Valley Down? No good wins and some early season losses

[TheAsianSensation]

Not to be cynical, but 21-6 is really only average for a conference like this one.

The bottom of the Valley can be considered equivalent to the bottom of the other conferences in terms of quality wins and bad losses. However, the frontrunners of the other conferences are getting their scalps, and no one in the conference can break through so far.

 

[Bravesfan]

Is it possible that the quality gap is closing between the Low Majors and the Mid-majors, similar to what happened in the 80s when the gap between High Majors and Mid-majors closed noticeably...??? Many times, MVC schools are recruiting the same kids that are being recruited by the lower tier conferences. One star and no star kids are in play for teams like Wofford, etc.

Well then those CBI and CIT type tourneys are going to be just as we have seen the last two years for Bradley. A lot of very close "grind them out" type games that will come down to the wire (maybe not all 70 foot shots, but down to the last play types of games). In other words, it's probably no fluke that a solid "lower" tier team like an Oakland of Michigan can come in here and put a real scare on us on any given night.

Heck, it happened again tonight against Wofford!

 

[Bravesfan]

we need five or ten wins in a row by the MVC..but sadly -even tho the going is early, the RPI and SOS stats look bad for the MVC.
Thus far the Valley has the 29th worst SOS!
ISU is ranked #326 and SIU ranked #341!!!
http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_conf_Men.html

those guys are killing us!

Big mistake for Doug Elgin to get rid of the scheduling requirement he instilled earlier this decade. AD's and coaches are human like anyone else. Sometimes forcing teams to schedule tougher works to their advantage.

 

[Bravesfan]

Pretty much the only way the MVC becomes a 2 bid team this yr is if 2 teams get at least 1 signature win and those same teams nearly run the table during conference play. Either that or the possibility of 2 out of 3 teams if the 3rd team wins the Conference Tourney. As of right now, it's not looking likely though.

Jason

And those scenerios both come down to Bradley and Creighton as both have far and away the best schedules in the league. We'll revisit this topic after Las Vegas next week to see if that's still in play.

 

[Bravesfan]

Pac 10 conference had some bad losses Saturday by their lower ranked teams...Sat night USC loses at home to Loyola Marymount, Oregon State loses at home to Sacramento State, Oregon loses on the road to Portland...weaker teams in BCS conferences getting weaker?

Yikes! Those are some pretty bad losses, but again, plenty of time for those teams to make amends just for being affiliated with the conferences they belong to. But that still gives perspective to the Valley's early season struggles. The Valley teams have won the majority of the games they were expected to, and early season struggles don't always indicate how a team will be playing by the end of the season. Plenty of time to go this season!

 

[amckillip]

we need five or ten wins in a row by the MVC..but sadly -even tho the going is early, the RPI and SOS stats look bad for the MVC.
Thus far the Valley has the 29th worst SOS!
ISU is ranked #326 and SIU ranked #341!!!
http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_conf_Men.html

those guys are killing us!

MVC is now #7 in RPI... I def. agree that MVC is down, but we're not hopeless yet.

 

[tornado]

BU is the only Valley team thus far who have played two Top 40 opponents...so someone is doing some decent scheduling..

and the Big Ten is the 20th ranked conference with the absolute WORST (#32) ranked SOS thus far!
http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_big10_Men.html

 

[BradleyBrave]

UNI losing to DePaul was a bad loss. Not only will DePaul prove to be nothing but an also-ran this year, but it cost UNI (and our league) opportunities at some other 'name' opponents. BU, CU, and WSU (tonight) are the only teams with legitimate 'signature' opponents left at this point.

 

[tornado]

guess who has the #1 RPI among all of D-I?
As of yesterday, it is DePaul, but they'll drop now..
http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_Men.html

 

[TheAsianSensation]

It's way too early to use SoS and RPI with any kind of accuracy whatsoever.

Quoted for posterity

 

[Murph]

Some big games for Valley teams today.

Boston College at NIU

WSU at Pitt

ISU at UIC

 

[tornado]

...Their schedule is killing their attendance...

speaking of this....
Saint Louis set up a 1PM home game yesterday againt Kennesaw State, part of the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

But starting the game against a no-name opponent at 1PM, may have been a bad decision.
They only drew an announced 6538 (way below their average), but some have reported way more than half the seats were empty.

 

[shaunguth]

Some big games for Valley teams today.

Boston College at NIU

WSU at Pitt

ISU at UIC

UNI/Boston College and WSU/Pitt are both on neutral courts.

isu should dispose of UIC very easily.

 

[lefty]

UNI losing to DePaul was a bad loss. Not only will DePaul prove to be nothing but an also-ran this year, but it cost UNI (and our league) opportunities at some other 'name' opponents. BU, CU, and WSU (tonight) are the only teams with legitimate 'signature' opponents left at this point.

Maybe not. DePaul loses by four to #10 Tennessee

 

[wizard1]

Valley Down---

Valley Down---

I've said it before and I'll say it again--- The Valley needs to take steps to get stronger.

Establishing a mandatory scheduling upgrade and replacing some of the perennial weaker programs with schools like Butler, Xavier, Marquette, or Dayton could accomplish this.

If this doesn't happen, BU should begin "behind the scenes" discussions with other schools about a different conference affiliation or the establishment of a new conference, IMO.

 

[tornado]

Yup -- I know this'll sound odd to some, but I think the seeding at the tourney in St. Louis should incorporate not just league finish, but also strength of schedule!

eg-- if you have a non-con SOS of 290 or higher, then YOU PLAY ON THURSDAY NIGHT, period!!!

 

[shaunguth]

Yup -- I know this'll sound odd to some, but I think the seeding at the tourney in St. Louis should incorporate not just league finish, but also strength of schedule!

eg-- if you have a non-con SOS of 290 or higher, then YOU PLAY ON THURSDAY NIGHT, period!!!

Now you know that would destroy the scheduling philosophy of some schools that completely rely on winning at least three games in St. Louis rather than even taking a shot at one or two of the "big boys" during the regular season.

 

[SFP]

I've said it before and I'll say it again--- The Valley needs to take steps to get stronger.

Establishing a mandatory scheduling upgrade and replacing some of the perennial weaker programs with schools like Butler, Xavier, Marquette, or Dayton could accomplish this.

If this doesn't happen, BU should begin "behind the scenes" discussions with other schools about a different conference affiliation or the establishment of a new conference, IMO.

I agree 100%! We need to be thinking 5 years down the road. With the way the NCAA is heading with the BCS boys we need to be in the best position as possible in order to not be lumped with the lower tier programs. That to me is a fact of today's world.

 

[lefty]

Yup -- I know this'll sound odd to some, but I think the seeding at the tourney in St. Louis should incorporate not just league finish, but also strength of schedule!

eg-- if you have a non-con SOS of 290 or higher, then YOU PLAY ON THURSDAY NIGHT, period!!!

But that's what the conference is for....so why include non-con for that?

maybe for a tie breaker but that would be about it......

 

[ER3]

Yup -- I know this'll sound odd to some, but I think the seeding at the tourney in St. Louis should incorporate not just league finish, but also strength of schedule!

eg-- if you have a non-con SOS of 290 or higher, then YOU PLAY ON THURSDAY NIGHT, period!!!

thanks...I needed a good laugh.:lol: