The name on the jersey

[houstonbrave]

DC- I would add that we did not have Ja’shon for Auburn and Liberty and his first game back was Arkansas (and the Arkansas game gets listed as a neutral court-Little Rock in Dec with 18000 Arkansas fans was not a neutral court).

[Da Coach]

DC- I would add that we did not have Ja’shon for Auburn and Liberty and his first game back was Arkansas (and the Arkansas game gets listed as a neutral court-Little Rock in Dec with 18000 Arkansas fans was not a neutral court).

Good point. I was only checking for the starters, but missing Ja'Shon was a significant handicap for those Paradise Jam games as well.

[Stryker]

Those early season losses were disappointing. I think we could all see this team had the potential to be much better, and now they are reaching that potential late in the season. A couple past Wardle teams have had that history of peaking at this time of the season. So, let's take care of business and win out and take the MVC Championship and the auto-bid.

Recall that Rienk Mast's knee injury caused him to miss the Utah State, Auburn, and Liberty games. And Zek Montgomery's injury caused him to miss the Auburn and Liberty games. And, although he returned and played against Arkansas, he may not have been 100% and contributed only 4 points.
In my opinion, the Liberty game (a 55-44 loss in the Paradise Jam) was the only non-conference loss that Bradley might have had a chance to win if Rienk and Zek were able to play. The other 3 losses- Utah State (84-62 loss), Auburn (85-64 loss), and Arkansas (76-57 loss)- realistically, Bradley probably would not have won even if Rienk and Zek were at 100%.

One other thought... Drake is the only other MVC team with even a remote chance of getting an at-large bid. But Drake's case for an at-large appears even weaker than Bradley's.
Drake played a weak non-conference schedule. Their non-conference Strength of Schedule ranks 257th among 363 D1 programs. For comparison, Bradley's ranks 54th.
Drake does not have a signature win, either.
Bradley's NET this morning is #60, Drake's is 71.

Drake beat #15 Miss State? Is that not a signature win? Top #15 win? But they needed a win against SLU or Richmond to make their non-conference schedule matter, and they didn't. Hadn't realized their non-conference strength of schedule was so bad, but it is the main reason their NET is behind Bradley's right now.

[Da Coach]

Drake beat #15 Miss State? Is that not a signature win? Top #15 win? But they needed a win against SLU or Richmond to make their non-conference schedule matter, and they didn't. Hadn't realized their non-conference strength of schedule was so bad, but it is the main reason their NET is behind Bradley's right now.

Sorry, but Mississippi State isn't #15 any more. They fell completely out of the Top 25 a while ago, after they lost 8 of 9 games starting with the loss to Drake, They are not even getting a single vote in recent polls.
They are 18-10 and just 6-9 and in 10th place in the SEC. Drake's win still carries some weight for a neutral court. But it's not quite the signature win it appeared to be when Drake beat them.

[Stryker]

Sorry, but Mississippi State isn't #15 any more. They fell completely out of the Top 25 a while ago, after they lost 8 of 9 games starting with the loss to Drake, They are not even getting a single vote in recent polls.
They are 18-10 and just 6-9 and in 10th place in the SEC. Drake's win still carries some weight for a neutral court. But it's not quite the signature win it appeared to be when Drake beat them.

Ah yeah that makes sense.