I can't disagree with Digger...

[BradleyBrave]

"The MVC hurt themselves"

Whine about him and the rest of ESPN all we want (It was well-deserved last year), they are right about the MVC today. They gave our league EVERY opportunity to win and disspell this 'mid-major' label we've been given, and our marquee home teams absolutely CHOKED in every sense of the word. If it wasn't for SIU and BU pulling road upsets, this league would be the laughing stock of college basketball. 5-5 with 2 of those wins coming from home bottom feeders is pretty sad. Unlike last year, I think for the most part the national media has been fair, and whatever criticisms they have for the league as a whole are probably warranted after today.

[dogsrus]

Re: I can't disagree with Digger...

"The MVC hurt themselves"

Whine about him and the rest of ESPN all we want (It was well-deserved last year), they are right about the MVC today. They gave our league EVERY opportunity to win and disspell this 'mid-major' label we've been given, and our marquee home teams absolutely CHOKED in every sense of the word. If it wasn't for SIU and BU pulling road upsets, this league would be the laughing stock of college basketball. 5-5 with 2 of those wins coming from home bottom feeders is pretty sad. Unlike last year, I think for the most part the national media has been fair, and whatever criticisms they have for the league as a whole are probably warranted after today.

Yes...the CU and WSU wins were the worst IMO. MO ST was never in it IMO. They looked soft and lost.

I DO think the HUGE wins on the road by BU/SIU saved the day and made us (MVC) at least respectable.

[Roll with the Funches]

#1 Big South wins @ #3 MVC
#1 Southern Conference North Division wins @ #5 MVC
#3 MAC East wins @ #10 MVC
#1 WAC wins vs. #6 MVC
#4 CAA wins @ #2 MVC

#5 Ohio Valley loses vs. #7 MVC
#2 Horizon loses vs. #1 MVC
#4 MAC West loses @ #9 MVC
#1 CAA loses vs. #4 MVC
#8 Horizon loses @ #8 MVC

If you look at the standings for these leagues, you'll see three of the valley's losses are teams leading their league. Two of those are by teams in the bottom half of the MVC. Now I'm certainly not saying it was a great weekend for the conference or that some teams didn't blow some nice opportunities, but I would think overall, looking at the matchups above, the MVC can still be considered a clear notch above the other conferences. The simple fact that ESPN matched up 5 MVC teams with conference leaders and a sixth with a team ranked in the top 15 nationally but 2nd in their conference proves that.

[BTID]

It was a rough weekend for MVC teams overall. Our home teams went 2-4 (good job Illinois State & Drake). Our road teams went 3-1, but when the pairings came out, many hoops afficianados would have correctly surmised we could go 0-4 in the roadies.

To be fair to Creighton, Missouri State, and Wichita State--they played some very good teams at home. Winthrop proved how good they were back in November and December when they gave North Carolina and Wisconsin good games. Appalachian State won at Vanderbilt (something Florida failed to do), and won the 8-team San Juan Shootout over the Christmas break. They also beat VCU in Richmond. Drexel has had nice road wins against Villanova and Syracuse. ASU, and DU have some headscratching losses this season, but some of those have come in conference play. For as good a season as they had last year, SIU lost to Monmouth, Alaska-Anchorage, and a home game to Indiana State! Winthrop and Memphis are the only 2 teams in the country who are unbeaten in conference play. Winthrop has been pushed to the wire by High Point and Coastal Carolina in the Big South, and even though the Eagles host the conference tourney, I would call them solid favorites moreso than "locks" to win it.

Yes, these were big games for our Valley brethren this weekend, but anyone with any semblance of proportion knew we weren't going to go 10-0 or 0-10 after the blowing snow settled. The Bracket Buster isn't just a showcase for Missouri Valley teams. The other schools are trying to boost their resumes so they can be a topic of discussion by Selection Sunday too. To me, the only thing the BB did this weekend was include more schools on the bubble with the 6-9 teams from the BCS leagues. More conferences seem to have more parity in them this season than most other seasons, so I suspect the selection process will be that much more difficult this time around.

[Grassman]

A few of ny observations, for what they are worth.
1. Winthrop is a VERY good basketball team and would compete for the Valley championship.
2. Appalachian State is a good basketball team playing a Shocker team with 3 starters injured. Ad to that Kyle Wilson not playing very well and a loss was inevitable.
3. Drexel had very athletic big men and a hot shooter, Meijia (sic?). You could see why they had 12 road wins.
Creighton did not bring their A game.
4. The Valley does not have a copyright on "Mid-Major" teams that can compete with anybody.
5. Bradley, as last year, seems to be peaking at the right time. This is a credit to Jim Les and his staff.

[Bravesfan]

Re: I can't disagree with Digger...

"The MVC hurt themselves"

Whine about him and the rest of ESPN all we want (It was well-deserved last year), they are right about the MVC today. They gave our league EVERY opportunity to win and disspell this 'mid-major' label we've been given, and our marquee home teams absolutely CHOKED in every sense of the word. If it wasn't for SIU and BU pulling road upsets, this league would be the laughing stock of college basketball. 5-5 with 2 of those wins coming from home bottom feeders is pretty sad. Unlike last year, I think for the most part the national media has been fair, and whatever criticisms they have for the league as a whole are probably warranted after today.

Yeah, but have they hurt themselves to the point where the Valley only receives two bids. I don't think so. Even the big guy said yesterday they will get a third team in, it's just he does not know which one. However, Rick Majerus did say that SIU probably gets a top 4 seed in the tourneament. I'd say that's some great respect for the Valley!

[Mikovio]

#1 Big South wins @ #3 MVC
#1 Southern Conference North Division wins @ #5 MVC
#3 MAC East wins @ #10 MVC
#1 WAC wins vs. #6 MVC
#4 CAA wins @ #2 MVC

#5 Ohio Valley loses vs. #7 MVC
#2 Horizon loses vs. #1 MVC
#4 MAC West loses @ #9 MVC
#1 CAA loses vs. #4 MVC
#8 Horizon loses @ #8 MVC

If you look at the standings for these leagues, you'll see three of the valley's losses are teams leading their league. Two of those are by teams in the bottom half of the MVC. Now I'm certainly not saying it was a great weekend for the conference or that some teams didn't blow some nice opportunities, but I would think overall, looking at the matchups above, the MVC can still be considered a clear notch above the other conferences. The simple fact that ESPN matched up 5 MVC teams with conference leaders and a sixth with a team ranked in the top 15 nationally but 2nd in their conference proves that.

Spot-on, Roll.

You can't compare the Valley's record on its face with other conferences. Our 6th-place team was facing the #1 WAC/#10 team in the nation, for crying out loud. 4 Valley opponents were leading their league, and that doesn't even count Butler.

It was a poor showing and a missed opportunity, but it by no means was the disaster many perceive it to have been....

[tornado]

Miko...that's a cruel avatar, but so true.........

I can recall a couple of ISU fans/board posters who were gloating over pulling that stunt in St. Louis a couple years ago...
Payback is a bit*h isn't it??

[Mikovio]

Miko...that's a cruel avatar, but so true.........

I can recall a couple of ISU fans/board posters who were gloating over pulling that stunt in St. Louis a couple years ago...
Payback is a bit*h isn't it??

Well, as far as I'm concerned, they have it coming. It was pretty classless. And if they have a problem with branding Moser this, they should have thought of that back in 2005. Because I certainly wouldn't have put this together without provocation.

They do like to get in their shots when they can. In 2002, when Mo's last team was in the play-in round, a sizeable contingent of ISU fans drove up a day early to chant "Bradley *****" while our guys were going through warm-ups (as they do occasionally for the games at RA). I think the reason BU fans don't hear much smack from the ISU camp lately is because they know they're in no position to do so.

Hey, I don't necessarily have a problem with smack. But they shouldn't be surprised at all to have it thrown back in their face, when the tables turn.

If anybody with the initiative wants to make and distribute these fliers down at Scottrade Thursday (should they not pull off a miraculous finish), I won't shed any tears.....

[Bravesfan]

Spot-on, Roll.

You can't compare the Valley's record on its face with other conferences. Our 6th-place team was facing the #1 WAC/#10 team in the nation, for crying out loud. 4 Valley opponents were leading their league, and that doesn't even count Butler.

It was a poor showing and a missed opportunity, but it by no means was the disaster many perceive it to have been....

Yes, while Digger was right to a point, he once again does not get the whole story here. As stated on another post, Winthrop would be right in the thick of the Valley race. ASU, Drexel and Butler are no slouches either, especially Butler.

Would Digger be right this year in saying the Valley does not deserve more than two or three bids. Quite possibly. But when he displays his arrogance and bias as he did so often last year, well most of his opinions, even when valid, lose a lot of credibility.

[mike radigan]

Let's hope JL is Mr Friday Night as BU pulls out a win Friday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

[BobbyG]

They do like to get in their shots when they can. In 2002, when Mo's last team was in the play-in round, a sizeable contingent of ISU fans drove up a day early to chant "Bradley *****" while our guys were going through warm-ups (as they do occasionally for the games at RA). I think the reason BU fans don't hear much smack from the ISU camp lately is because they know they're in no position to do so.

If anybody with the initiative wants to make and distribute these fliers down at Scottrade Thursday (should they not pull off a miraculous finish), I won't shed any tears.....

I hope no Bradley follower stoops this low to take a picture, photshop it on their computer with a caption, print off dozens of copies, and arrive early to the Savvis (when it was the Savvis), and go into all the bathrooms and post it around. That's a lot of work for something that doesn't help your team one bit.
Too bad they couldn't do more to support their own team, as now they seem relegated to 9th or 10 place in the MVC for the 4th time in the last 5 years! And it doesn't appear it's getting better any time soon.
As bad as Bradley has been in my lifetime, they have never been anywhere near this bad.
But these pranks are a thing of the past because there aren't enough ISU fans left to care any more.
Bradley draws more fans to the airport and to post game celebrations than they draw to their home games now!

[Dallas Brave]

Digger is still an id*ot, sometimes just not as much of one.

But ... didn't he say that he thought Nevada was the team that got the biggest boost from the BB weekend? That is a backhanded dig at the MVC rather than him taking the time to respond thoughtfully to the question.

How could a team, ranked 10th in the polls and first in its conference, get a boost by beating the 6th place team from the MVC in a home game? Granted, Nevada would have gotten a black eye if they lost, but they did not get a major boost in the eyes of the basketball pundits by winning.

I would argue that SIU got the biggest boost of any team. They knock off the 12th ranked Butler on Butler's home court where Butler hasn't lost in 20 odd games and they do it on national televsion on Saturday afternoon - and they looked good doing it. SIU has now positioned themselves for a possible 3 seed if they win the MVC tourney and a 4 seed if they don't. That, my friends, is a boost.