The 2009–10 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season marks the 101st season of

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

Preseason

In the preseason,

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

was the conference favorite – returning all five starters and 9 of the top 10 players from their MVC championship team. UNI received all but one first-place vote in the preseason poll of MVC coaches, media, and

sports information director A sports information director is a type of public relations worker who provides statistics, team and player notes and other information about a college or university's sports teams to the news media and general public. Abbreviated "SID," sports inf ...

s. Creighton received the other first place vote. The preseason player of the year was 2009 MVC conference tournament MVP

Osiris Eldridge Osiris Eldridge (born June 18, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Büyükçekmece Basketbol of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL). He played college basketball for Illinois State University, Illinois Sta ...

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...

– who tested the NBA draft waters over the offseason. Also in the preseason, three MVC players were named to the

Lowe's Senior CLASS Award The Senior CLASS Award is awarded to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in 10 NCAA Division I sports. An acronym for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School," the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete ...

preseason candidate list: Dodie Dunson of

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

, Adam Koch of Northern Iowa and Josh Young of

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

MVC Preseason Poll

Preseason All-MVC Team

*Kwadzo Ahelegbe, Northern Iowa *

, Illinois State *Tony Freeman, Southern Illinois *

Adam Koch Adam Koch (born May 4, 1988) is a former American professional basketball player. He was an NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, All-American player as a collegian at University of Northern Iowa and led the Panthers to a memorable upset of top-se ...

, Northern Iowa *P'Allen Stinnett, Creighton *Josh Young, Drake Preseason Player of the Year *Osiris Eldridge, Illinois State

Regular season

Non-conference

Bradley was dealt a tough blow in their season opener as, for the fourth consecutive season, the Braves suffered an injury to a key player. Senior guard Dodie Dodson broke two bones in his forearm in Bradley's home opener against

Idaho State , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

. Bradley won the game, 74–69, but likely lost Dodson for the season. In another memorable opening games, Creighton hung tough at number 21

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

, but ultimately lost down the stretch 70–60. The Bluejays led 46–41 at the half and were within 3 points with 2 minutes left to play. Jake Kelly also made his debut for

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

, scoring 16 in an 88–58 win over Nebraska-Kerney. Kelly transferred to Indiana State from

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

to be closer to home after the death of his mother.

Mountain West – Missouri Valley Challenge

The

won the inaugural challenge with 6 wins to the Mountain West's 4 wins. 2009 marked the inaugural year of the Mountain West - Missouri Valley Challenge – matching teams from the MVC against teams from the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

in an effort to bolster strength of schedule for both leagues. Match-ups were set in January 2009 and were based on 2008–09 preseason projections.Pairings Announced for 2009 MWC/MVC Challenge in Men's Basketball
,

, retrieved 2009-10-10 * November 13: Bradley @

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

– Bradley L 60–70 * November 20:

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

@ Indiana State – Indiana State W 65–60 * November 21:

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

– SIU L 69–78 * December 5:

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

@ Missouri State – Missouri State W 58–48 * December 12: TCU @ Wichita State – Wichita State W 80–68 * December 19: Creighton @

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

– New Mexico W 66–61 * December 19:

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

– Illinois State W 73–63 * December 22:

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

@ Drake-San Diego State W 76–73 (OT) * December 23:

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

- Northern Iowa W 72–54

Conference season

Postseason

MVC Tournament

Conference awards & honors

Weekly awards

MVC Players of the Week
Throughout the conference season, the MVC offices name a player and newcomer of the week.

References

External links

MVC Official website2009–10 MVC Men's Basketball on-line media guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:2009-10 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Season