The train was a little late leaving Normal on Wednesday afternoon (what a surprise!). Good thing I checked the hotel reservation before leaving, too, because something got fouled up and it was never made (not sure it was my bad or the Valley office).

But, finally, the Pantagraph beat writer got rolling en route to St. Louis for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

There isn’t a better time of year to be covering a college basketball beat or to be a basketball fan than a conference tournament. In my two previous years covering ISU in St. Louis, I found the Valley runs a first-class event that is way better than when I covered the Big Ten tourney.

I hope Scott Chipman of the Big Ten office doesn’t hate me for saying that. Not your fault, Chip.

There’s more of a buzz in St. Louis than Chicago, for sure, and even Indianapolis where the Big Ten now gathers next week (although Indy is far more a college town than Chicago). Big Ten fans treat the tourney more like a social gathering than a tournament to get to the NCAA. Face it: Six, seven or eight Big Ten teams usually go to the Big Dance every year. Most Valley teams know winning it all is their only chance. That brings a more electric atmosphere to the Scottrade Center.

The first major function takes place Thursday morning at the Coach of the Year banquet. Ben Jacobson of Northern Iowa better win it or Valley commish Doug Elgin should call an investigation.

The Panthers were pegged to finish sixth in the preseason. Their 6-6 record coming into league play didn’t give a hint of what was to come. UNI won 11 straight games and held on at the end to tie preseason favorite Creighton for its first Valley title since joining the league for the 1991-92 season.

Of course, maybe Elgin should have an investigation into the Defensive Player of the Year award. Southern Illinois’ Bryan Mullins won it for the second straight year despite missing the last seven Valley games (and eight overall) because of a stress fracture in his foot. Are you kidding me? Don’t blame the writers, either. This was a coaches-only vote. And those guys think we don’t know squat.

Maybe some of the coaches weren’t aware Mullins couldn’t play defense sitting in a shirt and tie on the bench. What a joke! Kwadzo Ahelegbe of UNI, Josh Dotzler of Creighton or ISU’s Osiris Eldridge were much more worthy than Mullins.

Speaking of Mullins, one egghead (not sure if it was a writer, radio play-by-play guy, SID or coach) actually gave him a first-place MVP vote. Elgin should find out who did that and revoke voting privileges for life. It wasn’t anyone connected with SIU, either, because you can’t vote for your own guy in that category. Don’t say SIU was lost without Mullins, either. The Salukis won two games last week to avoid the play-in game, so that argument is shot down.

After the Coach of the Year banquet, the Nos. 1-6 seeds that don’t play until Friday will have a shootaround at the Scottrade Center and hold news conferences. The two play-in games Thursday night feature Drake against Indiana State at 6 and Wichita State against Missouri State at 8:30.

UNI and Creighton don’t know who they will play on Friday yet. Either way, the top two seeds aren’t locks to get to the semis. Yes, I know, the top seeds always make the semis (except for No. 2 Creighton in 1997).

But watch out for Indiana State and Wichita State. Don’t laugh. The 10-20 Sycamores are playing as well as any team except Creighton heading into the tourney. They would play UNI on Friday and, let’s be honest, UNI is not an unbeatable juggernaut. Creighton probably will get Wichita State. The Shockers are young and inexperienced, but they have plenty of talent and whipped Creighton by 13 earlier in the season.

ISU and Evansville are the last Valley teams to play, waiting until Friday night at 8:30 or so. Both coaches, ISU’s Tim Jankovich and Evansville’s Marty Simmons, aren’t too concerned about the late start. Nothing they can do about it, anyway. If you dwell on that, you’re taking away energy from something that really matters.

I don’t know why, but I just have this sneaky feeling that the Redbirds are going to pull it off and win this thing. Don’t call me a homer, either. As I wrote earlier this week, I really feel ISU has the best starting lineup (and six deep, counting Brandon Sampay) in this league. Many others feel the same way.

Jankovich will need to use his bench on Friday against Evansville and not try to ride the starters too long. But if the outcome is in the balance, Jankovich won’t have a choice.

I would love to see ISU and Creighton hook up on Saturday. ISU smoked the Bluejays by 22 at Normal and then lost by four at Omaha last Saturday when Creighton had everything to play for and ISU felt like it was in the consolation final of a holiday tournament.

Whatever happens, it will be entertaining. Anyone thinking about coming to St. Louis should just come down and check it out. Plenty of tickets are available. You won’t be disappointed.