Here’s a word of advice for all those who consider themselves college basketball gurus.

Don’t use foul language when talking about the Missouri Valley Conference to Joe Mitch, or for that matter, any other league administrator at the league’s St. Louis headquarters.

I’m not talking about one of those nasty four letter words.

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I’m talking about the most degrading, debasing and demeaning label one can put on a college basketball conference that has accomplished more than just middle of the road results.

OK, that may be overdoing it a tad – OK you’ve got me, a lot.

But for many legitimate reasons, don’t you dare call the MVC a mid-major conference, at least not anywhere near 1818 Chouteau Ave. in St. Louis.

“The media will put that tag on conferences,” said Mitch, the associate commissioner for the Valley. “I think most conferences in that category don’t feel comfortable with it because it indicates something less than major status, but we feel that we are all major conferences.”

“There certainly is a distinction between the BCS schools and others, but we’ve shown on the court, and this year in particular, that we can compete with the bigger named conferences and schools.”

SIU head coach Chris Lowery says, “We are what we are.” Senior center Josh Warren said, more than anything, the mid-major label motivates him when the Salukis get a chance to face a “high major” club.

Saluki Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk said he doesn’t get hung up on monikers, but facts are facts. And when they are considered in this case, the MVC has an argument to say they are more than just a mid-major.

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Even if everyone won’t drop the label, the Valley has to be considered the cream of the crop when it comes to mid-major conferences this season, perhaps making them the top-major. Yeah, that sounds better.

Here are the facts, with a little help from MVC-sports.com and the St. Louis Dispatch.

Through Jan. 16, the MVC ranks No. 8 as a conference according to the Collegiate Basketball News RPI rankings. SIU leads five Valley schools in the top 100.

According to the Jeff Sagarin rankings, the MVC is ranked No. 7, with SIU leading the pack of Valley schools in the individual rankings at No. 34.

On Dec. 20, 2004, the Valley became the first league to have seven schools ranked in the mid-major top 25 of the collegeInsider.com poll. The MVC had seven schools ranked for three-straight weeks, six teams were ranked Jan. 10 and five teams are currently ranked.

If these conference RPI numbers stick, it would become the Valley’s highest finish since a No. 8 standing in 1988-89 when three teams went to the NCAA Tournament.

The Valley has a non-conference record of 70-25 for a .737 winning percentage and is on track to finish 40 games above .500 for the first time since the 1980-81 season. That is if the conference performs well in the Bracket Buster games Feb. 19.

For all of the reasons listed, the MVC has received more publicity than ever before.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch did a piece on the conference. So did Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News. He was particularly impressed by big Valley non-conference victories over Providence, Vanderbilt, DePaul and Xavier, all major conference teams that made the NCAA Tournament last year.

Other big victories came when Creighton blew out Missouri and beat Ohio State, and when Illinois State defeated Mississippi and Penn State at the beginning of the year.

Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis offered his opinion on the Valley’s mid-major status, and even Dick Vitale took a break from hyping the ACC to give a shout out to the MVC in a column that appeared on ESPN.com.

The flood of stories in the media prompted Kowalczyk to say, “Where have you been?”

“I think it’s real positive – and overdue,” Kowalczyk said. “Even in some of the leaner years we’ve still had tremendous talent, we’ve still been very competitive and we’ve had teams that were NCAA worthy.”

“This year we’re getting our due.”

The conference is already benefiting from the national media awakening.

Mitch said the Valley struck a deal in December for a dozen conference games to be aired this season with Sirius Satellite radio. The two had been in discussions before, but Mitch said the deal was recently closed largely because of the strength of the league – and the media coverage.

He also said ESPN recently picked up the Feb. 9 Northern Iowa at Creighton game to air on ESPN2.

“That was a direct result of the success the conference has had this year,” Mitch said.

Now it is time for the MVC to take the next step – earning three bids to the NCAA Tournament. With the league, and its teams, ranked favorably in the RPI rankings, the Valley has a rightful claim for three entrants. It would be the first time since 1999 when Southwest Missouri State, Creighton and Evansville went dancing.

But there has been concern that the teams will beat up on each other, perhaps encouraging the NCAA committee to sway toward a BCS school with a similar record.

“Every year [the Valley] seems like it keeps getting stronger and stronger,” Warren said. “As we’ve gotten better, the competition keeps getting better. By far this year feels like it is the toughest.”

There is currently a cluster of five teams with three conference wins – and there have been plenty of surprises with Indiana State beating Wichita State Saturday, and Evansville destroying Northern Iowa Jan. 7.

Mitch believes the Valley deserves three bids to the Big Dance, and who can argue with the conference’s performance the first few months of the college basketball season.

“I think the national exposure we’re getting is only confirming what we thought all along,” Mitch said. “That the Missouri Valley Conference is a top ten conference in men’s basketball.”

If that equates to mid-major status, then somebody needs to re-think these labels.