MVC Changes Their Tiebreaker System

[tornado]

The Valley just held meetings of the members' Athletic Directors, and the major thing that came out of the meetings
is a change in the way ties in the league standings are broken for the Valley Tournament seeding.

Previously there was a fairly complex tiebreaker system based on a point total that was determined by which teams you have beaten during the season.

Now the tiebreaker is quite simple...it'll be based on the non-conference Strength of Schedule!
This is gonna really hurt a couple teams in the state of Illinois....

http://twitter.com/gocreighton/status/18942747777

Here is the old tiebreaker system....and since I anticipate this page will soon be changed...here is a copied version of it...

http://www.mvc-sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7600&KEY=&ATCLID=274386&SPID=2901&SPSID=41239

Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament Tiebreaker
0/04/2004

Regular-season standings are the determining factor in setting first-round pairings for the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The tie-breaking system for seeding of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, regardless of whether a tie involves two or more teams, will utilize the following factors, in order, until all ties are broken.

Two-way Ties
* Records in head-to-head competition are compared, with the higher seed going to the team that has won the most games against the other.
* If head-to-head competition does not break the tie, the deadlock will be broken by a power-rating system, using league games. The team among the tying institutions with the better point total will receive the higher seed.
* In the event the tie cannot be broken, the seeding shall be determined by RPI.

Multiple Ties
* If three or more teams are tied, regular-season competition among the tied schools shall be pooled into a "mini round-robin." Teams shall be ranked according to their position in such a round- robin.
* In the event this process does not solve the multiple ties, the deadlock will be broken by a power-rating system, using league games. The team among the tying institutions with the better point total will receive the higher seed.
* In the event this process does not resolve the ties, the seeding shall be determined by RPI.

POWER-RATING SYSTEM
League Win Road Home
vs. 1st-Place Team 20 Points 19 Points
vs. 2nd-Place Team 18 Points 17 Points
vs. 3rd-Place Team 16 Points 15 Points
vs. 4th-Place Team 14 Points 13 Points
vs. 5th-Place Team 12 Points 11 Points
vs. 6th-Place Team 10 Points 9 Points
vs. 7th-Place Team 8 Points 7 Points
vs. 8th-Place Team 6 Points 5 Points
vs. 9th-Place Team 4 Points 3 Points
vs. 10th-Place Team 2 Points 1 Points

Note: If there is a tie in the standings, a team??™s record against the combined tied teams is used. (if Team A and Team B tie for first place, a road win against Team A or Team B will be worth 19 points and a home win vs. Team A or Team B will be worth 18 points.)

[amckillip]

I love this, as often as there is a logjam for the 3-6 even 7 spots in the MVC, this really rewards the teams who try to prepare and help the Valley. ILSU should be pretty scared of ties now.

[TheAsianSensation]

Ooooh. A competent change.

[DoubleJayAlum]

I believe this should be known as the "Illinois St rule."

[amckillip]

I believe this should be known as the "Illinois St rule."

+1

[shaunguth]

Love it!

Maybe Jank will unveil his scheduling "plan" that he's been keeping to himself the last couple years.

[squirrelgotdead]

I'm going to take exception that this is not necessarily a great change.

I'm not passing premature judgment one way or another.

If you want to force teams to play a better RPI schedule, threaten them with forfeiting their NCAA share in whole or in part.

But why this isn't necessarily the greatest change ever, it potentially punishes teams for things that are not necessarily within their own control.

The system that had been in place allowed for rigid placement based on what it was relevant to: League play. The new system, say Bradley plays two games against teams that were expected to compete for their leagues and underachieved and finished below .500, while Illinois State schedules two duds but they breakout and win their leagues and boost ISU's RPI past BUs. . .

So there is some arbitrariness to it, that indirectly impacts the RPI, that makes me not like this. At least initially.

[LittleBrave]

Will ISU (red) make the jump?
Coppin St. instead of Grambling St.?
Better make that a Home game too.

[LittleBrave]

I'm going to take exception that this is not necessarily a great change.

I'm not passing premature judgment one way or another.

If you want to force teams to play a better RPI schedule, threaten them with forfeiting their NCAA share in whole or in part.

But why this isn't necessarily the greatest change ever, it potentially punishes teams for things that are not necessarily within their own control.

The system that had been in place allowed for rigid placement based on what it was relevant to: League play. The new system, say Bradley plays two games against teams that were expected to compete for their leagues and underachieved and finished below .500, while Illinois State schedules two duds but they breakout and win their leagues and boost ISU's RPI past BUs. . .

So there is some arbitrariness to it, that indirectly impacts the RPI, that makes me not like this. At least initially.

I was thinking similarly. I would think the decision was made to force teams to boost their level of competitiveness in non-conf. I hope it's just a temporary system. I was confused about how it had been done previously, but I guess it worked and strictly emphasized league performance.

[saluki762]

The Valley just held meetings of the members' Athletic Directors, and the major thing that came out of the meetings
is a change in the way ties in the league standings are broken for the Valley Tournament seeding.

Previously there was a fairly complex tiebreaker system based on a point total that was determined by which teams you have beaten during the season.

Now the tiebreaker is quite simple...it'll be based on the non-conference Strength of Schedule!
This is gonna really hurt a couple teams in the state of Illinois....

http://twitter.com/gocreighton/status/18942747777

Here is the old tiebreaker system....and since I anticipate this page will soon be changed...here is a copied version of it...

http://www.mvc-sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7600&KEY=&ATCLID=274386&SPID=2901&SPSID=41239

Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament Tiebreaker
0/04/2004

Regular-season standings are the determining factor in setting first-round pairings for the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The tie-breaking system for seeding of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, regardless of whether a tie involves two or more teams, will utilize the following factors, in order, until all ties are broken.

Two-way Ties
* Records in head-to-head competition are compared, with the higher seed going to the team that has won the most games against the other.
* If head-to-head competition does not break the tie, the deadlock will be broken by a power-rating system, using league games. The team among the tying institutions with the better point total will receive the higher seed.
* In the event the tie cannot be broken, the seeding shall be determined by RPI.

Multiple Ties
* If three or more teams are tied, regular-season competition among the tied schools shall be pooled into a "mini round-robin." Teams shall be ranked according to their position in such a round- robin.
* In the event this process does not solve the multiple ties, the deadlock will be broken by a power-rating system, using league games. The team among the tying institutions with the better point total will receive the higher seed.
* In the event this process does not resolve the ties, the seeding shall be determined by RPI.

POWER-RATING SYSTEM
League Win Road Home
vs. 1st-Place Team 20 Points 19 Points
vs. 2nd-Place Team 18 Points 17 Points
vs. 3rd-Place Team 16 Points 15 Points
vs. 4th-Place Team 14 Points 13 Points
vs. 5th-Place Team 12 Points 11 Points
vs. 6th-Place Team 10 Points 9 Points
vs. 7th-Place Team 8 Points 7 Points
vs. 8th-Place Team 6 Points 5 Points
vs. 9th-Place Team 4 Points 3 Points
vs. 10th-Place Team 2 Points 1 Points

Note: If there is a tie in the standings, a team’s record against the combined tied teams is used. (if Team A and Team B tie for first place, a road win against Team A or Team B will be worth 19 points and a home win vs. Team A or Team B will be worth 18 points.)

Since SIU has a higher average non-conference SOS ranking then Bradley over the last 5 years, are we to assume that ISU and Bradley are the teams that you speak of?

[TheAsianSensation]

I'm going to take exception that this is not necessarily a great change.

I'm not passing premature judgment one way or another.

If you want to force teams to play a better RPI schedule, threaten them with forfeiting their NCAA share in whole or in part.

But why this isn't necessarily the greatest change ever, it potentially punishes teams for things that are not necessarily within their own control.

The system that had been in place allowed for rigid placement based on what it was relevant to: League play. The new system, say Bradley plays two games against teams that were expected to compete for their leagues and underachieved and finished below .500, while Illinois State schedules two duds but they breakout and win their leagues and boost ISU's RPI past BUs. . .

So there is some arbitrariness to it, that indirectly impacts the RPI, that makes me not like this. At least initially.

That is a little concern, but in my mind, it's mitigated by this fact: The better non-con SoSs are rewarded with easier games to win to avoid the "bad loss" on the at-large resume. And the advantages to the at-large profile are provided to the teams that need them most (the ones with a good non-con SoS).

[chitown fanatic]

Not sure I agree with that. I??™m all for better scheduling but a conf title should be won or lost??¦in the conference. The home/road points system is the best way to determine a league champion, the SOS stuff is and should be used only for postseason comparisons IMO

[Lakeview Brave]

This will be a key factor in deciding which jerseys we wear for the 4/5 game.

[real fan]

This is not a good idea as the conference seeds should be determined by your body of work against only the conf. teams, you have no control over which teams are willing to play you each season and this will only put Valley teams at a disadvantage when the big schools know you need games against them so we will not be getting any of them to play in Peoria; this was not thought out at all.

[TheAsianSensation]

I think people are overestimating the effect of this rule. No one is going to change their scheduling philosophy because of this. I don't see any program scheduling up for the sole purpose of this tiebreaker.

p.s. I would expect head-to-head to be the first tiebreaker still, then this. Right?