Opportunity

[tomahawk chop]

We have a huge opportunity in front of us in the next 3 games against Drake at home, UIC on the road and Ind. St. back at home. I want to state one game at a time however taking care of our own business and winning these 3 games should distance us from the rest of the league moving forward. I would like to think that we would be favored in all 3 games so it is up to the team to go out there and win these games.

[Da Coach]

Yep. Every game will be a test. I'm hearing ticket sales are strong for the Wednesday Drake game, but there are still some good tickets available - https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/070061309A311E0C

After the next three, come the dreaded road trip to Murray State and Belmont. Those won't be easy.
Let's hope we don't sustain any injuries to key players, and enjoy the ride while we can. Go BU!

[daveineureka]

Not wanting to jump too far ahead, but the road trip to Murray St. and Belmont will be a challenge. If we can split on that road trip that would be great. Have to be realistic, it will not be easy. Of course you can get greedy and hope for two wins. "GO BRAVES"

[Tommy]

Not wanting to jump too far ahead, but the road trip to Murray St. and Belmont will be a challenge. If we can split on that road trip that would be great. Have to be realistic, it will not be easy. Of course you can get greedy and hope for two wins. "GO BRAVES"

Let's be greedy! We've weathered the storm of bad officiating and poor 3 point shooting, so let's hope those things are going to be put in the past starting this Wednesday. In other good news, we showed much better propensity to block out and rebound against Missouri State, so we are working on our weaknesses (still too many second chance points, but they missed a whole lot of shots, so they had a whole lot of chances).

[LittleBrave]

I'll take winning 2 of the next 3, with the biggest of the 3 this Wednesday! We HAVE to beat Drake and UNI at least 1x as I think those 2 are the Braves' biggest threat to take the MVC crown.
Then splitting the next 2 (Belmont/Murray) on the road is a must.

3-2 over the next 5 is critical. Anything more is a bonus!

[LittleBrave]

Looking even further ahead...Going 8-2 for the 1st half of the Valley season puts us in the driver's seat.
I'd put BU in 1st tier, then Drake and UNI in 2nd tier, with 5-6 teams very close behind in the 3rd tier.
I think Drake and UNI will get knocked off their fair share during league play, so getting to 14 wins total should be enough for the reg. season title IMO.

Need to win 15 in MVC to get consideration as an At-Large team heading into Arch Madness, but even then, our chances are slim unless we get to 16 or more.

Hard to think about the NEXT game only...Ha ha ha

[LittleBrave]

Let's be greedy!

AMEN! If we are not, then we settle for NIT once again should we not win Arch Madness. NCAA or bust this season my fellow BU bros and sis's!

[BUFAN1]

Looking even further ahead...Going 8-2 for the 1st half of the Valley season puts us in the driver's seat.
I'd put BU in 1st tier, then Drake and UNI in 2nd tier, with 5-6 teams very close behind in the 3rd tier.
I think Drake and UNI will get knocked off their fair share during league play, so getting to 14 wins total should be enough for the reg. season title IMO.

Need to win 15 in MVC to get consideration as an At-Large team heading into Arch Madness, but even then, our chances are slim unless we get to 16 or more.

Hard to think about the NEXT game only...Ha ha ha

There is no chance we get at-large consideration. Our league is too weak. Its Arch Madness championship, or bust.

[BengalFan14]

There is no chance we get at-large consideration. Our league is too weak. It’s Arch Madness championship, or bust.

Agreed. Our league doesn’t garner enough respect. And we don’t get a chance to play the big boys.

[Tommy]

Agreed. Our league doesn’t garner enough respect. And we don’t get a chance to play the big boys.

Sad, but true fact of a rigged system.

[BRAVE82]

Catching Drake at a good time. Watched Drake/ Murray State replay. Murray State looked good at Drake, there is a lot of parity this year in the MVC. We need for Almar Atlason to regain his confidence and pick things up if we want to turn the corner. Improved interior play from him and Thomas are the key.

[BUBraves2006]

Sad, but true fact of a rigged system.

I love our team as much as anyone here. But, even I can step back and say that we had a chance to play three legitimate teams that would carry some weight (SF, Wash St, Santa Clara) and we only went 1-2 and didn't really look good in either of the losses. Do I think we have one of the 68 best teams in the country? Yeah, but I don't see literally anything we've done that would make an outsider think that we're actually much better than the very bottom of that tournament level team list.

I think the sad part is that the season can feel somewhat meaningless is if we go 18-2 in conference and will have zero chance still at an at large. Unless something drastically changes, I wonder if Arch Madness should change its format to make it even easier for the top team to win it. If you win the regular season in our conference and you have no shot at an at large, there's really a problem.

Bringing two different threads together - I mean, would you rather be someone like Hannah who can be an all conference player, win 25+ games and still not even make the tournament maybe? Or would you rather be Hickman who is just a bit part but is all but assured to be in the tournament? I personally would rather be a great contributor to a really good team (option 1) but I do wonder if over time if guys just see the MVC now as never getting multiple bids anymore after the Indiana State debacle last year and that holds them back from staying around.

None of this ruins my excitement for the season - I still am glued to every game and it shows that the players really care every game. But, this sort of thing crosses my mind way too much these days (the concept of the meaningless regular season).

[tomahawk chop]

I'll take winning 2 of the next 3, with the biggest of the 3 this Wednesday! We HAVE to beat Drake and UNI at least 1x as I think those 2 are the Braves' biggest threat to take the MVC crown.
Then splitting the next 2 (Belmont/Murray) on the road is a must.

3-2 over the next 5 is critical. Anything more is a bonus!

I think winning the next 3 is important because we should be favored in all 3 of these games. We need to win all of our home games period and then get 6 of the 10 road wins. We already have 2 road wins so get 4 more and we should be in great shape to win the league.

[BengalFan14]

I love our team as much as anyone here. But, even I can step back and say that we had a chance to play three legitimate teams that would carry some weight (SF, Wash St, Santa Clara) and we only went 1-2 and didn't really look good in either of the losses. Do I think we have one of the 68 best teams in the country? Yeah, but I don't see literally anything we've done that would make an outsider think that we're actually much better than the very bottom of that tournament level team list.

I think the sad part is that the season can feel somewhat meaningless is if we go 18-2 in conference and will have zero chance still at an at large. Unless something drastically changes, I wonder if Arch Madness should change its format to make it even easier for the top team to win it. If you win the regular season in our conference and you have no shot at an at large, there's really a problem.

Bringing two different threads together - I mean, would you rather be someone like Hannah who can be an all conference player, win 25+ games and still not even make the tournament maybe? Or would you rather be Hickman who is just a bit part but is all but assured to be in the tournament? I personally would rather be a great contributor to a really good team (option 1) but I do wonder if over time if guys just see the MVC now as never getting multiple bids anymore after the Indiana State debacle last year and that holds them back from staying around.

None of this ruins my excitement for the season - I still am glued to every game and it shows that the players really care every game. But, this sort of thing crosses my mind way too much these days (the concept of the meaningless regular season).

I don’t know. I would think true competitors choose option 1. Even the end-of-bench players and walk-ons share the “glory” in option 2. Players want to play and they will take their chances with post-season opportunities. I’m sure Hickman doesn’t regret leaving but I’m sure he thought he would be a larger contributor. And there is still time but UC is loaded at the wrong spots for him.

[BUfan17]

I think the sad part is that the season can feel somewhat meaningless is if we go 18-2 in conference and will have zero chance still at an at large. Unless something drastically changes, I wonder if Arch Madness should change its format to make it even easier for the top team to win it. If you win the regular season in our conference and you have no shot at an at large, there's really a problem.

I'm calling it now, if we do somehow manage to go 18-2 in the conference we are getting an at-large.