Conference play is about to begin in the Missouri Valley, which means it’s a perfect time to look ahead to the end of the season. Non-conference play was a mixed bag for the Valley, there was one FBS win, Illinois State, the conference did get the head to head against the Big Sky, but there were also some hurtful losses(SIU to SEMO, Youngstown to Butler(!)).
For those new to the blog, we will do this once a week from now to the end of the season. There are ten automatic bids and 14 at-large selections.
Debate. Digest. Discuss.
AUTOMATIC BIDS (10)
Missouri Valley: North Dakota State
Colonial: James Madison
Ohio Valley: Jacksonville State
Northeast: Bryant
Patriot: Colgate
SoCon: Wofford
Southland: McNeese
Big Sky: Eastern Washington
Big South: Kennesaw State
Pioneer: Butler
AT-LARGE (14)
South Dakota State
Illinois State
South Dakota
Northern Iowa
Montana
Montana State
UC Davis
Weber State
Stony Brook
Maine
Villanova
Elon
Chattanooga
Nicholls
NEW TEAMS IN: UC Davis, Stony Brook, Maine, Chattanooga, Montana, Montana State, South Dakota, Butler, Colgate and Bryant
TEAMS OUT: Furman, Austin Peay, Youngstown State, Delaware, Duquesne, San Diego, Sam Houston, Lehi
gh, Samford and New Hampshire