Went to st. Louis last week and saw the Ramblers play Chaivetz is a first class arena for sure. Great sound system and seating lines. Easy access to get in. Fantastic "free" score booklet. first class with color pictures and of course corporate advertising.
Hats off to the Billikens as well.

This week the MVC tourney starts. Miss that already and now miss it even more.

a review of the Marriott Brooklyn Bridge hotel revealed rooms were listed as going for FOUR THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND SEVENTY DOLLARS,
YES THAT IS $4870.00.

A BIT PRICEY FOR SURE.
The Marriott is where the teams are staying and is the official A10 hotel.

Managed to book a room there two months ago at $549 a night but you needed to guarantee three nights.
so shopped around and got the Fairfield Inn in lower manhattan with free breakfast for $150 per night. I have stayed there before and it is near the
Staten island Ferry and Walll Street, the old WTC complex, Goldman Sachs and AIG. so it is not a dumpy area.
Right near the Brooklyn Bridge and a short ten minute ride to the Barclay.

Moving on up as a price!

i blame the rate at the Marriott on the Ukraine War.

I might venture down to St Louis for the SIU game Friday night. I imagine it will be a weird feeling…as if the previous 9 years were all a dream that I woke up from and find myself cheering for the Salukis at Arch Madness again.

Arch Madness is one of the best conference tourneys, imo. The location, the branding, the great championship slot on CBS. It used to be a lot bigger in the days of Wichita and Creighton and when SIU was good. I watched it every year when we were still in the Horizon and will continue watching it now that we are in the A10.

This year, Bradley & Drake have separated themselves as the top two teams. I give the slight edge in STL to Drake to win this year, given nearly all of their contributors have made the run to the Sunday championship 2x. That veteran leadership is key. SIU has great defense, but man, they just cannot put up points. ISUb and Belmont both run great offensive sets and are a legit threat.

I like the A10 tourney being in NYC. Fun weekend trip, obviously plenty to do, see and eat. Little pricier, of course, than a trip down to STL. I do think the A10 tourney has the disadvantage of being overshadowed by all of the P6 tourneys going on at the same time. Arch Madness is the premier conference tourney this weekend.

I believe we held the record for biggest blowout in Arch Madness history when we beat Indiana St 81-53 in 2015. We just lost that record as Indiana St beat Evansville 97-58. At least we still have the NCAA Tournament blowout record!

Also, a semi-big moment for our program was Milton hitting the buzzer beater in our first MVC tournament game. Maybe we can conjure up some of that magic for the A-10 tournament and at least show we won't be a push over.

Wear a Harry Potter scarf just to confuse the mouth breathers.

Watched most of yesterday's opener games, and will do the same again today.
Today's and tomorrow's should be dandies.

I don't think many realize it produced FIVE 20+ win teams. 4 of those 5 will potentially play again tomorrow. Each has an equal shot getting a bid.

I feel like at times our fanbase took the MVC for granted. Very underrated league. I lament at not being there this weekend, as it turned into a tradition.

I miss our old stop, The Wheelhouse. Loew's Hotel last year was a nice choice and spot too. Got lucky with a very great weekend last year.

I do not miss the angry Bradley people.

agree with that post...both leagues will be a 1 bidder this year and if you look at the last 6 years, the A10 and their performance in the NCAA has not been stellar. We can talk all we want about the athleticism and length in the A10 vs the Valley, but I think the A10 has 1 win in the last 4 years in the tourney (Richmond).

Drake and Loyola won 3 just 2 years ago.

The A-10 had maybe 5 significant non-con wins: Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Memphis, Vanderbilt and maybe the biggest was our win vs Clemson...but there were a lot of bad losses including SLU to SIU-Edwardsville. There are a lot of teams with new young players and transfers in the A-10. Watching the MVC tournament today, some great games but the talent level just does not equal the A-10. The A-10 was 11-2 against the Valley during the non-con.. But I still wish we were playing at Arch Madness.

That ISUb/Belmont game was one of the more fun college basketball games I've watched in a while. Just back and forth all game. I think we saw flashes of it last year...Josh Schertz can really coach. His offense runs like a well-oiled machine. And Cooper Neese was absolutely on fire. Tomorrow's Bradley/ISUb semi will be a good one. Conflicting styles, but they are both talented and well-coached.

Drake struggled a bit with Murray St. but pulled away, meaning all new schools have been eliminated before the semis. SIU/MoSt is a bit of a slugfest. Salukis just can't score the ball. Going to be some murmurs down in Carbondale is Mullins bows out in the quarters in his 4th season with his most talented squad.

Still think Drake is the favorite.

Bradley UNI matinee was outstanding also. Bradley winning streak to 11 now. They’ll be dangerous if and might win a round or two if they get the bid. Both games (pending SIU outcome) should be excellent tomorrow.

I don’t remember all 4 Friday games and all of Thursdays games getting this same all-day network airtime and the quality of broadcasts in prior years, so job well done. MVC broadcast teams working hard today and this weekend.

I agree with Nate - the A10 talent level, athletes, and competition is substantially greater than MVC’s