BracketBuster 2008

[squirrel]

MM--last year we went round and round about playing conference teams playing each other.

And on UCSB, they are in the Big West Conference. Yes Pacific is a nice program from that league as well. But the league itself is not good at all and has two relatively new programs to DI in Riverside and Davis.

I'm partial to Niagara because their assistant coach Dobrich is from Illinois, and think they offer a consistent quality opponent.

[ManMythLegend]

MM--.............

I'm partial to Niagara because their assistant coach Dobrich is from Illinois, and think they offer a consistent quality opponent.

That a boy squirrel. I was 4 years behind coach Dobrich in DePue HS. He is a great guy and seems to be doing a heck of a job at Niagara. Talk about the glory days of highschool bball for little old DePue. I was in junior high watching those guys play! Seems so long ago now.

-MML

[Beninator]

I'm partial to Niagara because their assistant coach Dobrich is from Illinois, and think they offer a consistent quality opponent.

The Niagra pairing doesnt really thrill me to be bluntly honest. Duquesne(loss), St Johns(12/15), and Siena(2/29) are the best teams on their schedule. UC-SB already has a home win against UNLV, big loss to Stanford(road), and a December 22 matchup with UNC.

[squirrel]

Stanford is their typical fraud self, with an 8-1 record boasting their biggest win over UCSB followed closely by Colorado State who will likely be back below .500 by the end of next week.

Nothing against UCSB, but I don't think they will be anywhere near as attractive opponent by the end of January.

[MacabreMob]

MM--last year we went round and round about playing conference teams playing each other.

You said last year:

12-22-2006, 09:40 AM
squirrel


I'd gladly take a third game against a higher-rated than us Valley team.

I'd also take a rematch with Loyola.

[squirrel]

You said last year:

12-22-2006, 09:40 AM
squirrel


I'd gladly take a third game against a higher-rated than us Valley team.

I'd also take a rematch with Loyola.

I don't remember going on and on about that (Loyola). Wouldn't put it past me, just don't remember it. But if I did, it was because the home-and-home in season idea was growing on me, and that would've guaranteed a two year home-and-home series with them.

Just makes me wonder, if this event is designed to give teams the best game possible, why it fails to do it.

[BU ICEMAN]

No matter what, some teams will get setup with the matchup they think is best and some won't; there's so many teams involved that I don't think that they could nail it 100% as far as ideal matchups. Like the saying goes, no matter what you do, you can never please everybody.

Talking with AD Kavanaugh and another fella from the MVC at the gathering before the VCU game last year, it was a real eye opener when we got to talking about just how much jockeying and lobbying goes on every year just before the BB. Every team and league, especially a bubble team, is trying to get the best high profile matchup for themselves, as well as maximum exposure. You can bet that some schools and leagues are better than others when it comes to that, just the nature of the beast.

[MacabreMob]

I found the corrections to the list of Home and Road teams and edited the first post.

Here were the changes:
1) Add Hofstra to the Road list
2) Add Idaho to the Road list
3) Switch Boston U (from Home) to the Road list
4) Switch High Point (from Home) to the Road list
5) Switch CS Northridge (from Road) to the Home list

[MacabreMob]

Well.... just a few days away from Jerry Palm's first Bracket Projection, thought I would resurrect this thread and show RPI's (thru games played on 1-2).

HOME
4 St Mary's
11 Butler
26 Winthrop
34 Valparaiso
35 Ohio
45 Illinois State
55 So Illinois
84 Holy Cross
85 Cleveland State
86 Bradley
87 James Madison
88 East Tn St
92 Oral Roberts
93 Austin Peay
94 CS Northridge
98 Missouri State
105 Wisc-GB
106 Toledo
108 No Iowa
117 Akron
124 Boise State
132 Drexel
133 Fresno State
136 Utah State
138 No Arizona
147 CS Fullerton
149 Pacific
155 Old Dominion
162 New Mexico State
165 Buffalo
170 UNC-Wilmington
186 Appalachian State
191 Loyola (Maryland)
195 UC Irvine
211 Iona
213 Elon
232 No Illinois
240 Eastern Kentucky
241 Detroit
247 Eastern Michigan
253 Towson
262 Manhattan
273 UC Riverside
276 Murray State
290 William & Mary
300 St Peter's
315 Canisius
333 Louisiana Tech
340 Jacksonville State
341 Eastern Illinois


ROAD
18 Drake
28 Miami (Ohio)
33 Kent State
37 Nevada
39 Wright State
43 George Mason
49 Niagara
51 UC Santa Barbara
63 Siena
70 Georgia Southern
75 Creighton
79 Marist
80 VCU
111 Indiana State
114 Illinois-Chicago
125 Central Michigan
141 Portland State
144 Rider
148 Northeastern
152 Wichita State
157 Davidson
168 Wisconsin-Milwaukee
174 Western Michigan
182 Tennessee State
187 Youngstown State
196 Cal Poly
197 SE Missouri State
202 San Jose State
205 Bucknell
210 Albany
226 Delaware
242 Vermont
245 High Point
251 Tennessee-Martin
252 Evansville
255 Boston University
260 Fairfield
263 UC Davis
269 Ball State
275 Bowling Green
279 Samford
289 Morehead State
291 Hofstra
294 Georgia State
310 Loyola (Illinois)
311 Long Beach State
319 Binghamton
320 Hawaii
323 Tennessee Tech
330 Idaho

[BradleyBrave]

Well, George Mason looks like a long shot unless we start winning some games. Amazingly, VCU looks like they could be heading to Carver for the 2nd time this year. Is there a rule against playing the same team w years in a row?

[MacabreMob]

Well, George Mason looks like a long shot unless we start winning some games. Amazingly, VCU looks like they could be heading to Carver for the 2nd time this year. Is there a rule against playing the same team w years in a row?

Surely you jest BradleyBrave.

Yes - there is a rule that does not allow playing a team already played earlier in the year and also against conference opponents.

Hey... I'm just happy E Illinois is a HOME team like us... cause after the first few matchups, they tend to match up based on locale/region regardless of RPI.

[MacabreMob]

Go ahead and blast me... but some potential matchups could be IMO:
C Michigan
Wisc-Milw
W Michigan
Ball St
Bowling Green

[BradleyBrave]

Go ahead and blast me... but some potential matchups could be IMO:
C Michigan
Wisc-Milw
W Michigan
Ball St
Bowling Green

Wow. You must have really given up on this season.

[MacabreMob]

No BradleyBrave. I just think we are gonna drop a little in the RPI over the next 3-4 weeks... enough so that we will be out of consideration for games against "RPI boosters". We will get a "regional" opponent. And on that list of ROAD teams, those are some of the closer teams to us.

Go ahead... take a stab, tell me what you think. Maybe we hang in the top 75 of the RPI and get consideration for a better opponent. I hope Elgin goes to bat for us, cause when they match the opponents, Ruff could be returning very soon... and by Feb 23rd (BracketBuster Saturday 200, Ruff hopefully will be back and everyone healthy. I kinda feel sorry for the opponent if the Ruff injury isn't taken into consideration when matching us up.

[BradleyBrave]

No BradleyBrave. I just think we are gonna drop a little in the RPI over the next 3-4 weeks... enough so that we will be out of consideration for games against "RPI boosters". We will get a "regional" opponent. And on that list of ROAD teams, those are some of the closer teams to us.

Go ahead... take a stab, tell me what you think. Maybe we hang in the top 75 of the RPI and get consideration for a better opponent. I hope Elgin goes to bat for us, cause when they match the opponents, Ruff could be returning very soon... and by Feb 23rd (BracketBuster Saturday 200, Ruff hopefully will be back and everyone healthy. I kinda feel sorry for the opponent if the Ruff injury isn't taken into consideration when matching us up.

I don't really know, I don't pay attention to the BracketBusters that much. We've dropped 4 straight and are still in the 80's RPI-wise. I would think that if we can win a few games in the next few weeks (which I think we can), that we can maintain or improve upon our current RPI. I could be way off, who knows.