Creighton’s Doug McDermott is the only player besides Cody Zeller to be in the Top 15 on www.valueaddbasketball.com last season and this season, and having surged from 28th to 14th in two weeks does deserve the Player of the Year consideration he is getting. At 2 p.m. ET Friday he leads 1-seed Creighton against 9-seed Drake, which beat Bradley 81-66 Thursday. Wichita State expects to play Creighton in the championship game, and hosts 7-seed Missouri State after Missouri State beat Southern Illinois 61-53 Thursday.
Fans of Middle 20 teams should root for the two favorites, who will make the tournament regardless. An upset by anyone else would take another spot away from a Middle 20 team. Jake Odum had Larry Bird’s alma mater competiting for an at-large bid for part of the season, but the would need to win the tournament to make it. Odum actually had a Value Add slightly higher than McDermott’s until McDermott went on an incredible run last week. The championship will be held Sunday in St. Louis.
| Conf Rnk | Natl Rnk | Elite 8 Players/Teams | MVC | Ht | Value Add |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | McDermott, Doug | Creighton | 6-08 | 7.95 |
| 2 | 28 | Odum, Jake | Indiana St. | 6-04 | 7.02 |
| 3 | 71 | Carmichael, Jackie | Illinois St. | 6-09 | 6.04 |
| 4 | 142 | Gibbs, Grant | Creighton | 6-05 | 4.93 |
| 5 | 156 | Tuttle, Seth | Northern Iowa | 6-08 | 4.76 |
| 6 | 203 | Koch, Jake | Northern Iowa | 6-09 | 4.36 |
| 7 | 211 | Ryan, Colt | Evansville | 6-05 | 4.31 |
| 8 | 212 | Early, Cleanthony | Wichita St. | 6-08 | 4.29 |
| 1 | 20 | Team Rank | Creighton | ||
| 2 | 35 | Team Rank | Wichita St. | ||
| 3 | 61 | Team Rank | Illinois St. | ||
| 4 | 71 | Team Rank | Northern Iowa | ||
| 5 | 84 | Team Rank | Evansville | ||
| 6 | 98 | Team Rank | Indiana St. | ||
| 7 | 125 | Team Rank | Drake | ||
| 8 | 169 | Team Rank | Bradley |
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