Both teams have very good guard play with Osiris going against Bilal and Lewis, but I think Benson Egemonye will have a big game down low and dont see Ill St slowing him down. Combine this with a sold out arena knowing that Niagara likely will need to win out to make the tourney and I see them coming out with a big W heading into the Siena showdown
Papicker on the whole yes the Missouri Valley is a stronger conference top to bottom, I will even agree with you by a considerable margin, but the top of the MAAC with Siena and Niagara can easily compete with the top of most other mid-major, including Ill St, Creighton, etc. Dont forget Niagara has had exposure outside of the MAAC and played Villanova tough for the majority of the game, the final score of that game was a little deceiving. I dont know the numbers but I am pretty sure they have a tougher SOS
If Niagara runs the table and finishes 24-7 with a good showing in the maac tourney they will at least have consideration as an at large, weak conference or not. Even if it is very unlikely as I dont believe a team from that conference has received one in god knows how long, if they are to receive any kind of consideration they need to win out, and I doubt they are going to just throw in the towel on national TV at home. I dont even think motivation as in what they are playing for will matter, I think they matchup very well top to bottom.
After looking at a few things on bracket buster systems, I am not going to play Niagara tonight. The strength of conference seems to play a big role in these games, and as I acknowledged in an earlier post, the Missouri Valley top to bottom is much stronger. I do still think Niagara wins, but I am not going to play against some heavy trends pointing towards ILL St. No play for me, but will still be pulling for the Purple Eaglez.
