Coach Molinari doing something unheard of at WIU

[tornado]

Even ahead of ISU-blue???

Not sure the Leathernecks could hang with them, but who knows???

that mid-major site uses various mid-major coaches for their poll....Jim Les served a year or two on their board of voters for their poll...
but this year.....

the only two MVC teams that are ranked in their Top 25 are Creighton & Wichita State
and the only MVC coaches on their voting board are Greg McDermott & Gregg Marshall..
..coincidence??
..no other Valley school is getting votes enough to make the Top 25, and our 3rd & 4th best teams are ranked behind WIU (who Evansville beat),
behind St. Mary's (who UNI beat), behind Davidson who lost BADLY to Georgia Southern that Bradley beat by 20, and behind Valpo, EKU,
Bryant (who are 13-4 against one of the worst, softie schedule in the nation), Ohio (who lost to Winthrop that Indiana State throttled),
Akron (who was hammered by Creighton), Albany..etc??

[doug shank's crossover]

Time for my annual "BU should play WIU" post.

Why not? It would be a nice pre-season tune up game that's inexpensive and would probably draw better than EIU, etc. Plus, it would be a "feel good" game for fans who still follow Mo....and there are many.

[Bravesfan]

that mid-major site uses various mid-major coaches for their poll....Jim Les served a year or two on their board of voters for their poll...
but this year.....

the only two MVC teams that are ranked in their Top 25 are Creighton & Wichita State
and the only MVC coaches on their voting board are Greg McDermott & Gregg Marshall..
..coincidence??
..no other Valley school is getting votes enough to make the Top 25, and our 3rd & 4th best teams are ranked behind WIU (who Evansville beat),
behind St. Mary's (who UNI beat), behind Davidson who lost BADLY to Georgia Southern that Bradley beat by 20, and behind Valpo, EKU,
Bryant (who are 13-4 against one of the worst, softie schedule in the nation), Ohio (who lost to Winthrop that Indiana State throttled),
Akron (who was hammered by Creighton), Albany..etc??

Yeah, but they're only two votes, unless if them voting for Indiana St. would have made the difference getting into the top 25. I agree Indiana St. should be right on the cusp of the top 25, if not in it right now.

[Bravesfan]

I agree that those 2 wins by the Trees will give them a boost. We've discussed it before in another thread and there are varying opinions about what it will take for them to have a shot to make it to the Big Dance.
I would venture to say though, that 12-6 will not cut it.
13-5 at the very least, but that would only put them at 20-9 with a B'busters win, and the Valley is not terribly strong this year. Some feel they need to finish 15-3 and in a tie for 2nd in the Valley.
I have felt that 14-4 with a win vs. Wichita or Creighton, a Bracketbuster win, and a strong showing in St. Louis (championship game or awfully close) would put them on a strong bubble.

The next 2 games are huge for Indy St. to keep pace with the league leaders and to get a good draw in B'busters and get more national exposure.

Well it's not fair that they would not even get a look at 12-6. If anyone knows anything about college basketball, wins over Mississiippi, Miami and one or two over CU/WSU should give them strong consideration, no matter how weak the rest of the MVC is. Once again, all we hear about is how teams earn bids, not conferences. Therefore, Indiana St. should get a very long look assuming they get a win or two over CU and WSU.

[tornado]

...article discussing the likelihood that either head coach Jim Molinari or assistant Billy Wright might get offers
and jump to coach elsewhere after their success at WIU......

http://www.westerncourier.com/sports/western-gets-assist-from-the-bench/article_f1316d68-6991-11e2-8df5-0019bb30f31a.html

[LittleBrave]

Well it's not fair that they would not even get a look at 12-6. Therefore, Indiana St. should get a very long look assuming they get a win or two over CU and WSU.

Well, last time I checked, life's not fair.
They may get a look, but that's about it.
They are not going to give the Valley 3 Automatic bids this year, and yes, it has to do a little with the strength of the conference as a whole.
Losing 6 games in this conference this season is not worthy of an automatic bid.
They already lost 4 out of conference, which puts them at 11 losses, which is not that attractive when considering a mid-major. Even if getting shut out of the Big Dance with a 12-6 record, they may not even get a 3 seed or better in the NIT.

I know it's not that big of a difference, but a 13-5 record might be the difference between a short look and a really long look, as long as they make it to the championship game in St. Louis.

Sorry to burst your bubble...which by the way is looking pretty popable for the Sycamores after their loss at ISU-red, and will be awfully close to having it pop if they lose in Wichita this week.