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Valley dominating in non-conference season

It's early, but the Missouri Valley Conference is starting to resemble the Big Ten - Bruce Weber's Illini excluded, of course.

SIU men's basketball has already beaten two teams with votes in the national polls, but the rest of the MVC has been equal - or better - than the Salukis so far.

On Wednesday alone, the MVC was 4-0 against Iowa State, Northern Illinois, Tennessee-Martin and San Francisco.

"It's exciting, for real," said senior guard Darren Brooks, who hasn't seen the conference do this well this early in a long time. "It's a mystery - everybody's probably wondering how the Valley's going to be, so it's fun to me. I'm excited."

As of November 28, the MVC has the fifth-best RPI in all of college basketball. SIU lost a tough game to Hawaii, but Creighton (6-0) and Wichita State (3-0) are still undefeated. Creighton has experienced an unreal season, defeating Missouri, Ohio State and Xavier, and almost every team in the conference has made noise in the non-conference season.

Creighton is of the verge on being ranked, and likely will be the only Valley team in the top 25 next week after SIU's loss at Hawaii. The return of point guard Tyler McKinney, who sat out the final half of last season with a freak eye injury, has sparked the Bluejays. McKinney hit the winning shot against Xavier Tuesday.

"Creighton's a great team," Xavier center Brian Thornton told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "They're knocking on the door to be in the Top 25, and we just came up a little short tonight."

But, Brooks said, there is still no doubt who the best team in the MVC is.

"We're the best team," Brooks said. "Nobody's better than us. I don't really care what their record is, or whatever, we're the best team."

The projected top three, though, are not the only teams making noise against other conferences.

In the young season, few teams have encountered Valley teams without battle scars. Defending MVC tournament champion Northern Iowa played Cincinnati close and beat Iowa State by 17. Southwest Missouri State won at Northern Illinois, and Bradley beat the Huskies at home.

Even the MVC bottom-feeders have had some fun at the expense of quality programs. Illinois State beat Penn State and obliterated Missouri, Evansville beat Central Michigan and even lowly Indiana State got in on the action, losing by only four at Indiana.

Recruiting-wise, this is a big boost for SIU and the rest of the Valley. High school kids see when Valley teams are doing well, so even if Indiana State is hanging with Indiana, it vicariously helps SIU.

The name recognition, head coach Chris Lowery said, is important, and he knows potential recruits are out there watching scores.

"We're very happy," Lowery said. "And as far as recruiting, kids like to see us win against the major conferences."