2009, though that timeline is not yet confirmed.
MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin said that the league has been trying for five or six years to get a challenge off the ground. Conference USA and the Atlantic were bandied about as possible partners at one time. In the end, the idea of the MVC and the Mountain West was voted on by the coaches in May, the administrators during the fall, and was approved in principle by the Mountain West earlier this month.
“Since the start of Bracket Buster, we thought we’d be well-served to have a challenge of sorts with another league. It’s difficult to get going because you’re always running into the notion that one league things its playing down to face another,” Elgin said. “We tried to get various agreements, doubleheaders for example, but never got traction on it. Finally, we were able to come to this agreement.”
Details of the matchups are not yet known. With 10 Valley schools and only nine in the Mountain West, one Valley team will be left out on a yearly basis.
“In theory, the 10th seed from the [MVC] conference tourney will be the team that isn’t matched up with one of the Mountain West teams, but that still has to be worked out,” Elgin said. “We have a lot of logistical issues to work out. The challenge will be working around exam periods, regularly scheduled games, exempt tournaments. We are confident we can get things worked out.”
Another challenge is television. ESPN has the first right to Valley games, the Mountain West has a contract with CSTV.
Aside from exposure in different markets, one advantage for league members is that the challenge will take one more open date off the schedule, a Godsend for Valley teams that struggle to find home-and-home series with large conference schools.
“I like it. I think the Mountain West is a strong league, like ours. It’ll be a tough travel thing to get to places like Laramie, Wyoming and Provo, Utah, but it’s still an exciting thing for the league. It has to be good with some of the basketball names that are out there,” ISU coach Kevin McKenna said.
The Mountain West consists of Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming.
“The Mountain West is a good conference and very similar to us in many ways. It gives our fans a chance to see teams they don’t regularly get to see,” ISU Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman said. “I think it’s a great thing for our conference and for scheduling. Being a good mid-major, it’s hard for us to get teams in our building. This gives us a guaranteed, good team every other year in our building.”
n Tough non-conference awaits — Visits from Kansas State and 2007 WNIT champion Marquette highlight ISU’s home non-conference women’s schedule.
“I think our non-conference schedule is much tougher than the one we played last year,” ISU women’s coach Jim Wiedie said. “You’ve got two teams potentially that are probably going to be in the Top 25 in Marquette and Kansas State. Marquette won WNIT last year.”
ISU also plays usual intra-state rivals Butler and Ball State in addition to Eastern Illinois across the state border. EIU is picked to win the Ohio Valley Conference.
“I really think that the schedule itself is probably a little more challenging than you would like with so many new players,” Wiedie said. “I would feel better if we had this schedule next year. I do think it will prepare us for league play. The last couple years we’ve tried to do a better job of trying to schedule.”
Thanks to upgraded schedules by several programs including Indiana State last season, the MVC women ranked No. 5 in strength of schedule among the conferences and No. 9 in RPI.
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MVC, Mountain West agree to challenge series
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ISU's Webb wins heptathlon
Indiana State’s Robert Webb captured the heptathlon Saturday at the Grand Valley State Big Meet as he totaled the second most points in ISU history while dominating the event. Webb scored 5,140 points, which is second only to former Sycamore Anthony Bertoli’s 5,189 points in 2008.
Webb, a senior, established three more personal best efforts enroute to the overall victory as he ran 8.45 in the 60 meter hurdles and 2 minutes, 50.73 seconds in the 1,000 meters while also clearing 13-1 1/2 in the pole vault. Webb entered the second day of the event in the lead with 2,893 points after winning three of the four Friday events and setting personal bests in the long jump and shot put. -
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Indiana State set an NCAA record for 3-point percentage and consecutive 3-pointers made Saturday afternoon in Hulman Center, connecting on all 12 attempts during a 78-68 win over Southern Illinois.
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‘Frustrated’ Sycamores regroup to face Southern Illinois
Indiana State’s men’s basketball struggles have hit one Sycamore senior hard.
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Thomas nets double-double as ISU women end losing streak
The halftime speech is one of the most time-worn clichés in sports, but once in a while, it’s meaningful. It certainly was for the Indiana State women’s basketball team on Friday against Bradley.
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Sycamore women looking to snap six-game losing streak
The Indiana State women’s basketball team is in dire need of a victory in Hulman Center this weekend.
Bradley visits Terre Haute tonight looking to sweep the season series from the Sycamores, who are in jeopardy of the program’s first seven-game losing streak since the 1995-96 season.
“I think it should [add to motivation]. There’s no doubt that group in the locker room in there is very disappointed,” Coach Teri Moren said. “As I keep saying, we’re in a rough patch right now, and there’s no group of kids that wants to get right back on track more than they do.” -
Leonard dominates in first half, but IU, Zeller earn the victory
The first half belonged to Illinois’ Meyers Leonard.
The win belonged to Indiana and Cody Zeller.
The 23rd-ranked Hoosiers (19-6, 7-6 Big Ten) took advantage of a glaring free-throw discrepancy to defeat the Illini 84-71 on Thursday. -
Rose women roll; Dickerson becomes all-time assists leader
Rose-Hulman senior Alisa Dickerson became the college’s career leader in assists as the Engineers cruised past Defiance 60-33 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s basketball Saturday afternoon in Hulbert Arena.
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MVC’s worst a tantalizing option for ISU
Even though the Indiana State men’s basketball team has played better of late, having won three of its last four games, there’s only one team with a worse record in the Missouri Valley Conference standings than the Sycamores.
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Sycamores can’t stop Stutz, Shockers
All or nothing. It was that kind of game for Wichita State center Garrett Stutz. Unfortunately for Indiana State’s men’s basketball team, the “all” came in the second half.
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McWhorter’s fortunes rise with ISU’s
More so than any other Sycamore, Steve McWhorter might embody the decline and the recent rise of the Indiana State men’s basketball team.
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Johnson dominates again for ISU track
Felisha Johnson continued to dominate women’s weight throw while two Indiana State hurdlers moved into today’s finals after solid performances in the preliminaries Friday at the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame.
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Indiana State women lose at Illinois State
Playing short-handed again, Indiana State’s women suffered their sixth straight Missouri Valley Conference basketball loss Friday night, falling 78-67 to host Illinois State.
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Indiana, Purdue meet with both looking to regain momentum
Indiana University’s stint in the Top 25 may be coming to an end. Purdue is just looking for a winning streak.
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ISU women looking to end five-game losing streak at Illinois State
Within a few points in the final minutes, Indiana State had chances to win women’s basketball games at Missouri State and Wichita State last weekend.
But the Sycamores lost for the fourth and fifth straight games, also losing freshman Jessica Valley for the season at Wichita State. The promising backcourt player tore the ACL in her right knee and began strengthening exercises this week in order to make plans for surgery. -
ISU Senior Day game to be televised on ESPN
The Missouri Valley Conference announced Thursday that Indiana State’s regular season finale against No. 12-ranked Creighton on Feb. 25 in Hulman Center has been chosen as the MVC’s “wild card” game that will be telecast on either ESPN or ESPN2.
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Hoosiers load up on in-state players
With a 1-11 record in his first season as IU football coach, Kevin Wilson knew there were a lot of holes to fill in terms of personnel.
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It’s on: Sycamores, Bulldogs to play at Hinkle on Feb. 18
How badly did Indiana State want to get Butler as its BracketBusters opponent?
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METRO ROUNDUP: Four from Rose receive weekly honors
Four Rose-Hulman athletes earned Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference weekly honors, the HCAC announced Monday.
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Hoosiers reclaim needed offensive momentum
Indiana hadn’t allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40 percent in three straight games heading into Sunday’s home game against Iowa.
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Sycamores will have to match Aces’ toughness
Indiana State men’s basketball coach Greg Lansing has an enduring respect for the toughness Evansville coach Marty Simmons coaxes out of his Purple Aces.
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Rose, The Woods post weekend victories
Rose-Hulman relied on a balanced scoring attack and a strong defensive effort to earn a 55-44 women’s basketball victory Saturday over Mount St. Joseph.
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ISU's Stacia Weatherford sets school record in 60-meter hurdles
Indiana State junior Stacia Weatherford set the school record in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, while sophomore Greggmar Swift dominated the action in the men’s 60 hurdles during competition Saturday at the Indiana Relays.
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Rose takes first in Engineer Track and Field Invitational
Rose-Hulman relied on nine event victories, 13 top-two finishes and three school records for a strong performance at the ninth annual Engineer Track and Field Invitational on Saturday.
The men’s squad captured first place honors in a meet that featured two of the nation's top 20 NCAA Division III squads and 12 institutions from seven states. The day’s competition also included 10 meet records. -
Mattox’s 31 not enough for ISU women
Indiana State pulled within 63-57 with a 6-0 run with 8 minutes, 50 seconds remaining Friday night at JQH Arena, but the Sycamores lost 84-70 to host Missouri State in a Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball game.
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Mattox, Sycamores staying positive on road trip to Missouri State, Wichita State
Indiana State seniors Brittany Schoen and Deja Mattox are within striking distance of passing 1,000 points in their women’s basketball careers, and they would join classmate Shannon Thomas in that club. Schoen needs just 16 points, while Mattox is 89 points away.
But Mattox has been on a roll of late, scoring a team-high 15.1 points through ISU’s 4-3 start to Missouri Valley Conference play. -
IU triumphs
When Indiana’s Will Sheehey left the floor after receiving his second technical foul, the Hoosier fans cheered.
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ISU women nipped at buzzer
Creighton sophomore Carli Tritz — blanketed by Indiana State senior Brittany Schoen — had just two points at halftime Friday in Hulman Center.
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ISU needs to find chip on its shoulder
When one looks back at the totality of Indiana State’s 2010-11 men’s basketball season, there’s a recurrent theme that tied together the high points in a 20-14 campaign. A recurrent theme that might give ISU a lifeline in what has been a disappointing 2012 season.
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ISU women look to reverse recent trend vs. Creighton
The Creighton women’s basketball team has won three of their last four games in Hulman Center. While the Bluejays have been one of the winningest programs in the Missouri Valley Conference — with at least 12 league wins in seven of the last nine seasons — the Bluejays’ success in Terre Haute would need to end if the Sycamores want to show that their 4-1 start to league play is not a fluke.
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