Two Bid Valley

Loyola and Drake Go Dancing

(St. Louis, MO) – It is a two bid Valley after all! The last seven days have been a time of anxious waiting in Des Moines, Iowa, but Sunday afternoon the Drake Bulldogs were added to the NCAA Tournament. Loyola Chicago was the league’s automatic qualifier.

This is the Valley’s first multiple bid Big Dance party since 2016. Loyola is returning the March Madness for the first time since their Final Four run and 2018 and Drake’s visit is the Bulldogs’ first since 2008.

Quick Look at Loyola’s Match Up

The Ramblers were given an eight seed in the ‘Midwest Region’ and their draw will not be easy. Ninth seeded Georgia Tech (17-8) is red-hot after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title. The ACC championship was marred by the elimination of Duke and top seeded Virginia due to covid protocols.

LUC (24-4) faces a Yellow Jackets team that is battle tested but hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2010. The Jackets have won eight straight games This game will feature the Valley’s Player of the Year in Cameron Krutwig and the ACC’s top player in Moses Wright. Ironically each team boasts of their conference’s defensive player of the year too.

LUC’s Lucas Williamson earned the Valley nod and Tech’s Jose Alvarado was the ACC’s top defender.

The head coaches are similar in nature. Both Loyola’s Porter Moser and the Yellow Jackets’ Josh Pastner are energetic, passionate, defensive-minded coaches.

Read “Loyola – Prepping for The Dance” to learn more about LUC’s preparations for the tournament.

Loyola’s contest will be played some time Friday.

Drake Versus an Old Foe

Drake’s ‘First Four’ opponent brings back memories of past seasons. Former MVC member Wichita State is Darian DeVries’ team’s first obstacle to advance. The Shockers have a new coach (Isaac Brown) and were the American Athletic Conference’s regular season champions.

While WSU (16-5) got off to a slow start, they’ve won 14 of their last 17 games.

Brown was the AAC’s ‘Coach of the Year’ and DeVries earned his league’s coaching honors.

DeVries battled Shocker teams for many years. He faced them as a player at Northern Iowa and during his long tenure as an assistant coach at Crieghton.

The Emotions

DeVries says the relief and exhileration of getting into the tournament is hard to put into words. They have been practicing, knowing they would play in the National Invitation Tournament if they were passed over for the Big Dance, so their week was somewhat normal.

While practices were normal, Sunday afternoon, was anything but normal! The Bulldogs were nervous but then they’re great season was rewarded.

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✅ Name called on Selection Sunday

🎥 @kstarce14 ✂️ #DrakeALLIN#DSMHometownTeam pic.twitter.com/ggbHBQiaFT

— Drake Basketball (@DrakeBulldogsMB) March 15, 2021

Guard Garrett Sturtz told me many of the players are probably qualified to be on the NCAA’s Selection Committee due to the large amount of studying they’ve done on tournament probabilities.

Drake plays Thursday.

The ‘two bid Valley’ has a nice ring to it.

Do Good

 

Editor: Featured photo courtesy of Doug DeVoe and the Missouri Valley Conference