Mike DeCourcy of TSN

[McFly]

I emailed him in a very similar fashion to you guys..havent heard back yet. I say next we start emailing Digger.......ANybody care if I put this discussion on the PJStar board...Im sure there a bunch of guys that would jump on the email bandwagon.....I think that everybody on both boards wants the same thing.......I'll wait to hear from an administrator....

[BU fan]

Feel free to post there and start the same discussion. But if you post a link to here it will be deleted.

[McFly]

Just checked and there has been a discussion all day....my bad

[Tsnmike]

Hello, folks

I can assure you I am not an idiot. I also can assure you that I do not change my message to suit the audience, other than to address specifics that the audience would care more about (i.e., talking the Illini with Mike North as opposed to talking about Texas).
I also can assure you that if I did change my message to suit my audience, I wouldn't be dumb enough to think there wouldn't be Valley fans listening to me on The Score, whether it's SIU or Bradley fans.
All that out of the way, I do not remember my exact words, but I know for certain I never suggested the Valley was a joke (those were the caller's words), nor that WKU deserved a bid over Bradley. The WKU example was used to illustrate that some teams beat high-majors out of conference and are getting little buzz, and that the high-RPI teams -- some of which haven't a ton of non-league accomplishment -- are getting a lot.
I'm aware there aren't many majors that will schedule the MVC, and that is a handicap. By cracking the RPI code in the manner that it has, the Valley has put the committee in a genuine predicament. I'll be an interested observer to the outcome.

[squeaky]

Hey Mike,
Thanks for taking time and giving us your side of things.

I hope you understand that fans in the MVC are just passionate. These MVC teams just want a chance to prove themselves, and they usually don't get that.

[Fetz86]

lol, he joined the board, think he maybe got tired of emails?

[McFly]

Re: Hello, folks

I can assure you I am not an ******. I also can assure you that I do not change my message to suit the audience, other than to address specifics that the audience would care more about (i.e., talking the Illini with Mike North as opposed to talking about Texas).
I also can assure you that if I did change my message to suit my audience, I wouldn't be dumb enough to think there wouldn't be Valley fans listening to me on The Score, whether it's SIU or Bradley fans.
All that out of the way, I do not remember my exact words, but I know for certain I never suggested the Valley was a joke (those were the caller's words), nor that WKU deserved a bid over Bradley. The WKU example was used to illustrate that some teams beat high-majors out of conference and are getting little buzz, and that the high-RPI teams -- some of which haven't a ton of non-league accomplishment -- are getting a lot.
I'm aware there aren't many majors that will schedule the MVC, and that is a handicap. By cracking the RPI code in the manner that it has, the Valley has put the committee in a genuine predicament. I'll be an interested observer to the outcome.

Instant respect from me... If more people would jsut confront controversy head on...man wouldnt it be nice....

However Mike, Juat becasue you assure us you are not an arse...well that doesnt mean its true... My wife tells me every day

[tornado]

Re: Hello, folks

I can assure you I am not an ******. I also can assure you that I do not change my message to suit the audience, other than to address specifics that the audience would care more about (i.e., talking the Illini with Mike North as opposed to talking about Texas).
I also can assure you that if I did change my message to suit my audience, I wouldn't be dumb enough to think there wouldn't be Valley fans listening to me on The Score, whether it's SIU or Bradley fans.
All that out of the way, I do not remember my exact words, but I know for certain I never suggested the Valley was a joke (those were the caller's words), nor that WKU deserved a bid over Bradley. The WKU example was used to illustrate that some teams beat high-majors out of conference and are getting little buzz, and that the high-RPI teams -- some of which haven't a ton of non-league accomplishment -- are getting a lot.
I'm aware there aren't many majors that will schedule the MVC, and that is a handicap. By cracking the RPI code in the manner that it has, the Valley has put the committee in a genuine predicament. I'll be an interested observer to the outcome.

Instant respect from me... If more people would jsut confront controversy head on...man wouldnt it be nice....

However Mike, Juat becasue you assure us you are not an arse...well that doesnt mean its true... My wife tells me every day

Thanks TsnMike for coming on here and commenting.
For those who may not know, this really is Mike DeCourcy responding.

We here in the midwest, think the Valley is pretty good this year.
6 of the 10 teams are in the RPI Top 50.
Recall--we didn't invent the RPI----it's more your system than ours.
We didn't "crack the code" so much as scheduled tougher and beat some of those guys.
One or two points and Valley teams could well have even had wins over Illinois, Boston College, Arkansas, and Iowa State.
Tell me what conference has its 6th team beating Iowa and LSU?

Let's compare to the Pac 10--only 6 of their teams have overall winning records.
The Mountain West---(8th rated conference)--their top team has nonconference wins over Alaska-Fairbanks, Southern Miss., Albany, Point Loma Nazarene, UC Santa Barbara, MD-Baltimore.
Say what??? Who the hey have they beaten???
Their 2nd best team is even worse with wins over N. Az, Colo Spgs, Western St. Navy, Ark-Pine Bluff, IUPU-Ft. Wayne, etc. NOBODY!!

Check the CAA--we got a chance to watch them last nite. They have 3 very high RPI teams, NC-Wilmington, GM, Hofstra.
BUT--name one decent non-conference win that any of the three have??
Northwestern?? Coastal Carolina?
Not one of those 3 top CAA teams has beaten even one non-con opponent whose RPI is under 77!

Nope--the Valley stands alone as a mid-major conference that threatens the big boys, that's why you hear the spin and the attacks.

[DUBulldog]

Mike DeCourcy had an article in the Sporting News about a month ago, where he also talked about how the MVC had "cracked the RPI code", or words similar to that.

That is nothing but garbage. There is no code to be cracked. The MVC played decent teams in the non-conference portion of the season, and won a very high percentage of those game, plus several wins against BCS schools. The whole key to the MVC's high RPI was that our schools won such a high percentage of those games....which wouldn't have happened unless there were a lot of good teams in the MVC

Most of the BCS schools obtain their high RPI's the same way, with very few non-conference top-50 opponents. Why is it that when the MVC is successful, it's because they "cracked the code" or "beat the system".

If it was that simple, why is the MVC the only "mid-major" conference that has risen this high in the RPI.

9th seed Indiana State beat Indiana
8th seed Drake very nearly beat Boston College

UNI beats LSU (at LSU) and beats Iowa, yet can finish no higher than a 5th-place tie in the MVC....that says something about the difficulty of the league right there.

[Tsnmike]

If you read the whole of that column, I pointed out that the SEC and Big East have been playing it that way for years. I congratulated the Valley for being smart enough to figure it out and committed enough to invest in playing at home. I mentioned how foolish the A-10 was in comparison.

[DUBulldog]

Thanks for the additional info, Mike. I read the whole article, but still feel that it came off somewhat demeaning of the MVC's accomplishments this season.

I'm realistsic enough to know that there is a large difference between the MVC and the Big East, Big 10, ACC. Everything fell into place perfectly for the top 6 MVC teams this season. I know that none of them have a chance to be in the Final 4 or the Elite 8, but I honestly believe that all 6 of them are among the 64 best teams in the NCAA. I'll certainly put them up against the mid-level teams from any of the so-called power conferences.

I know that the NCAA tournament will be put up or shut up time for the MVC teams, however many make it.

And, I honestly believe that the Valley will be even better next season.

[it's boogie time]

I know that O'Bryant was not with Bradley early, but I also know that while he made Bradley better, he did not completely change the season. Against the Valley, Bradley still was 13-8.

This cracks me up. PO'B changed every Bradley game he was in. The non-conference teams got to drive to the hoop against BU while the conference teams didn't. It was night and day with PO'B in the game. Danny Granger in his short time here is the only other guy I've seen had that effect at BU, but I've only been watching games since '92.

Bradley goes undeafeated in the non-conference if PO'B is there and is a Thursday night team if he would have missed the conference season.

The DePaul coach even talked about how his whole game plan was to try and stop PO'B, so they had nothing planned when he wasn't there.

[Bravesfan]

Re: Hello, folks

I can assure you I am not an ******. I also can assure you that I do not change my message to suit the audience, other than to address specifics that the audience would care more about (i.e., talking the Illini with Mike North as opposed to talking about Texas).
I also can assure you that if I did change my message to suit my audience, I wouldn't be dumb enough to think there wouldn't be Valley fans listening to me on The Score, whether it's SIU or Bradley fans.
All that out of the way, I do not remember my exact words, but I know for certain I never suggested the Valley was a joke (those were the caller's words), nor that WKU deserved a bid over Bradley. The WKU example was used to illustrate that some teams beat high-majors out of conference and are getting little buzz, and that the high-RPI teams -- some of which haven't a ton of non-league accomplishment -- are getting a lot.
I'm aware there aren't many majors that will schedule the MVC, and that is a handicap. By cracking the RPI code in the manner that it has, the Valley has put the committee in a genuine predicament. I'll be an interested observer to the outcome.

Thanks Mike for coming on and giving us your side of the story. (I had e-mailed you a couple of e-mails under the name Bradleyfan Pete). I understand where you are coming from in regards to the WKU example, although it did come across as that since WKU played (and beat) BCS teams, they deserve more exposure than the teams who tried to schedule BCS teams, but for whatever reason could not get any to play them. I was incorrect in interpreting your point, and of course the committee should take a long, hard look at WKU for the tournament.

I guess my disgust with the system is that the Valley teams are trying to do what is right, and schedule good teams outside of the conference, but most just won't give them the time of day. I think the Valley did the next best thing, and scheduled other likeminded "mid-majors" who are more than willing to play us. Most Valley teams as you stated did win the vast majority of their games against these teams, which is a great accomplishment, since many of these teams are good, despite not being from BCS conferences.

I think basically where we still disagree is what constitutes a quality win. We both agreed that the top six teams in the Valley are good teams. So why wouldn't wins against other top 50 Valley teams be considered as good as a top 50 win over a BCS team? As you stated, other BCS conferences play the same RPI game, but no one blinks an eye because of the quality of wins within their respective conferences. I think a win over a Valley top 50 opponent should count the same.

Anyway, feel free to visit whenever you would like Mike. Hopefully we can have more good hearted debates over this issue.

[Tsnmike]

Congrats to the Braves on their bid. I'm sure you're all going to enjoy this. Have fun v. KU!

[BU fan]

Thanks Mike! You are welcome here, anytime. You are a class act.