MVC standings and RPIs- Bradley's RPI now up to 76

[Da Coach]

http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2010/conference/Missouri%20Valley

Bradley's RPI is now up to 76, 38 spots ahead of Illinois State (RPI 114)

[TheAsianSensation]

Fun with numbers:

Approximating the math if we had won vs. WCU and Loyola, (and this estimate is approximate), our RPI would have gained to the point that we would be right behind Wichita St, tucked just inside the top 50.

Our conference strength of schedule is #1 in the Valley, indicating we've played the toughest Valley sked so far (by a slight margin) and stand to lose more than gain in SoS down the stretch.

Non-conference strength of schedules (via ESPN): Bradley is now the only team sub-100:
Bradley 45
Indiana St 103
Creighton 172
Northern Iowa 214
Missouri St 272
Drake 293
Wichita St 320
Illinois St 340
Southern Illinois 342
Evansville 345

Overall strength of schedules are improving:
Bradley 12 (to be honest, this number will be heading south and Bradley will need a solid BB to probably remain in the top 25 by the end)
Creighton 51
Indiana St 62
Northern Iowa 100
Missouri St 146
Drake 179
Wichita St 184
Evansville 222
Illinois St 236
Southern Illinois 256

[Bradleyguy10]

If only if only.

[Chucky T's]

[quote=Da Coach;160081]http://warrennolan.com/basketball/20...souri%20Valley

Bradley's RPI is now up to 76, 38 spots ahead of Illinois State (RPI 114)

Why do we have to continually bring up ISU and their schedule, their RPI, their opponents and so on and so on.....

ISU is 1-1 vs. the top 50...BU is 0-4
ISU is one game ahead of us in the standings
ISU has finished ahead of BU in the MVC the last couple years and has played in the MVC championship the last two years....

I'm not sticking up for them, I dislike ISU as much as anyone. All I'm saying is until BU actually beats ISU and starts finishing ahead of them in the MVC..... well maybe we shouldn't be to quick to criticize.

[Da Coach]

I never said anything about their schedule.
Many Bradley fans want to know how Bradley's RPI stacks up against others in the MVC, especially ISU.
I suspect most BU fans would be surprised to know how far ahead of ISU Bradley is in RPI, that's why I made a brief mention of the comparison.

I am used to ISU fans here trying to stand up for their woeful schedule, but not Bradley fans. What gives?

[Tulsa Brave]

RPI now down to 83 after the win today...

[Chucky T's]

I never said anything about their schedule.
Many Bradley fans want to know how Bradley's RPI stacks up against others in the MVC, especially ISU.
I suspect most BU fans would be surprised to know how far ahead of ISU Bradley is in RPI, that's why I made a brief mention of the comparison.

I am used to ISU fans here trying to stand up for their woeful schedule, but not Bradley fans. What gives?

Sorry if I made it sound like I was singling you out DC...not my intent...and I am in NO WAY trying to stand up for ISU's horrible scheduling. I completely agree that for the sake of the MVC they need to get their act together and schedule better.

If fans want to compare BU to ISU in RPI or anything else, that is their choice and there is nothing wrong with that. Personally, I don't really care what ISU does until it's time to play them. Just two different perspectives I guess.

[Bravesfan]

RPI now down to 83 after the win today...

For two reasons. First, we beat a bad Evansville team at home. And second, Loyola loses at home to a bad Valparaiso team while Illinois blows a big lead late and loses at Northwestern. Not good for our profile!

[Bravesfan]

If only if only.

You know, I wish people wouldn't keep harping on that. I personally think those losses did us more good in the long run as it taught the team how to win and close out close games, now even on the road. Maybe we don't beat SIU at their place and/or hang on to beat Indiana St. at home without some "growing pains". Maybe we become complacent and lose games like this late in the season if we don't experience the early season pain we went through. I'd much rather get those types of games out of the way early and finish strong, with some momentum that might actually carry us through the Valley tournament.

Now before I get flamed, I certainly don't disagree we should have won at least a couple of those games. However, and this is a VERY important point, I contend we still would need to win the Valley tournament to get an NCAA Tournament birth even if we did win the three games we should have. Illinois is our only good OOC win, and even that's losing it's luster by the day!

[dogsrus]

You know, I wish people wouldn't keep harping on that. I personally think those losses did us more good in the long run as it taught the team how to win and close out close games, now even on the road. Maybe we don't beat SIU at their place and/or hang on to beat Indiana St. at home without some "growing pains". Maybe we become complacent and lose games like this late in the season if we don't experience the early season pain we went through. I'd much rather get those types of games out of the way early and finish strong, with some momentum that might actually carry us through the Valley tournament.

Now before I get flamed, I certainly don't disagree we should have won at least a couple of those games. However, and this is a VERY important point, I contend we still would need to win the Valley tournament to get an NCAA Tournament birth even if we did win the three games we should have. Illinois is our only good OOC win, and even that's losing it's luster by the day!

The main thing I would argue here is if we win the 3 home meltdowns and go on to win the Valley we are a bubble NCAA team. So yes, ALOT of ifs but thats what has some upset a bit.

Those losses MADE winning the Valley Tourney are ONLY shot.......

[Bravesfan]

The main thing I would argue here is if we win the 3 home meltdowns and go on to win the Valley we are a bubble NCAA team. So yes, ALOT of ifs but thats what has some upset a bit.

Those losses MADE winning the Valley Tourney are ONLY shot.......

Very true, but there's nothing we can do about those three games now. Yes, we NEED to win the Valley tournament to make the NCAA Tournament. Agreed here.

I still think though that even if we won those three games the selection committee would find a way to keep us out. Think of this. If they kept Creighton out last year with an even better non-conference profile than we have this year (wins over George Mason, New Mexico and ranked Xavier), they would probably find a way to keep us out too, especially if we finish two or three games behind UNI. I think winning the MVCT is the only sure way we would get in anyway.

[dogsrus]

Very true, but there's nothing we can do about those three games now. Yes, we NEED to win the Valley tournament to make the NCAA Tournament. Agreed here.

I still think though that even if we won those three games the selection committee would find a way to keep us out. Think of this. If they kept Creighton out last year with an even better non-conference profile than we have this year (wins over George Mason, New Mexico and ranked Xavier), they would probably find a way to keep us out too, especially if we finish two or three games behind UNI. I think winning the MVCT is the only sure way we would get in anyway.

Could be but I still would prefer to be in the mix and take our chances. Even getting talked about as a bubble team gives us good pub.

[Bravesfan]

Could be but I still would prefer to be in the mix and take our chances. Even getting talked about as a bubble team gives us good pub.

Well if we run the table from here on out we can still get back into the at-large talk.

[dogsrus]

Well if we run the table from here on out we can still get back into the at-large talk.

I think we'd all take that.....

[TheAsianSensation]

If we win our, say, next 4, then get back to me about any chance at an at-large. Until then, don't delude yourselves.