This latter factor might explain why the games seem so intense and competitive come tournament time. When you also factor in that the tournament is well-run and that fans may have a closer emotional connection with teams where their players are much more likely to play a full 4 years, it all adds up to "Arch Madness". In short, the prospect of visiting a city that has more entertainment alternatives relative to their norm fuels the excitement associated with "Arch Madness". You've got more restaurants, bars, and shopping options to enjoy. It's akin to a St Louisans excitement when traveling to Chicago or New York. To them, coming to St Louis for a weekend is a big deal. Wichita, Omaha, Carbondale, Evansville, Des Moines, Peoria, Terre Haute) view St Louis as a "big city" relative to their communities. Regarding entertainment options, it's always been my perception that folks from MVC cities (e.g. So SIU students and fans had a relatively short commute to begin with, and SIU likely has more alum that now reside in St Louis after graduation due to proximity than the other MVC schools. Carbondale, IL is a mere 100 miles from St Louis. This is especially helpful in attracting students who are less likely to afford airfare.Īdditionally, location helped drive the "Saluki Factor". And no school is further than a 7 hour drive. Regarding location, the average MVC school is approximately 260 miles from St Louis. Previously I've written about the importance of (A) location and (B) alternate entertainment options as 2 critical determinants of attendance. Still, though, their attendance figures are relatively strong. The MVC has only had 1 March Madness participant in each of the last 3 years, and this (along with a sagging economy and a less dominant SIU squad) might partially explain why their conference attendance numbers have dipped some the last few years. The MVC's tournament success may come as a surprise given the MVC's recent lack of success in placing conference members into the Big Dance. GEOGRAPHY AND ENTERTAINMENT OPTIONS EXPLAIN SUCCESS OF "ARCH MADNESS" The years that Southern Illinois University was among the nation's Top 25 (2006, 2007, 2008), the tournament attendance peaked largely because the Salukis either reached the conference finals or there was strong demand due to their previous year's successes. "Arch Madness" attendance is highly correlated with the "Saluki Factor". "Arch Madness" in its best seasons has had better attendances than some BCS conference tournaments Though these cross-conference comparisons paint the MVC's tournament in a positive light, it actually understates how well "Arch Madness" has drawn historically.Ĭonsider these attendance number for "Arch Madness" since 2003: Year And further note that the 13th best attended conference tournament from 2010, the Atlantic 10 tournament, is another 1500 fans below the 12th place Metro Atlantic. Note the 2500 attendee gap between the MVC and Conference USA. Rankings denote tournament seeding.The MWC and MVC leave other non-BCS conference tournaments in the dust. The top six seeds received first-round byes. Teams were seeded by conference record, with ties broken by record between the tied teams followed by overall adjusted RPI, if necessary. This was the last MVC tournament for Wichita State, as it would leave its conference home of nearly 70 years to join the American Athletic Conference in July 2017. Wichita State defeated Illinois State in the championship game and earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The tournament was held at the Scottrade Center, now known as Enterprise Center, in St. The 2017 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament, popularly referred to as "Arch Madness", was the postseason men's basketball tournament that completed the 2016–17 season in the Missouri Valley Conference.
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