Only 2 MVC teams in NCAA?

[VromanFan]

Re: Selections

"Parity can be bad thing when you want to tout your prettiest girls."

Fair points all Dallas Brave. I'm a fan of the double round robin format but I sure here what you're saying. If we were able to get say Butler and SLU involved that would be hard to turn down.

I'd like to nominate the sentence I reprinted above for quote of the year. I'm not going to ask if you know that through experience because your answer might incriminate youself...but in the figurative sense at least I will request of you to Keep Pimping...

[BTID]

I could see the Valley only getting 2 bids this year too even though the top-to-bottom strength of the league has probably never been better in the modern era.

Still, a third bid or possibly more than that is there for the taking by anyone who can get hot in St. Louis. UNI and MSU seem to be slumping a bit down the stretch. WSU had a horrible mid-season stretch of games. Time will tell if the same fate will befall BU in its last 3 games. The upside for the Braves is that they haven't lost to any of the bottom 4 teams (with 1 game left to go). The 3 teams ahead of Bradley cannot say that. On the flipside, we are just 1-5 against the teams ahead of us. Today's game in Richmond is bigger for us than it is for VCU, because they lead the CAA and have a good chance to finish first prior to their conference tournament.

I don't know if conferences that play a true round-robin schedule like the MVC, Pac-10, WAC, or MWC are hurt or helped more than conferences that play an unbalanced schedule like the Big 12, MAC, Big East, Big 10, SEC, or Sun Belt. Last year, the Pac-10 was down and only got 3 teams in the tournament. This year they could get as many as 6.

In the past, the school and athletic administrations at Butler and St. Louis have said they aren't going to another conference anytime soon. Butler likes the Horizon League and feels it has more in common with the member schools there than they do in the Missouri Valley. The only people in St. Louis that like being in the Atlantic 10 are the adminstrators at the school. Still, they carry the clout for SLU. Since the Billikens are "too good" to hang around nearby midwestern schools, I say let 'em make road trips to Duquesne, Rhode Island, and Fordham. If they really wanted to come back to the Missouri Valley, they would have done so long ago.

On another note, I happen to like variety. We've already got 3 teams that wear blue and white--we don't need 2 more !

[BuBraves55]

ya wouldnt be surprised w/ 2 bid year from valley
but it all depends on what happens in st. louis

[BradleyBrave]

Re: Selections

What I find disgusting is all this talk of ACC, Big-10, SEC, and Big (l)East getting 6-9 teams in each. What a joke!

There should be 3-5 Valley teams in based on both team and conference RPI alone. The committee needs to take at least one less team from each of these conferences to be sure no less than three Valley teams get in. (of course, conference tournament upsets will probably play havoc with selections this year)

I think each of those aforementioned conferences can spare a team or two!

Sorry Vitale. You're a good person, but there is no way the ACC will field 8 teams into the tournament! That conference is just as messed up as the Valley, and some commentators are beginning to mention that!

Listen, I love the MVC. It's pure college hoops man...the double round robin...no football schools...its great...but we can't legitimately compare to the ACC....at least not now...does any MVC team compare to UNC or even Duke ability wise? There's a gap there we have yet to close...If our conference deserved 3+ bids out TEAMS would take care of business on their home court (MSU/SMS)....not lose in Cookesvile (Braves)...have more than one win against the RPI top 50 (Braves)...not collapse in conference play (WSU)...not totally collapse down the stretch (UNI).

I think the conference has gotten hosed in the past. We deserved five teams last year. No question. But lets look at this season. Make a credible case for BU, WSU, or UNI being a top 40 team in the country right now and therefore worthy of an at large bid. I mean up to today's action of course. I don't think it holds up. Tell me otherwise if that's what you belive...but talk about the TEAMS and what they've done to deserve it.

I just don't agree with the whole MVC is getting slighted argument...not this year. Maybe this silly ESPN event will go better tomorrow and I'll feel more optimistic.

I mean come on...top Valley teams are losing at HOME to the Big South conference and we are actually gonna compare ourselves to the ACC?

Just my honest opinion...I'll respect all of yours...I just don't feel more than three TEAMS in our conference deserve bids right now...and MSU might be fumbling the ball if tonight was any indication.

Thanks for letting me ramble. I've had a couple of soda pops tonight/this morning.

Cheers,
VromanFan

I see your point VromanFan, and agree with it to a degree. The MVC does not have a UNC-caliber team, no question. But I am not convinced that that the top 3-4 teams (including BU) can't compete on a nightly basis with the rest of that league. Here's why:

-SIU beat Virginia Tech, who's a 1/2 game out of 1st in the ACC
-Boston College, currently 1st place in the ACC, has lost at home to Vermont by 14, and at home to an awful Duquesne team (RPI 18 by 5.
-Virginia Tech has also lost to Western Michigan (RPI 145), Marshall (RPI 166), and George Washington (RPI 88 ).
-Virginia has lost to Appalachian St (playing WSU in today's BracketBuster) and a bad Utah team by 24.
-Duke doesn't really have any 'bad' losses like these other team, but had a tough time at home with average teams like Kent St, and never left home in the non-con. Also, if you've watched them play, they're pretty average offensively and could lose to any of the top 4 MVC teams on a given night.

Now, the dilineation between conferences comes from Clemson down to NC State. The bottom 5 of the MVC are a level below Clemson, Maryland, Georgia Tech, and FSU. UNI, Evansville, Indiana St, Drake, and ISU would lose most of their games to those teams IMO. I'm not saying they couldn't sneak one in here or there, but I don't think those teams could hold up over the course of the season. SIU, CU, MSU, BU, and maybe even WSU could hang right in there on a nightly basis with all of the teams in that league sans UNC. The losses those teams have supports that.

What does that all mean? In my world, it means that the MVC has an argument for 4 teams (only if BU finishes strong and shows well in St. Louis), and the ACC has an argument for 6 or 7. The ACC is a better conference from top to bottom, but outside of UNC I don't think the rest of the league is that much better than the top 4 teams in the MVC.

The MVC should worry more about a bad Big East getting more teams than they deserve, and leagues like the Mountain West, Horizon, WAC, A-10, and C-USA having something crazy happen in their conference tournaments. That will squeeze the MVC out of bids more than the BCS conferences (sans Big East) will.

[Fetz86]

Teams that finish below .500 in their conference should not recieve tourney bids. same as teams that dont win their conference championship shouldnt be able to play in the bcs national championship game in football.

[TheAsianSensation]

It's closer to 2 bids than 4 right now.

[BradleyBrave]

The Valley looks like a fraud right now. It's up to SIU, CU, BU, and maybe even UNI to save our rep and our RIP.

[Grassman]

The Valley looks like a fraud right now. It's up to SIU, CU, BU, and maybe even UNI to save our rep and our RIP.

We could go 1-9. No way does Creighton lose at home to Drexel.
Or do they?

[BUBraves2006]

The Valley looks like a fraud right now. It's up to SIU, CU, BU, and maybe even UNI to save our rep and our RIP.

We could go 1-9. No way does Creighton lose at home to Drexel.
Or do they?

I actually think the best bets are ISU at home and Drake at home against BAD teams...

[Grassman]

The Valley looks like a fraud right now. It's up to SIU, CU, BU, and maybe even UNI to save our rep and our RIP.

We could go 1-9. No way does Creighton lose at home to Drexel.
Or do they?

I actually think the best bets are ISU at home and Drake at home against BAD teams...

Miami of O and Samford are BAD teams!

[BUBraves2006]

The Valley looks like a fraud right now. It's up to SIU, CU, BU, and maybe even UNI to save our rep and our RIP.

We could go 1-9. No way does Creighton lose at home to Drexel.
Or do they?

I actually think the best bets are ISU at home and Drake at home against BAD teams...

Miami of O and Samford are BAD teams!

Oh I thought you meant the later games...those are both bad too...

[Dallas Brave]

Re: Selections

"Parity can be bad thing when you want to tout your prettiest girls."

Fair points all Dallas Brave. I'm a fan of the double round robin format but I sure here what you're saying. If we were able to get say Butler and SLU involved that would be hard to turn down.

I'd like to nominate the sentence I reprinted above for quote of the year. I'm not going to ask if you know that through experience because your answer might incriminate youself...but in the figurative sense at least I will request of you to Keep Pimping...

I publically give up all copyright and trademark rights

With regard to adding 2 teams. The secret to making it happen is to try to get 5-to-6 teams considering the 2 slots. In addition to SLU and Butler, the MVC could also approach Dayton and Xavier along with (I know people will quickly dismiss this) DePaul and Marquette. Now you have at least 4, maybe 6 being offered and you have a competitive situation.

My modest proposal (with apologies to Jonathen Swift) would be to:
1. go back to ESPN and Fox Sports and reaffirm that the Valley is college basketball at it finest - true college ball, not an NBA pre-K. The heartland, home of Hoosiers, rabid fans and community spirit. Bottom line: affirm your marketing proposition
2. Also get ESPN and Fox to commit more coverage for this league if you bring in two major market teams that fit the marketing spiel.
3. Now, go after your two teams with the power of your "unofficial and unannounced" TV deal
4. Land the two teams, divide into two divisions and let the magic begin. You could create east/west divisions or ... reform the divisons each year based on next year's outlook in order to not have the divisions get too out of balance in any given year. Juggling each year would actually help keep rivalries in place with the whole league, not just your division.

[patrick_o'brian]

Too much thinking the DallasBrave. Just go out and keep winning and making Sweet 16 and elite eights and it will all fall into place. Now losing to Winthrops and Drexels don't make anyone ELITE. But who is elite? Just get teams into the tournament and go deep into it and we'll be fine. This Bracketbuster is exactly what it is and Creighton and MSU got busted. That's that!