MVC – There’s No Place Like Home?

(St. Louis, MO) – Home Court Advantage. We hear those words over and over and generally they make sense to us but but ‘home cooking’ hasn’t been that good lately for Missouri Valley Conference teams.

This past week Valley home teams split their ten games with the road squads. Road warriors earned as many victories (5) as the home teams. Three games into the conference slate, home teams were doing what they are supposed to do. Win! Home teams won ten of the first 15 conference match ups.

They are an underwhelming 7-8 since then. With 17 wins in their first 30 home opportunities, Valley teams are winning .566 of their games in front of their own pep band and cheerleaders. Prior to Sunday’s ‘split’ of home and road games. Valley historian and media relations man Mike Kern noted road teams are winning games at the highest rate in at least the last 15 seasons.

We have played one third of the MVC season and attendance figures show six of ten Valley teams are drawing fewer fans to their home games than last season. Eight of the teams have evenly split their games with three at home and three on the road. Evansville with four home games and Missouri State with 2 are the exceptions.

The four teams with increased home attendance are a combined 9-4 in home league play. The teams with a decreased fan base are 8-and-9. Cause and effect? Chicken and the egg? We don’t know.

Developing a Home Court Advantage

Evansville is just 2-2 in their conference home games (8-3 overall), but head coach Walter McCarty says the Ford Center is growing into a true home court advantage. Attendance is up by nearly 1,400 fans per game and McCarty says Evansville fans are loud and love college basketball.

 

 

Loyola assistant coach Bryan Mullins echos McCarty’s sentiments when speaking about the Ramblers’ Gentile Arena. Attendance is up over 1,100 per game and Mulllins says the student section is doing its job.

 

 

Last year Valley teams won .688 of their home contests (62-28) and MVC squads could still rally and reestablish home dominance and that could be critical in a tight Valley race. League leaders Valparaiso and Loyola (both 5-1) have each won two of their first three road games.

Getting road wins is the way you climb the league standings ladder, winning home games is how you keep from getting buried. Bradley (1-5 & 0-3 at home) hosts Illinois State in their annual ‘I-74 Rivalry Series’ game this week. A home win against a bitter rival would be great medicine for a sick patient.

After Bradley’s tough start, coach Brian Wardle says every game has to be a ‘rivalry game’ for the Braves.

 

 

Southern Illinois is 4-and-5 at home and 4-and-4 on the road. Head coach Barry Hinson says the key to winning road games is maintaining a ‘fox-hole mentality’ and developing some confidence.

 

 

Valparaiso’s Matt Lottich agrees. The Crusaders’ coach says teams have to take an ‘us against the world’ mentality to win in difficult conference road environments.

 

 

In Wednesday’s upcoming games all three over .500 teams play on the road. Protecting that home court advantage for the Braves, Indiana State and Missouri State would tighten the entire league race.

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