ST. LOUIS — The Wildcats? The Longhorns? The Rams? The Wolfpack? The Musketeers?
They are all Bluejays now. Arch Madness, indeed.
"It's kind of funny," point guard Antoine Young mused after his 25th-ranked Creighton squad throttled Evansville, 99-71, in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. "How all that pressure would be on us to kind of win it, not to get in (to the NCAA tourney) with an at-large (bid). So it would be good to have a big supporting cast."
Rest assured, it will be large. And vast. They will be cheering in Evanston. And Austin. And Richmond. And Cincinnati. And Raleigh. Anywhere the Bracketville Bubble rests, they'll be glued to their television sets, rooting for the boys in blue.
The Jays, 27-5, are headed to the party regardless. Illinois State is not, unless it upsets Creighton in the MVC title game on Sunday afternoon. The Redbirds (20-12) are in a position to steal a bid from those programs teetering on the NCAA Tournament fence — Colorado State, Northwestern, Texas, South Florida, VCU, Xavier, North Carolina State, Oregon.
Oregon. How ironic is that? Dana Altman, sitting in sunny Eugene, screaming for the Jays. Just like old times.
"Oh, they're going to be all over us," chuckled Creighton star Doug McDermott, who dropped 14 points and nine boards on the Aces (16-15). "They're going to love us. We're going to try our best to get that win. And we're just looking at it as an opportunity to win a championship, so we're going to play our butts off."
McDermott held that trophy once, eight winters ago. He was 12 years old, and his father's Northern Iowa squad had just announced its basketball renaissance with a win over Missouri State in the MVC championship game.
"I got to get on stage, got a piece of the net," the younger McDermott recalled. "It was fun. I definitely want to be a part of it. I think we might have the sign in my basement still."
MISSOURI VALLEY CHAMPS, it read. It was a big moment. And an even bigger sign.
"I was pretty short," McDermott continued, smiling again. "I wasn't very tall for my age. Me and my brother probably shared holding it up."
This time around, he won't need the help. The Valley's Player of The Year put the Jays on his back again Saturday, turning the Aces' constant double-teams against them by finding post partner Gregory Echenique (20 points, nine rebounds) for clean looks underneath or by kicking out to an open Josh Jones (12 points on four 3-pointers) or Grant Gibbs (six points on two treys) on the wing.
Despite playing the Creighton close in their two regular-season meetings, Evansville spent the afternoon seemingly a pass or two behind — the Jays drained a dozen 3-pointers in all, just one less than the single-game school record for treys at Scottrade Center. At one point, Jones drained three straight from beyond the arc, including a dagger with 3:59 left in the first half that gave Creighton a 38-25 edge.
Now the Jays are back in the title game for the first time in five years. Seeing Creighton on Sunday in St. Louis used to be a foregone conclusion — the Jays have won more tourney titles (six) than any other MVC school since the event moved to Scottrade during the 1994-95 season.
Creighton won five Valley tournaments in all between 2000-07, but have tasted none since. Great Jays teams are measured by MVC tourney banners and NCAA bids; Altman, their former coach, delivered neither after his dalliance with the Arkansas job in the spring of 2007.
"I mean, this is the Creighton I grew up watching," said freshman center Will Artino, who chipped in 10 points and four rebounds off the bench. "We're just glad it's back."
The only regret in the Jays locker room is that Wichita State, the Valley's regular-season champions, won't be waiting for them on the other side of the bracket. The Shockers wound up getting ambushed by the Redbirds, 65-64, in the first semifinal of the day.
"I kind of wanted to play Wichita State, to be honest," the younger McDermott said. "But it's always fun seeing them lose, our rival. We got the win. They lost. It's a good day when that happens. Now we've just got to go out and play a good Redbird team."
And play they will. With the Bubble at their backs.
"Usually, a lot of people don't root for us," Artino said with a shrug, "as you could tell from our conference play."
That was then. This is March.
