The Thought Notebook: MSU’s gauntlet, Kickapoo-Glendale day and Payton’s paddling of Caldwell

I’ve got a few thoughts to get out there, so I’ve organized them in this bullet-point styled Thought Notebook. Let’s get started.

• The new goal? No MVC Tourney play-in game for the Bears: A big win over Creighton Saturday has set the Missouri State men’s basketball team up for a tough, but not impossible stretch in order to reach what I think their new goal should be — no play-in game at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament March 4-7 in St. Louis.

With two and a half weeks left in the regular season, the Bears (16-8) still have an opportunity to show they have made progress. We all understand the progress with our eyes, seeing as how the talent has improved from last year, but the true marker of advancement is a higher finish in the MVC standings, right? And even further than that, .500 in the conference isn’t out of the question.

First a peek at the current MVC standings:

The Bears would likely need to finish the season’s final five MVC games at 3-2. That stretch includes Southern Illinois tonight, at Wichita State Sunday, at Illinois State (Wed., Feb. 17), Drake (home, Wed., Feb. 24) and at Indiana State (Sat., Feb. 27). Of course, in the first half of the MVC season, the Bears beat Illinois State 68-64 on Jan. 1 and Indiana State 99-92 in overtime on Jan. 19 — both of which were at JQH Arena.

A 3-2 finish would make the Bears 9-9 in the Valley and likely no worse than sixth, good enough to avoid the play-in round and face a team they’ve likely beaten amongst Illinois State, Creighton or Bradley in the 3 vs. 6 or 4 vs. 5 games.

Plus, it would be progress, one that would be redeeming after a 9-1 start to the season. Since then, Missouri State is 7-7 and over the season, MSU is 4-6 on the road. But, maybe Saturday was a spark against a depleted and ice-cold Creighton team. Maybe tonight will turn the spark into a flame. Maybe the players are continuing to develop their roles and could be morphing into a team that could contend for a MVC Tourney title.

Or, they could just be the inexperienced team that has struggled to finish games. Either way, the opportunity is there.

But, instead of heading to JQH Arena tonight, I’ll be headed to…

• Today is Glendale-Kickapoo day: Amongst a list of my favorite sporting events of each calendar year, you’ll find the Glendale-Kickapoo boys’ basketball game. (That’s why I am live blogging it tonight from Weiser Gym. Come back around 7:30 p.m. to follow along.)

Why? The rivalry is so intense that Kickapoo fans are probably made because I listed the schools alphabetically, putting Glendale in front of them. Plus, few games are moved to a larger venue because of capacity (Greenwood-Catholic is another). Tonight’s game is at Drury’s Weiser Gym and if you’ve ever been to a meaningful game there, you know it’s loud, sweaty and rambunctious.

It’s also so intense, local hoops historian Patrick Dailey started a Web site dedicated to the rivalry. He has all 84 box scores on there and with a win, Kickapoo could draw even with Glendale since the rivalry’s genesis on Dec. 14, 1971. Cool stuff.

Plus, the district implications are severe. As we’ve talked before, Class 5 District 11 is loaded. Of the Rec Specs 15′s top nine teams, six are in C5-D11 (No. 1 Branson, No. 2 Nixa, No. 4 Parkview, No. 6 Ozark, No. 7 Glendale and No. 9 Kickapoo). And not that it matters in the long run — but it will matter to these proud fan bases — this could be the different between the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds.

Kickapoo's Brodie Wingert could be a factor in tonight's game.

Kickapoo (13-9) has enjoyed a much better season than its record indicates. Two losses came in the Tournament of Champions, while two came to Ozark, one to Nixa, one to Branson, one to Parkview and one to Hillcrest. They’ve now played 22 games under current coach Dick Rippee and his motion style, which has been as easy as Greek to figure out on the fly, after years of coach Roy Green’s set-play teachings. But, Kickapoo has risen up and beaten some good teams, including state-ranked Columbia Rock Bridge and United Faith Christian Academy in the Tournament of Champions.

As for Glendale (14-6), the Falcons are scary young. Armed with a group that’s mostly from the sophomore class, Glendale has dodged injuries, experience and age to pull off some big wins this season. The biggest was a trip to Hillcrest.

Need some star power? Kickapoo junior Brodie Wingert has received some Division I interest, including Missouri State, and is averaging 12.1 points and 3.4 rebounds. Glendale sophomore Mason Hodges is averaging 15.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while Cameron Johnson is averaging 14.7 points and 6.8 rebounds. Hedges scored a career-high 34 on Dec. 5 against Bolivar.

Either way, it should be a blast. SpringfieldWebTV.com will be streaming the game live, as well. Truly, it’s a can’t miss event for me.

The Super Bowl wasn't Jim Caldwell's best day. And I'm scared of his worst day.

• How Sean Payton paddled Jim Caldwell: I know, it’s Wednesday afternoon and the Super Bowl was Sunday, but I have one thing to get off my chest — Sean Payton dominated Jim Caldwell.

Who would you rather play for, a guy who rolls the dice and might not always make the right decision, but finds a way to motivate his players, or a guy who should trademark deer-in-headlights looks and assumed his team would win, forsaking second half adjustments?

A simple recap and I’ll be done:

• Sean Payton: “Screw it, we are going for it on fourth down. Oh, we got stopped? Oh well.”

• Caldwell: “Don’t risk passing it down the field with one of the best QBs of all time, let’s run it three times and hope we can get a first down because we can’t really stop their offense.

(What’s that saying about a piece of coal turning into a diamond? Never mind.)

• Payton: “They’re giving us the ball back? Hell yeah, let’s go get at least three points.”

Halftime, Colts up 10-6.

• Payton: “We’re going to go for an onside kick. Are you with me? ARE YOU WITH ME?”

• Caldwell: “OK, they are going to kick it deep because that’s what they should do, even though Sean Payton is nuts. Hank Baskett, you can relax. Peyton when you get the ball, do what you do. I know you’re the offensive coach, so have at it.”

• Caldwell after the Saints get the onside kick: “Eeyore. Oh well. We’ll stop them with our soft Tampa 2 and no pass rush, seeing as how Dwight Freeney’s ankle is stiffening up. Everything will be fine. No need to change a thing.”

• Payton: “Championship.”

Sean Payton is a paddling football gangster. He owned Jim Caldwell on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Saints dominated the Colts and a lot of it has to do with the coaching. I understand players make plays, but the tone is set by the head coach. And Payton paddled Caldwell like a 1990s frat boy.

(God, if I would have known that, I never would have gone on two podcasts talking about how the Colts were going to win. Jeesh.)

Allen Vaughan is a national award-winning reporter and writer who lives in Springfield. After leaving the Springfield News-Leader in September of 2009, he has taken his affinity for sports in the Ozarks and tried to raise the bar in terms of innovative journalism. Want to get in touch with Allen? E-mail him at Allen@TagSGF.com. You can follow him on Twitter here or on Facebook here.