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Valley SOS - next season (non-conf.)

LittleBrave

LittleBrave

Active member
I'm trying to get a feel for how Valley teams stack up against each other in terms of non-conf. schedule strength for 2010-'11.
Hopefully the Shox can finalize their schedule before I get to them.
I will go in alphabetical order, looking at 2 schools at a time.
I'm going by the R.P.I. (Realtime RPI Ranking) updated after the conference tournaments last season. We don't really know if this is a good indicator of what to expect from the Valley opponents this coming season, but it's worth a look. You be the judge in determing which Valley teams have a good/bad schedule outlook.

If a Valley school plays in a tournament, I took the avg. R.P.I. of the teams they could face in the next round. If it's a field of 8, I took the middle 2 teams (RPI-wise) of the opposite bracket and averaged them.

BU BRAVES:

Top 50 ---> 1 (@ Duke)
51-125 ---> 3
126-200 --> 5
201-250 --> 0
251 & Up -> 1

Home = 6, Away = 2, Neutral = 2 (H.O.F. Tip-Off Classic)

CU 'Jays

Top 50 ---> 1 (vs. BYU)
51-125 ---> 2
126-200 --> 3
201-250 --> 1
251 & Up -> 5

Home = 9, Away = 3, Neutral = 0
 
Creighton's problem (a problem they've repeated for several years) is that their cupcakes are full blown large-sized cupcakes with extra frosting. They need to upgrade 3 or so of those 200+ cupcakes into the 125-200 range. They seem to be slipping a little bit year by year. However, they are the one school that seems to consistently get A-10 games; they just get unlucky on those sometimes.

Bradley almost gets it perfect, but 5 games in the 125-200 range is a couple too many. Would like to see a couple of those creep into the 50-125 range.

edit: More specifically, looking at Creighton: Alabama St (SWAC alert!), Louisiana, Kennesaw St, Idaho St, WIU, Samford. That's a lot of weaksauce. Then again, Iowa St, Nebraska, St Joe's (not as good anymore but were when the series began I think), BYU, Northwestern. That is a good solid base of schedule there.
 
ISU REDBIRDS:

Top 50 ---> 1 (UNLV = 50)
51-125 ---> 1
126-200 ---> 0
201-250 ---> 3
251 & Up ---> 6

Home = 9, Away = 2

untitled-4.jpg
 
I'm not even sure you needed the cupcakes to know that the opponent was a cupcake. They're all standing around looking for more frosting. But they did make me roll over on the ground for a couple minutes!!!
Pic of the year! Nice work!
 
LittleBrave said:
I'm not even sure you needed the cupcakes to know that the opponent was a cupcake. They're all standing around looking for more frosting. But they did make me roll over on the ground for a couple minutes!!!
Pic of the year! Nice work!
Click to expand...

had to do something during class lol
 
BU BRAVES:
Top 50 ---> 1 (@ Duke)
51-125 ---> 3
126-200 --> 5
201-250 --> 0
251 & Up -> 1 (high - 261 {Northern IL})

Home = 6, Away = 2, Neutral = 2 (H.O.F. Tip-Off Classic)
-----
CU 'Jays
Top 50 ---> 1 (vs. BYU)
51-125 ---> 2
126-200 --> 3
201-250 --> 1
251 & Up -> 5 (high - 305 {Idaho St.})

Home = 9, Away = 3, Neutral = 0
-----
Drake
Top 50 ---> 0
51-125 ---> 2
126-200 --> 1
201-250 --> 5
251 & Up -> 3 (high - 345 {Chicago St.})

Home = 5, Away = 3, Neutral = 3 (Great Alaska Shootout)
-----
Evansville
Top 50 ---> 1 (@ Butler)
51-125 ---> 2
126-200 --> 3
201-250 --> 2
251 & Up -> 2 (high - 308 {MD Eastern Shore})

Home = 6, Away = 4, Neutral = 0
-----
 
I like that Bradley tries to schedule BIG, but they also have to win some of those games.

Also, if Creighton and ISU and etc. are scheduling cupcakes every year, why isn't BU dominating the head to heads series' against those schools year in and year out?

I love that Bradley does not go the "cup-cake" route. I think good teams should play good or better teams throughout the season. But I also think Evansville has every right to schedule a little "lighter". When your talent is down a bit, you do no good to your players, fans, or program to schedule a really tough slate of games. In the end, you have to do what is best for your team.

But, I do agree that good teams should schedule good teams.
 
Drake has problems. 8 of 11 games 200+. The goal of lower division teams in the MVC should be to load up in the 125-200 section. They sorta got really bad luck with the GAS, to be fair, though.

Evansville could've/should've avoided a couple of those 200+ games, but at least they're manuevering for the big games. It's not a great schedule, but I won't lambast it too much when they're doing work on the top end of it.
 
I think you'll see that Evansville is around the middle as far as S.O.S. among Valley teams this year. They did a decent job - don't want to go winless either in non-conf. play, and I think they'll win a couple.

CU & DU may only be outdone by 1 school. Is there any doubt about which one?
 
BradleyJD said:
Also, if Creighton and ISU and etc. are scheduling cupcakes every year, why isn't BU dominating the head to heads series' against those schools year in and year out?
Click to expand...

And also why isn't BU dominating them in the RPI either?

The last 3 years ISU has been 76, 47 and 37.
The last 3 years BU has been 105, 98, and 104

ISU's avg RPI for the last 3 years is 53, while BU's is 102.
 
It's always easier to make a point if you carefully select and parse your evidence.

Bradley does have a winning record against ISU in the Jim Les era, and they also have as many NIT wins, and way more post-season success, significantly better overall record, and NCAA success. And their average RPI is far better than ISU if you look at the last 5 or 6 seasons, not just these last 3.

However one wants to look at the issue of scheduling cupcakes, there is little doubt, even among ISU fans, that it has greatly hurt ISU.
 
which is kinda the one and only reason the selection committee doesn't give a twit about RPI any more since there are schools like ISU who have learned to cheat the "code" and get those falsely high RPI's by playing nothing but winnable games at home
 
tornado said:
which is kinda the one and only reason the selection committee doesn't give a twit about RPI any more since there are schools like ISU who have learned to cheat the "code" and get those falsely high RPI's by playing nothing but winnable games at home
Click to expand...

ISU has yet to reach the NCAA with their style of scheduling. Methinks that the coach thought he could schedule light, win big, and move on by now. Oops...hasn't happened.
 
FIRSTLY its all about winning your conference if you are an autobid.....if you can't win your conference its all about winning the Tourney....then you rely on an invitation from the NCAA and THATS when the schedule is importaint.

The MVC is strong enough that finishing top two should get you in most years.


ISU schedules weak and can't get in becuase they fail win the conf./win tourney...

Some say..."they need to schedule better like BU....

BU schedules better but can't finish higher then 4th in the conf. and has NEVER won the tourney under Les.

Hmmm.....just how importaint is the scheduling?

Scheduling up HAS landed us 3 invites the Farmers bank EIEIO tourney.
 
To me, analyzing schedules isn't about the end result of the season. This whole debate about schedules boils down to one thing: if you play to your potential, do you have a shot at an at-large bid? That is what the non-conference schedule should do for you.

Not playing good enough to get that bid isn't an issue of the non-conference schedule, it's a performance issue. Obviously an issue worth debating, but the point of analyzing schedules is NOT to analyze your own on-court performance. Just saying that the two things shouldn't be mixed in a thread like this.
 
dogsrus said:
Some say..."they need to schedule better like BU....

BU schedules better but can't finish higher then 4th in the conf. and has NEVER won the tourney under Les.

Hmmm.....just how importaint is the scheduling?

Scheduling up HAS landed us 3 invites the Farmers bank EIEIO tourney.
Click to expand...

MacabreMob said:
Didn't Bradley get an At-Large bid in 2006? And I think they also got an NIT bid in 2007.
Click to expand...

When was the last time ISU got an at-large bid? Scheduling up definitely helps BU's case, and scheduling down clearly hurts ILSU's. Two years ago if ILSU played an even halfway decent schedule they are in the tournament. I understand the need to take shots at JL, but are you really saying that ILSU isn't hurting themselves and the conference with this schedule?
 
amckillip said:
When was the last time ISU got an at-large bid? Scheduling up definitely helps BU's case, and scheduling down clearly hurts ILSU's. Two years ago if ILSU played an even halfway decent schedule they are in the tournament. I understand the need to take shots at JL, but are you really saying that ILSU isn't hurting themselves and the conference with this schedule?
Click to expand...

If you understand taking shots at JL then please explain it to me.....no really.
 
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