SIU seeks high seed in NCAA tourney

~ The MVC tournament begins today.

ST. LOUIS -- The last eight regular-season Missouri Valley Conference champions have stumbled before the NCAA tournament.

No. 11 Southern Illinois has the pedigree to end that trend when the conference's four-day tournament starts today. The top-seeded Salukis (25-5) have the highest ranking in school history, the conference player of the year, a 15-3 league record and an 11-game winning streak.

"How they're not in the Top 10 absolutely just blows my mind," said Barry Hinson of third-seeded Missouri State. "If Chris Lowery does not receive coach of the year the system is absolutely messed up."

Southern Illinois has won the regular-season championship five of the last six years and won the tournament last March as the No. 2 seed.

Driving them this March: another three victories and their sixth straight NCAA bid will surely produce the best seed in conference history.

Since the NCAA tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1985, the Valley has done no better than a No. 6.

"Last year we needed to win and we played that way," Lowery said. "We're just talking about setting no limits. If we focus on the fact we're already in and we listen to all the national media, that takes away from what we're trying to do."

The Valley sent four teams to the NCAAs last year, most in conference history, and is hopeful of duplicating that effort. Runnerup Creighton (19-10), third-place Missouri State (21-9) and fourth-place Bradley (20-11) all could make a claim.

Creighton has won five of the last eight tournament championships.

For the second straight season, the Valley has six victories against teams from outside the conference in the Top 25. Three teams are in the top 40 in the RPI and the Valley, after peaking as the fifth-rated conference earlier this year, is a still-impressive sixth, and one rung ahead of the Big 12.

"It's a very good time for us," Lowery said. "They have to look at us, and not the name of our conference but what we've done."

Drake (16-14) plays No. 8 Evansville (14-16) and No. 6 Illinois State (15-15) plays No. 10 Indiana State (12-17) in lead-in games tonight. Southern Illinois plays the Evansville-Drake winner in the first of four quarterfinals on Friday.