ST. LOUIS - The march to the Arch is complete after 120 conference games that spread from December through February. All 12 Missouri Valley Conference programs arrived in St. Louis earlier this week and are ready for Arch Madness to begin on Thursday afternoon.

Valparaiso will take on Murray State at 6 p.m. on Thursday night in a rematch of last Sunday’s regular-season finale. Should the No. 10 Beacons advance, they’ll play No. 2 Drake on Friday night.

In lieu of writing a traditional preview story, I wanted to share a handful of notes and thoughts on tonight’s game as well as my first 24 hours in St. Louis.