Bob Lutz: Shockers beginning to lap other MVC basketball programs

Give credit to Northern Iowa for challenging Wichita State this season. The Panthers not only came within a game of WSU in the Missouri Valley Conference basketball race but managed to do what no Valley team has done since the 2012-13 season – beat the Shockers.

UNI accomplished that amazing feat, 70-54, on Jan. 31 in Cedar Falls.

Otherwise, the MVC has been Wichita State’s graveyard. The Shockers have buried the conference beneath an avalanche of talent, resources, devotion and one of the best coaches in the country.

If things go as expected this weekend in St. Louis, where the Valley tournament will be played for the 25th time, it’ll be Round 3 of Wichita State-Northern Iowa in the championship game on Sunday afternoon. It’s hard to fathom a scenario in which that game doesn’t happen. Such is the predictability of the MVC this season.

I suppose Illinois State could shock the world. Maybe Indiana State will have a day. Evansville? Now let’s not get carried away.

The Shockers had their St. Louis breakthrough last season, finally winning the tournament.

Wichita State has won 38 of its past 39 Valley games, including three games in last year’s tournament at the Scottrade Center. Only two of those wins have been by five or fewer points – a harrowing overtime win at Missouri State last season and a three-point win at Bradley on Feb. 4 after the Shockers blew a comfortable lead.

Not only has Wichita State dominated this conference for a while now, but the Shockers have taken the drama out of games. Only seven have been decided by fewer than 10 points, while WSU has won 31 games by 10 or more and 12 by 20-plus.

So what, exactly, is the state of Missouri Valley Conference basketball?

Take nothing away from Wichita State. The Shockers have proven they’re a national-level program, capable of playing with and beating the big boys in college basketball. When the NCAA Tournament begins in a couple of weeks, WSU will be one of those teams nobody wants to play.

But outside of Northern Iowa, where is the rest of the Valley? And does even UNI have enough to sustain this level of success next season? The following season?

What we’ve learned about the Shockers is that as long as Gregg Marshall remains as coach, the program is in great shape. Even if Marshall leaves for another challenge, Wichita State has the money, support and tradition to remain the Valley’s kingpin. To lose Marshall – and I don’t think that’s going to happen in the foreseeable future – would not be an excuse for the Shockers to slide into the middle of the Valley pack.

Three of the most-trusted Valley basketball brands – Bradley, Southern Illinois and Missouri State – are the bottom three teams in the conference. That’s a bad sign and Bradley, especially, is likely to see a complete overhaul of its basketball program and administration after the season.

Those three schools recognize the importance of men’s basketball but have gotten themselves into a sorry state that will not be easy to fix.

Drake is a long-standing Valley member whose best basketball was played almost 50 years ago. The Bulldogs have had only a couple of radar blips since.

Evansville has some talent, as indicated by its two All-Valley players this season, and a solid coach in Marty Simmons. But the Purple Aces will never have what Wichita State has.

Indiana State has a fantastic coach in Greg Lansing. The Sycamores usually hover around .500 most of the time, occasionally getting into the upper half of the conference. They just need another Larry Bird to come along.

Illinois State is a program to watch. The Redbirds have lots of young talent and athleticism, but haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1998, which is also the last time ISU won a Valley regular-season title.

Loyola is the school the Valley chose to replace Creighton after the 2012-13 season. Let’s leave it at that.

There’s a cyclical nature to all things, especially college basketball. There are no guarantees that Wichita State will stay on top of the conference or that Bradley will remain on the bottom. Players and coaches depart. New players emerge. It’s the yin and yang of college athletics.

But when Wichita State is flexing this kind of muscle that results in this much dominance, it’s fair to wonder whether the rest of the Valley can keep up.

Other Valley schools aren’t as committed to basketball. Marshall’s salary, which has been on a sharp incline because of all the winning, dwarfs that of other Valley coaches.

Wichita State draws a capacity 10,506 to every home game, even the many conference snoozers of the past couple of seasons. There’s an anticipation here now of the postseason and what seed the Shockers can draw in the NCAA Tournament. WSU’s program has outgrown the Valley; there are bigger and better things by which the Shockers gauge themselves.

It was a tough blow not only to the Valley but to Wichita State when Creighton left for the Big East two years ago. It robbed WSU of its natural rival and took from the conference one of its best basketball programs.

Northern Iowa has filled that void this year. Wichita State’s game against the Panthers last Saturday at Koch Arena was one of the most-anticipated Valley games in years.

But there’s not enough of those games. Outside of UNI this season – the Panthers finished third, third, fourth and fifth the previous four seasons – the rest of the Valley isn’t keeping up. Marshall and the Shockers have set the bar incredibly high and there’s not such spring in the legs of opposing MVC teams.

This story was originally published March 5, 2015 at 11:45 AM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Shockers beginning to lap other MVC basketball programs."