Illinois State lost their chance for a bid today, too?

[BU ICEMAN]

Crapping the bed and getting your butts handed to you by 30 points isn't exactly the way to make your case to the committee, don't'cha think?

I really can't see how the committee could feel good about putting a team into the Dance with that being their last performance. I will give ISU a little break (What? Did I just write that?) in that Drake just played lights out today and seemed to hit every shot and make every pass, but still, the numbers are going to be hard to get past if you're making the selections on the committee. If by some miracle ISU gets in, I think they owe Wichita St., Bradley, Creighton, UNI, and SIU big time for building up the Valley rep, because that's about the only way they're getting in now.

I tell ya what though.......it was really, really nice to watch the destruction of ISU on national TV.

[Da Coach]

What it does is it gives the selection committee another reason to leave them out. I still think there are enough reasons to be in, but now it comes down to this last week and whether there are upsets that take those precious few at-large spots away.
Last year, the midmajors got screwed as several marginal major schools with .500 records got into the tournament. Will they do that again this year? Does the MVC have any friends on the committee? Does Doug Elgin have those pictures of the committee members he must have used in 2006 to get 4 teams in?


By the way, right now I am watching Maryland at Virginia. ISU has to hope Virginia wins this and Maryland doesn't advance in the ACC tournament. Then the committe can't possible put them in. The MVC fans have to hope all these other bubble teams keep losing.

[BU ICEMAN]

Just happened to read the ESPN Bubble Watch ( http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bubble...t&lid=tab2pos1 ) and had to chuckle when I saw this:

"...three leagues are in very good shape to get two teams in:...Missouri Valley: Drake, Illinois State" and later in the Illinois State capsule: "Barring a disaster against Drake, the Redbirds should like their chances at this point."

So, was today a disaster? Maybe we'll find out tomorrow when the Bubble Watch is updated.....

[real fan]

ISU should get in but it will depend on tour. upsets as if there are a lot of upsets then there last loss could hurt their chances.

[Garland 22]

ISU should get in but it will depend on tour. upsets as if there are a lot of upsets then there last loss could hurt their chances.

Compare ISU's resume to MOSU of 06, and then again MOSU of 07. It is quite striking. In my opinion the Bears have a much stronger resume and got left way out of the tourney both years.

In my opinion MSU was shafted in 06, but not completely shafted in 07, the teams that got in were better teams. Will be interesting, if ISU gets in with their resume, i would imagine the Bears AD will be scratching his head.

[Bravesfan]

What it does is it gives the selection committee another reason to leave them out. I still think there are enough reasons to be in, but now it comes down to this last week and whether there are upsets that take those precious few at-large spots away.
Last year, the midmajors got screwed as several marginal major schools with .500 records got into the tournament. Will they do that again this year? Does the MVC have any friends on the committee? Does Doug Elgin have those pictures of the committee members he must have used in 2006 to get 4 teams in?


By the way, right now I am watching Maryland at Virginia. ISU has to hope Virginia wins this and Maryland doesn't advance in the ACC tournament. Then the committe can't possible put them in. The MVC fans have to hope all these other bubble teams keep losing.

I'm not so worried about these teams. ISU may be in a bit more trouble now as VCU was upset by Willam and Mary of all teams in the Colonial Conference semifinals. This would be REALLY interesting if ISU and VCU were to fight for one of the last open spots. VCU may have the slight advantage on the basis of winning their conference regular season. But I still think ISU is in, barring goofy upsets in the BCS tournaments, like Illinois winning four in a row and stealing an automatic bid!

Also look out if Cleveland St wins the Horizon, San Diego wins the West Coast Conference, or UAB or Houston wins Conference USA.

OH! Newsflash! Doug Gottlieb and Tom Brennan just both stated that they think ISU is still in, despite today's loss. Glad to see some people at ESPN get it!

[IlliBraves]

I don't know, it may have been a longer shot when we got in two years ago. Consider the fact that we got routed in the Champ. game as well, and didn't have as good of a record as ISU. However, we didn't get beat by 30 points either. ISU should make it in. The MVC is a multi-bid league, and to give ISU's bid to some underachieving BCS team would be a crime.

[Bravesfan]

I don't know, it may have been a longer shot when we got in two years ago. Consider the fact that we got routed in the Champ. game as well, and didn't have as good of a record as ISU. However, we didn't get beat by 30 points either. ISU should make it in. The MVC is a multi-bid league, and to give ISU's bid to some underachieving BCS team would be a crime.

Yes it would be a crime. I keep trying to tell people that one bad game should not keep a team out of the tournament when the rest of the resume is good. To keep a team out of the tournament based on one game would be very short sighted considering what ISU has accomplished this season. But keep in mind that this has always been the mindset of a few on the committee when they look for any excuse to keep a non-BCS team out of the mix. Barring a slew of conference tournament upsets, I think ISU is still pretty safe, but hopefully Gonzaga, St. Mary's, Butler, Memphis and Davidson take care of business and don't trip up like VCU already has.

[ER3]

Yes it would be a crime. I keep trying to tell people that one bad game should not keep a team out of the tournament when the rest of the resume is good. To keep a team out of the tournament based on one game would be very short sighted considering what ISU has accomplished this season. But keep in mind that this has always been the mindset of a few on the committee when they look for any excuse to keep a non-BCS team out of the mix. Barring a slew of conference tournament upsets, I think ISU is still pretty safe, but hopefully Gonzaga, St. Mary's, Butler, Memphis and Davidson take care of business and don't trip up like VCU already has.

I know you keep saying this...but ISU's resume is not that great. If they get in, it will be because they finished second in the MVC. If they get left out, it will not be a crime. Mid-majors with 0 wins against top 50 RPI teams will get beat up in the selection process. They may make it through and get in, but it is not a foregone conclusion at this point.

[Bravesfan]

I know you keep saying this...but ISU's resume is not that great. If they get in, it will be because they finished second in the MVC. If they get left out, it will not be a crime. Mid-majors with 0 wins against top 50 RPI teams will get beat up in the selection process. They may make it through and get in, but it is not a foregone conclusion at this point.

FYI, ISU is 2-5 against the RPI top 50, with those two wins against #49 Creighton according to realtimerpi.com. They also have two wins against #60 SIU and one win against #84 Wright St. Those are not bad wins, and the fact that they only played two games out of 21 conference games against teams under #200 in the RPI should be taken into consideration

You are right to say if they get in, it will be because they finished second in the MVC. Because it's the #8 conference, there are no real easy games, and the selection committee will take that into consideration.

Nope, it's not a foregone conclusion, but it still looks pretty good for ISU. I guess nothing would surprise me, but I will definately be more surprised if they don't make it.

[Tulsa Brave]

ISU is a longshot to get in I think. They blew every non-conference chance for a big win, and will be 0 for the top 50 by Selection Sunday as Creighton will drop as the major conferences play their tourneys this week. As someone else pointed out, Missouri State had a MUCH stronger case in 2006 than ISU does this season. The only glimmer of hope for ISU is that a few years back somehow UAB got in with 0 top 50 wins and a marginal RPI.

[MacabreMob]

FYI, ISU is 2-5 against the RPI top 50, with those two wins against #49 Creighton according to realtimerpi.com....

For the record, realtimerpi.com does not always get correct verification on some games being Home/Road/Neutral.

Also... even with Creighton hanging in at 49 (and actually 50)... they ain't staying there. There is gonna be some movement in the Top 50 RPI this week. I can only believe they are gonna drop.

[Braves4Life]

NO WAY The Valley is a one-bid league! ISU gets in but will have to play a powerhouse BCS (probably Big lEast) in 1st round.

CU, SIU & BU go somewher too. My guess is CU & SIU to NIT; BU to cr@ppy new CBI.

[shaunguth]

NO WAY The Valley is a one-bid league! ISU gets in but will have to play a powerhouse BCS (probably Big lEast) in 1st round.

If they get in, they'll be playing a team on the same level as Drake or slightly better. I believe Drake will be a #5 and isu would be a #11 or #12.

[tornado]

...two wins against #49 Creighton....

But the selection committee knows all........and they also know
--that Creighton was NOT a top 50 team at the time ISU beat them
--that ISU lost at 13-16 E. Michigan
--that their quality win against Cincy was a win against a 100+ RPI team that's 13-17.
--seven of their wins are over 200+ teams
If ISU gets in, they will have to be as lucky as BU was in 2006, but the Valley was perceived as a whole lot stronger that season.


What I find astounding is that there are still comments here and there that the Valley could get 3 teams in consideration.
Say what?? Do they mean SIU? Sure SIU has a decent RPI (61) and SOS (11), but they lost 14 games
and went one-and-done in the conference tourney!
If SIU even gets "bubble-team" considerration, then Doug Elgin must have some pictures of the people on the committe!