Review of Missouri Valley Non-Conference Scheduling

[TheAsianSensation]

Isn't part of the prerequisite of liking Bradley hating ISU with a passion?

[MacabreMob]

Isn't part of the prerequisite of liking Bradley hating ISU with a passion?

Maybe so... but I don't hate them with a passion anymore. In fact, I don't really hate any team with a passion anymore. But as for Ignorant and Arrogant fans.... I REALLY hate them, no matter what team they root for (except Bradley fans, of course).

[tornado]

Tornado beating ISU means ****. I mean yeah its good for fun purposes, but lets start getting real. QUIT worrying about ISU there not the problem. Im starting to wonder if you love BU or just hate ISU that much

those two possibilities are not mutually exclusive, although you are the first and only person I have met in decades who even hints a bit of doubt about my love, devotion, and fanhood for Bradley!

[Braves4Life]

Isn't part of the prerequisite of liking Bradley hating ISU with a passion?

Maybe so... but I don't hate them with a passion anymore. In fact, I don't really hate any team with a passion anymore.

Look, TAS! MM has probably either lost his mind, is TRYING to be PC, or is just a wuss.

Let's call a spade a spade: It IS a prerequisite if you like Bradley to HATE ISU!

[MacabreMob]

Look, TAS! MM has probably either lost his mind, is TRYING to be PC, or is just a wuss.

Let's call a spade a spade: It IS a prerequisite if you like Bradley to HATE ISU!

LOL! I know what you are saying B4L. Thing is... I'm done hating someone just cause I see them wearing a Redbird sweatshirt. If they act like a jack-arse... well, then they are a jack-arse and I hate them for that. So if they wear a "Buck" shirt, I figure they are a jack-arse. If they wear an ISU shirt, they are a fan of ISU (until they say or do something like a jack-arse). I'm done with all this hatin' crap for plain reasons as they root for their team.

I hate jack-arses. All of them. For example: A Creighton fan at the MVCTourney 2 years ago that was very big and noticeable standing up at the edge of his section that kinda T-d with our Bradley section so we all looked right at him as he was giving all the Bradley fans the finger during the second 1/2... that guy was a jack-arse. But.... the Creighton fan that I sat next to before the game and then the next day at the Dubliner having a pint... he was very respectful and pleasant to talk to.

Now... because of the natural rivalry between ISU and Bradley, it causes many ISU fans to act like jack-arses. So I don't like very many of them.

[AZ BU Fan]

RE ISU - blast away Tornado!

College basketball is all about rivalries and emotion! What's a good rivalry without trash talk and vilifying the "enemy"! This is why we love College BB...

The MVC needs many more rivalries like BU-ISU to get more people involved and more regional/national interest!

There was absolutely nothing better than the Versace vs Donewald years of BU vs ISU and the intense rivalry....Packed houses, unbelievable noise, intense play, fans at each others' throats!

Worthless info about the 08-09 ISU season.. They lost 5 OT games last year including 3 in the Valley, the Valley tourney title game and their NIT first round game. If they swept these OT games, they end up 14-4 in the Valley tied for first, win the Valley tournament and go farther in the NIT or get to the NCAA...They also won 2 OT games in the Valley last year....a total of 7 OT games...Wonder what the Valley record is for being in OT games in a season....

[MacabreMob]

...a total of 7 OT games...Wonder what the Valley record is for being in OT games in a season....

Bradley tied 7 ot's in one game a few years ago.... err, many years ago.

edit part: was only joking and know what you meant. I don't know the record of actual games played into extra periods in a season (not the total extra periods played in one game in a season, or both for that matter)

[tornado]

.. They lost 5 OT games last year including 3 in the Valley....

shouldn't championship teams, teams worthy of the NCAA, be capable of closing the deal...winning the close ones?
Four of their overtime opponents were the bottom dwellers in the MVC.

[BUFAN]

Just curious which games you see as the 5 losses?

Not saying it can't/won't happen, just curious if you would expand on the prediction...

@ SIU-E
vs. North Florida
@ UIC
vs. Norfolk State
vs. Southeast Missouri State
vs. St. Bonaventure
vs. Central Michigan
vs. Niagara
@ Ohio
@ Utah
vs. Grambling State

UIC, St. Bonaventure, Niagra, Utah, and Ohio, with Central Mi. being the make it or break it for a successful noncon season. Good luck...

[tornado]

Getting back to the Creighton blogger's ranking of the non-conference slates of the MVC teams....

Even though BU ranked 2nd, I think it's affected by the use of last year's RPI numbers...and it may affect BU more negatively than some schools...
and here's why....

For example-- among Bradley's non-conference opponents...BYU, Wofford, Illinois, NIU, Western Carolina, and Iowa State are all pegged to be better this year than they were last year...so it is expected their RPI's won't be as low as they were in 2008-2009.

SIU's schedule (SEMO, SLU, UIC, Alabama St. San Diego, San Francisco..) is full of teams that may be even worse than last year...and even has a DII.
In fact I am skeptical of SIU's average RPI of 165.67. There is only one team there that's substantially better than that number (UNLV sits at 83 from last year and the rest of the opponents are worse)

Same true for ISU (a DII plus - UIC, Norfolk, Grambling, St. Bonnie's, etc..)
and Creighton really has only one or two teams that look the be substantially better than last year (Michigan, Dayton) while many will also be down (FAMU, Ark-LR, Nebraska, GMU, Savannah St., UNM, Houston Baptist)

so if there's anything I can take from a closer look of the teams and their potential...then Bradley might be able to move up..Creighton maybe drop a bit, and SIU & ISU may drop even further if that's possible.
Of course time will tell.....but his arbitrarily system favors some teams and hurts others....we'll see in a few months for real.

[BU_EMT128]

And as far as 'not building' on the Sweet 16 year, I beg to differ as well. We have state of the art facilities that will be completed by year's end, which are a direct result of our 2006 run.

How are the facilities a "direct" result of the sweet 16 year? I would venture to guess a capital campaign for these venues would have happened even with another mediocre finish.

[Fetz86]

How are the facilities a "direct" result of the sweet 16 year? I would venture to guess a capital campaign for these venues would have happened even with another mediocre finish.

People were more willing to open their wallets in the wake of the sweet 16 run, much more so then they would have been following another mediocre finish. Its not a coincidence that the winningist programs are the ones that generate the most revenue and get the most donations.

[tornado]

we will never get consensus on scheduling...but how about if someone does an analysis on the fan bases...

Here's something I have perceived...ALL ten of the teams' fan bases seem to be especially optimistic this year...
Of course UNI & Creighton, because they have almost their whole teams coming back, but also ISU, BU, SIU, and WSU who all have some pretty good veteran and senior players coming back and are all quite hopeful.

But even Drake, Evansville, Indiana State, and Missouri State are well into their rebuilding and are pretty anxious to see how far their good young players will carry them.

I don't deny that UNI is the favorite in just about everyone's eyes, but I think if they slip there are 4, 5, 6 other teams that can make a run, and I think we are going to have a lot of good players in the Valley this year, and I think we'll set attendance records again this year.
In a guard oriented League, I like BU who will have FIVE guards (Sam M, Warren, Eddren, Chris, and Dodie) who could all star on a given night..
but it won't be easy....let's hope the Valley returns to the prominence it had a few years ago with several teams in the NCAA!

6 days 'til the Coffee with the Coaches and the Tailgate
9 days 'til the Itoo Supper
19 days 'til the beginning of practice
34 days 'til the first scrimmage vs. DePaul
42 days (6 weeks) 'til the first open scrimmage vs. Lewis
47 days 'til the first regular season game at BYU
49 days (7 weeks) 'til the first home game vs. Idaho State

[AZ BU Fan]

BU IS blessed to have a lot of good guards who can score.

I still think a key to BU success the next couple of years is if they can get some credible offense threat this year close to the basket from Singh, Thompson, Egoff, Brown, or Prosser. This can help better free up the guards to shoot, avoid double teams, and provide more space for open shots on the perimeter.

If BU can get better defense from their bigs, hopefully there will be less layups and drives to the basket BU has given up the past couple of years. If BU bigs can defend better down low there will be less double teams by guards/weak side players with fewer open shot opportunities by opposing guards.... Better rebounding from bigs can also help open up the running game for BU's guards.

Offense is great, but BU losing 89-82 is not much fun.

One last observation, is it just me or does BU have a difficult time setting and executing screens for their guards to get open for shots? Either the screeners move (foul), stick knees/hips out (foul) or our guards don't run their defender into the screener, and the defender easily gets around the screen. Executing better screens will help BU guards be even more effective.

GO BU (and Az Cardinals!)...

[Bradleyguy10]

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