Pizza Parlor Madness: Southern Illinois

Nickname: Salukis
Colors: Maroon, Black
Location: Carbondale, Illinois
Enrollment: 21,500
Conference: Missouri Valley Conference
Distinguished Alumni: Jim Belushi, Jenny McCarthy, Dennis Franz, Richard Roundtree (Shaft)

Head Coach: Chris Lowery
Record (Conference Record): 22-10 (12-6)
Advanced by: Beating Bradley 59-46 to win Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
RPI: 38
SOS: 64
Best Performance: Wins over Wichita State, Northern Iowa, Creighton, Missouri State, and Bradley
Best Player: G Jamal Tatum
No. of Seniors: 2
NCAA Tournament Appearances (in four years): 12 (4)
Likely Seed: 7

What is a Saluki? Apparently it is a dog that the Mesopotamians and Egyptians used to help hunt. I do know Southern Illinois is full of basketball players with dreadlocks and hot cheerleaders, I didn't see one below an 8 during the CBS broadcast of their Bradley game. Many people are curious to see how many teams the Missouri Valley Conference gets into the tournament. Why is it so many this year? Basically The Valley has a huge disparity between the top six teams in the conference and the bottom four. So to best get the top six teams into the NCAA Tournament, The Valley had one team (Northern Iowa) schedule high-profile non conference teams, and the rest of the top six schedule lesser tier teams but play on the road. Northern Iowa has beaten LSU, Iowa and Bucknell this season, and almost every team in the top six has beaten Northern Iowa and beaten each other. So you have six teams getting RPI rub from Northern Iowa's wins over LSU, Iowa, and Bucknell and gotten credit for playing teams on the road which enhances strength of schedule. That is why you have all six of these teams in the top 42 RPI. I don't expect all to get in, but give the Commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference a lot of credit for playing the system beautifully. Southern Illinois actually has the worst non-conference resume of the group and while MVC teams are trendy picks to win first round games, I would look elsewhere like Northern Iowa, Wichita State, and Missouri State for upset candidates.