MVC Tournament Championship Central

The Missouri State men's golf team is off to suburban Chicago for the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Championship to be held Monday and Tuesday (Apr. 24-25). The Bears have been picked to finish fifth in a pre-tournament poll of the league's coaches. The Championship will be held at Cog Hill Golf Club in Lemont, Ill., on the club's famous #4 or Dubsdread course, which has hosted numerous PGA Tour events over the years. The winner will earn the Valley's bid to the NCAA Regionals next month. Play is slated to begin with an 8 a.m. shotgun start for 36 holes on Monday.

The Bears will be chasing their second MVC title in school history and first since 1993. They placed fourth a year ago at Prairie Dunes Golf Club in Hutchinson, Kan., and their best finish in recent years was second in 2012, also at Prairie Dunes. MSU has enjoyed a stellar regular season, claiming team titles at the Derek Dolenc Invitational in suburban St. Louis and the APSU/F&M Bank Intercollegiate in Dickson, Tenn. It also has placed second at its own Twin Oaks Intercollegiate and third at the Red Wolves Intercollegiate at Arkansas State.

Head coach Neal Stafford will field a lineup consisting of four sophomores and a freshman. His team is led by sophomores Adam Fisher and Jack Knoesel, who are ranked third and eighth, respectively, in the conference in scoring average at 72.87 and 73.37. Sophomores Kory Franks and Brad Carpenter, and freshman Lukas McCalla will round out the lineup.

Wichita State, which has won eight of the last nine titles, has been installed as the favorite by the coaches, totaling 79 points and seven first-place votes. Bradley is second with 64 points and a single first-place tally, with Illinois State and defending champ Southern Illinois just behind at 62 and 61 points, respectively, with SIU also garnering the other first-place vote. Then come the Bears with 46 points, followed by Drake (34), Northern Iowa (27), Evansville (21) and Loyola (11).