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This is an expansion on the other thread over the article written by J Patsos.
At first, I thought this to be apretty good article. And it still is. But some things triggered me to do a little RPI analysis of my own. As I got more and more into it, along with reflecting back to Patsos article... a few things left me pretty unsettled.
The main thing ringing home on me was his comments on this question:
"Should the Mountain West and WAC also be considered mid-major conferences and is the Missouri Valley Conference no longer a mid-major league?".
Now first of all, I DO NOT think the MVC should be classified as a Major conference.
It bothered me as to how Patsos answered it. I started thinking... he is the coach of Loyola, Md. I made a silent guess before researching that he is from a BCS background.
Sure enough... an assistant (and ultimately Top Assistant) to Gary Williams at Maryland.
Ok, that settled. I looked into his article more and his statements. (words do mean things, right?)
I will quote the article in " " and then give my response in italics.
"Should C-USA now be reclassified as a mid-major league?
No. For all intensive purposes C-USA is a new league.... (things) do not happen over night. Certainly Memphis has established themselves as the team to beat, but that doesn???¬??t mean that programs like UCF, Marshall, Rice, Tulsa and UTEP will not be able to compete in their new league."
Actually, OVERNIGHT the bulk of the best basketball teams in CUSA left. I think as time goes on, other teams will be able to compete vs Memphis. IMO, it will get harder for Calipari to recruit for top talent when they will play against E Carolina (300 RPI last year), Marshall (231), Rice (21
, SMU (26, S Miss (246), Tulane (217), and Tulsa (203). I know, I know... it isn't overnight. But I can tell you these teams will NOT get better overnight JUST BECAUSE they are in CUSA (without the best that left)... sorry. CUSA is hurtin for certain..
"And let???¬??s not forget about the programs that didn???¬??t leave the league. UAB, East Carolina, Houston, SMU, Southern Miss and Tulane are all very good programs."
Ok???¬?¦ now that I have stopped laughing. Without being redundant on my point made in the last section, I doubt these teams will help maintain or bring CUSA back to the level it was when it had it???¬??s past members.
???¬?Should the Mountain West and WAC also be considered mid-major conferences and is the Missouri Valley Conference no longer a mid-major league?
In any given year, one conference will be better than another. However, the short term should not necessarily change the long-term classification.???¬??
I believe the MVC is a Mid-Major Conference.
???¬?The Valley didn???¬??t have a really good year -- it had an exceptional year.???¬??
Ever wonder why? One factor that helped was the Big East expansion ???¬??? believe it or not.
???¬?Throughout the season the point was made that the Valley had an outstanding RPI ranking, which it certainly did. But the numbers would then apply to all, including the MWC and WAC.???¬??
Denial ???¬??? denial ???¬??? denial.
Looking at past numbers???¬?¦.WAC???¬??s were up a little. MWC???¬??s were down.
???¬?Former chairman and current voting member, Rick Byrd (Belmont) has really become a great asset to the voting panel, with the research that he has done on the RPI and how it relates to the current conference alignment for the Mid-Major Top 25.???¬??
His efforts in compiling those useless stats over the past 7 years are just that???¬?¦ useless.
???¬?The Valley had a monster season, finishing No. 6 in the final conference RPI, but both the MWC (No. and WAC (No. 9) also finished in the top ten.???¬??
What is relevant in the data is the steady incline by the MVC Ave???¬??s in the RPI over the past 13 years. It is noticeable when comparing the past 10 yrs, 5 yrs, and 3 yrs. What also becomes noticeable is the steady decline by the WAC even with their ???¬??monster???¬?? season in 06. As for the Mtn West ???¬??? they have been very steady. Even in their slightly down year in 06, they have maintained a strong RPI ranking.
???¬?Should Gonzaga be removed from the mid-major voting process?
No.???¬??
I completely agree.
At first, I thought this to be apretty good article. And it still is. But some things triggered me to do a little RPI analysis of my own. As I got more and more into it, along with reflecting back to Patsos article... a few things left me pretty unsettled.
The main thing ringing home on me was his comments on this question:
"Should the Mountain West and WAC also be considered mid-major conferences and is the Missouri Valley Conference no longer a mid-major league?".
Now first of all, I DO NOT think the MVC should be classified as a Major conference.
It bothered me as to how Patsos answered it. I started thinking... he is the coach of Loyola, Md. I made a silent guess before researching that he is from a BCS background.
Sure enough... an assistant (and ultimately Top Assistant) to Gary Williams at Maryland.
Ok, that settled. I looked into his article more and his statements. (words do mean things, right?)
I will quote the article in " " and then give my response in italics.
"Should C-USA now be reclassified as a mid-major league?
No. For all intensive purposes C-USA is a new league.... (things) do not happen over night. Certainly Memphis has established themselves as the team to beat, but that doesn???¬??t mean that programs like UCF, Marshall, Rice, Tulsa and UTEP will not be able to compete in their new league."
Actually, OVERNIGHT the bulk of the best basketball teams in CUSA left. I think as time goes on, other teams will be able to compete vs Memphis. IMO, it will get harder for Calipari to recruit for top talent when they will play against E Carolina (300 RPI last year), Marshall (231), Rice (21
, SMU (26, S Miss (246), Tulane (217), and Tulsa (203). I know, I know... it isn't overnight. But I can tell you these teams will NOT get better overnight JUST BECAUSE they are in CUSA (without the best that left)... sorry. CUSA is hurtin for certain.."And let???¬??s not forget about the programs that didn???¬??t leave the league. UAB, East Carolina, Houston, SMU, Southern Miss and Tulane are all very good programs."
Ok???¬?¦ now that I have stopped laughing. Without being redundant on my point made in the last section, I doubt these teams will help maintain or bring CUSA back to the level it was when it had it???¬??s past members.
???¬?Should the Mountain West and WAC also be considered mid-major conferences and is the Missouri Valley Conference no longer a mid-major league?
In any given year, one conference will be better than another. However, the short term should not necessarily change the long-term classification.???¬??
I believe the MVC is a Mid-Major Conference.
???¬?The Valley didn???¬??t have a really good year -- it had an exceptional year.???¬??
Ever wonder why? One factor that helped was the Big East expansion ???¬??? believe it or not.
???¬?Throughout the season the point was made that the Valley had an outstanding RPI ranking, which it certainly did. But the numbers would then apply to all, including the MWC and WAC.???¬??
Denial ???¬??? denial ???¬??? denial.
Looking at past numbers???¬?¦.WAC???¬??s were up a little. MWC???¬??s were down.
???¬?Former chairman and current voting member, Rick Byrd (Belmont) has really become a great asset to the voting panel, with the research that he has done on the RPI and how it relates to the current conference alignment for the Mid-Major Top 25.???¬??
His efforts in compiling those useless stats over the past 7 years are just that???¬?¦ useless.
???¬?The Valley had a monster season, finishing No. 6 in the final conference RPI, but both the MWC (No.
and WAC (No. 9) also finished in the top ten.???¬??What is relevant in the data is the steady incline by the MVC Ave???¬??s in the RPI over the past 13 years. It is noticeable when comparing the past 10 yrs, 5 yrs, and 3 yrs. What also becomes noticeable is the steady decline by the WAC even with their ???¬??monster???¬?? season in 06. As for the Mtn West ???¬??? they have been very steady. Even in their slightly down year in 06, they have maintained a strong RPI ranking.
???¬?Should Gonzaga be removed from the mid-major voting process?
No.???¬??
I completely agree.
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