With all the talk about the possibility of Murray State joining the Missouri Valley Conference I thought it would be instructive to see how the Racers' best teams since the year 2000 would have fared in the MVC according to the Sagarin Ratings. So, I took a look at the teams that made it to the NCAA tournament and for good measure I threw in the 2014-15 team since most people thought they deserved an at large bid.
Keep in mind, both Wichita State and Creighton are no longer in the MVC.
The 2014-15 team finished 27-6 against Division I teams with a rating of 82.03. This would have put them third in the MVC, behind Wichita State and Northern Iowa.
The 2011-12 team finished 28-2 with a rating of 83.4. This would have put them third in the MVC, behind Wichita State and Creighton.
The 2009-10 team finished 29-5 with a rating of 82.56. This would have put them second in the MVC, behind Northern Iowa.
The 2005-6 team finished 23-7 with a 78.32 rating. This would have put them seventh in the MIssouri Valley, behind Bradley, Wichita State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Creighton, and Southern Illinois.
The 2003-4 team finished 25-6 with an 80.77 rating. This would have put them second in the MVC, behind Southern Illinois.
The 2001-2 team finished just 17-13 but they won the OVC tournament and wound up with a rating of 73.82. That would have put them fifth in the MVC, behind Southern Illinois, Creighton, Illinois State, and Southwest Missouri State.
Note, the Sagarin ratings do not count games against non-Division I opponents.