ST. LOUIS (AP) — Here's the Missouri Valley's dream scenario for squeezing two teams into the NCAA tournament: No 2 seed Creighton advances to the final of this week's conference tournament, just misses out on the automatic bid and then gets an at-large berth based on its strong finish.
The Valley was a one-bid league last year, ending nine straight years of two or more bids and a major slide from the heady four-bid days of 2006. That will likely again be the case if the Bluejays don't follow this path.
Creighton has an RPI of 39, by far the best in a league ranked ninth in the country, and momentum from a 10-game winning streak heading into the four-day event that begins Thursday night in St. Louis.
The rest of the Valley appears to be NIT material at best.
