Valley RPI....

[MacabreMob]

Mac I love quantifing and you are providing some good stats. I have seen Middle tenn. St and North Texas (middle of the pack 8-4 and 6-6) as well as So. Ala and W. Ky and any of those teams would blow out NIU by at least 20 on any floor. It's time to face the facts the Sun Belt and many other conf. are better than the valley...

That's all kool-in-the-gang with me bufan.

I think UNI is a very beatable team by many teams. They have found success (and IMO, some luck). The MVC is down. We are going thru some growing pains. There are also some injury issues around the league. (everyone has injury issues, though). Creighton seems to be dealing with some ups and downs and maybe they are starting to finally click.

But not only is the MVC down... I think college hoops as a whole is down.

Perception is reality. I suppose. I haven't watched enough Sun Belt games to give my personal perception of them. From what I have seen of college hoops... I think all college hoops is down.

But I remember in 2006 watching the B12 Tourney Championship and thinking "Man - I'm taking Kansas and Texas far... they looked incredible!". Then I saw the pairings... as happy as I was to see Bradley got a bid, I was so bummed to see them matched with a team I thought looked so incredibly awesome.

Perception is reality.

Bradley won that game.

Then realizing Kansas wasn't used to that defense or our quickness of guards. So my perception was wrong. I was sold a bill of goods by the tv that made Kansas/Texas look ultra-class level.

Ever since then, I try to watch for defense in other leagues games.

ESPN/CBS/Fox/etc... they like ratings. Losts of scoring. Less hard defense maybe? Lots of scoring keeps viewers watching, they viewers then stay tuned to see commercials, commercials sold on the networks to companies... that want to see their ads. So promote leagues that play a lot of exciting "highlight clip" basketball.

Obviously the Sun Belt doesn't fit that mold as much as the ACC or Big East. And neither does the Southland. But I can almost guarantee the MVC plays better defense than the Southland.

It's all about perception being reality.

Is perception really reality? Or is there perceptions and there is reality? Sometimes they are the same - sometimes they are not.

So bottom line for me in this discussion... would I rather Bradley be in the Sun Belt this season cause my perception is it is a better league? No. Sun Belt has some good teams. But no. The MVC is a better league.

[BUFAN]

Mac, Not gonna copy your post but I have to respond. There are good teams every year in NCAAMBB, lots of them and teams that are maby not so good. There are teams that are over rated and teams that are not. I am telling you the valley is overrated, not just over rated way overated and I am not certain how to quantify. I suspect BB and the MW challenge will do that. Northern Iowa has played one descent team all year and were blown out by 30. NTS a former Valley team lost at OKSt by 12 and beat IndSt at Ind St by 11 and they are 6-6 in the SunBeltMiddle Tenn St beat SIUE by 29 and won at Mo.St by 12 those teams and their Conf are very underrared. We all want to be better than we are but it takes more than good "D" to win in some of these Conf. I just don't see much in the valley...

[MacabreMob]

Mac, Not gonna copy your post but I have to respond. There are good teams every year in NCAAMBB, lots of them and teams that are maby not so good. There are teams that are over rated and teams that are not. I am telling you the valley is overrated, not just over rated way overated and I am not certain how to quantify. I suspect BB and the MW challenge will do that. Northern Iowa has played one descent team all year and were blown out by 30. NTS a former Valley team lost at OKSt by 12 and beat IndSt at Ind St by 11 and they are 6-6 in the SunBeltMiddle Tenn St beat SIUE by 29 and won at Mo.St by 12 those teams and their Conf are very underrared. We all want to be better than we are but it takes more than good "D" to win in some of these Conf. I just don't see much in the valley...

Like I said.

That's all "kool-and-the-gang".

One's perception is one's reality.

Doesn't mean one's perception is everyone's reality.

I am saying college hoops as a whole is down. Not just the MVC.

I don't look down my nose at the Sun Belt. But my perception is the MVC is a better league.

Example: Davidson went to the Elite 8 last year, but the Southern Conference was not as good as the MVC.

[ER3]

Northern Iowa is winning the valley, Northern Illionos is in a different conf...

Yes, I'm aware of this...It was sarcasm. Evidently it was lost on you.

Northern Iowa is UNI...they are always referred to as UNI...just clarifying that you should never refer to them as NIU if you want us to understand who it is that you are actually referring to.

[BUFAN]

Yes, I'm aware of this...It was sarcasm. Evidently it was lost on you.

Northern Iowa is UNI...they are always referred to as UNI...just clarifying that you should never refer to them as NIU if you want us to understand who it is that you are actually referring to.

oops

[georgethedog]

I hope that anyone who reads this thread that continues to call the MVC an "Elite" conference would now cease. In a couple years when all the freshman and sophs grow up the MVC may be elite (top 6-7) again. But not this year. Sorry, just my opinion backed up by lots of good data.

[leebiddlecome]

I hope that anyone who reads this thread that continues to call the MVC an "Elite" conference would now cease. In a couple years when all the freshman and sophs grow up the MVC may be elite (top 6-7) again. But not this year. Sorry, just my opinion backed up by lots of good data.

I would agree George. Its not a shot at the MVC, just the truth. If you watch a lot of basketball you can see the talent on the floor is down in the MVC this year. That's ok. There appear to be a lot of contributing and talented young players.

I like the future of the league. This year it's just not the same quality and the talent on the floor isnt as the same level as we are used to seeing.

[thefish7]

League is definitely down this year, no doubt.

Also starting to come around to SFP's way of thinking on the refs actually being a factor in our conference. Having watching some Horizon League games, the quality of game called there seems to be better than the MVC. Come to think of it, the two Patriot League games I've seen appeared to be better called.

The players will get better. Conference needs to make it a "point of emphasis" to improve our refereeing.

[Bravesfan]

I would agree George. Its not a shot at the MVC, just the truth. If you watch a lot of basketball you can see the talent on the floor is down in the MVC this year. That's ok. There appear to be a lot of contributing and talented young players.

I like the future of the league. This year it's just not the same quality and the talent on the floor isnt as the same level as we are used to seeing.

The Valley is definately down this year, but I'd love to see it get to the point in the future where a "down" year is two or three bids and not just a once a decade spike like we had from 2004 to 2006. But even the A-10 and MWC conferences seem to go through droughts too. As long as the BCS is in control, that will be a difficult goal to accomplish, but something to shoot for.