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I've strongly defended Travis on this board. However, if he had anything to do with this and/or was then around his son knowing it happened, he needs to answer to it. Not good leadership if he had part or was in contact with his son afterwards without insuring he would be safe Whether this was the cause for our covid outbreak is irrelevant imo. He should not have knowingly put himself and therefore the team at risk.

If Chris Gardner was good at journalism, maybe he would actually be doing it. Just a thought.

I swear every time I told my buddies, “BIG game for us tonight on CBSSN/FS1/ESPN2” we would lose that game without fail, if not get outright embarrassed. Never stepped up when we needed to. I’m over whining about the NET. It’s on us/Covid/A10 scheduling. Rescheduling the league tournament was a disaster

I gotta disagree here. Chapley and anyone I know with the ability to speak up didn't for months now because there is still 0 concrete evidence to say Travis Ford was definitively at that party and that's definitively why the program had to shut down. Chapley was not accusing or smearing anyone, the rumor got airplay and someone had to at least ask.

Well that was fun while it lasted. Now back to complaining about why the NCAA selection committee doesn't use the NET rankings exclusively...

Two points: 1. Agreed. The A10 did no favors to help SLU this year. In fact, it's policies worked against SLU. When COVID negatively affected Ohio State's football team which did not have enough games to qualify for the postseason as per Big 10 rules, the Big 10 Conference stepped in and changed the rules to help its preseason favorite. SLU basketball is not on par with Ohio State Football - I get it - but SLU was a preseason favorite to win or contend for the A10 Championship, was loaded with 3 quality Seniors who each succeeded individually as Juniors before their team had its season abruptly end like all other team, was successful this year in their return against P5 schools before its COVID pause and clearly was hammered hard by COVID. And while I get the thought of "building in" a week gap in the middle of the A10 Tourney, this decision clearly hurt SLU and other programs by denying them what they needed -- to play games. And while I make no apology for or intend to defend the Committee for "not following its rules" regarding NET as it relates to the SLU, I would argue that SLU playing far less games than many programs helped make SLU's NET rating more suspect. And while SLU lost only 6 games, its losses to LaSalle, second loss to UD and loss to St. Bona were not just bad losses but were embarrassing blow outs. 2 extra games would have certainly helped SLU. Then, again, why did the A10 not arrange for SLU to make up more games prior to the final season? The baseball Cardinals played double header after double header and damn near played as many games as the others. The STL Blues and and the NHL are playing multiple games against the same opponents and even moved to this season only to a realigned Western Conference. Loyola and Drake played a full schedule in part by the "home and away" games in the Valley. Not the A10 -- it made no changes other than to shorten its season. And don't forget that SLU lost a key game against Richmond where we flew out to the Richmond only to leave with no game? Richmond didn't properly interpret the league COVID rules? Wasn't that the case claimed also by the team to play Richmond after us? And for this "leadership", Richmond was made a host of the A10 Tourney? And as much as I believe the Committee is still conference slotting, why would the A10 get more bids than the other mid majors or worse? Optics are important. When we play our Championship game in Madison Square Garden the same weekend as the P5 guys, we look more like them. But when we play our Tourney the week prior, the same weekend as the lesser conferences, the A10 looks lesser and gets treated as a lesser conference. For that decision alone, the A10 Commissioner should summarily be fired for setting the conference back for years. 2. Chris May, by many accounts, is a nice guy, returns emails, warmly greets posters at away games, displays his his passion while yelling at the refs during home games and now has both soccer programs playing good as well... but where was he when our program needed to make up games? When rules could have been changed to help SLU but which were changed to hurt SLU? And where was Dr. P ? Dayton got the championship game and not SLU? And with longevity, should there not also be power? How many more senior AD's are there in the A10 than Chris May? And why can SLU never get anyone with connections with the A10? with the NCAA and/or Tournament Committee? Debbie Yow had these connections but I don't believe anyone has come close since her. Yes, we are long overdue for someone at SLU (AD May, the Board of Trustees, Coach Ford) to put its foot down and demand better -- and if not, then we leave.

That CBI tournament in 2011 had a profound impact on both the VCU and SLU teams. These games can make a big difference for next years teams.

A10 commissioner is good at lobbying for NIT teams but not so much for NCAA.

I guess 50-50 meant 50% for a Dance bid and 50% for an NIT bid. It was looking like we were in on Fri night but the 2 bid stealers on Sat flipped the coin to the NIT. The last week was truly bubble hell. As I pointed out earlier, once we lost that game to St. B we were at 50-50 and at the mercy of the Committee. The Committee is about 85% metrics and 15% subjective. What that means is, about 10 teams every year fall into bubble hell ...68 x15%= 10 teams. And the metrics stop for those 10 teams. It has always been that way .... the cloud drops down for a week while The Committee decides "who is most deserving". Anyway, we have some more basketball to play. We come into this game as an A- team trending at B+....MsSt shows up with an overall grade of B+ trending at B (15-14...8-10). Two good defenses, close to equal...we are the better team on offense. This will be a low scoring game...70pts should win the game. A concern I have is that by the time we take the floor it will be nearly 2 weeks....We may have to shake off some rust. Let's see what we are dealing with .... ..........................SLU.............................MsSt.............................SLU...................................MsSt ..........................................OFF..........................................................................DEF............... PPG......................B+...............................D+................................A-........................................B+ FG%......................B+...............................B-................................B+........................................A 3Pt%.....................B-................................C-................................C+.......................................B FT%......................C-....... ........................F................................................................................. Reb.......................A-.................................A.................................A+...12th ITN........................B+ OFF Rebs = total rebs...DEF Rebs = opp reb UP....Offense...None..............Defense .......3P% Down...Offense....FG%...3P%...Reb.........Defense......none Top 100 ITN (In The Nation) Assts...Collins...9th ...up Rebs...Goodwin....13th....dn Stls......Goodwin...62nd....up FT%....Perkins...52nd......unch Double Double....Goodwin...7th ....dn Double Double %....Goodwin....2nd MsSt Reb....T Smith....56th FG%....T Smith...81st Blks...Ado...28th Injuries ....Strickland...3/6/21...Covid protocols A report card note...I have added a new category ...Double Double %...This stat doesn't appear anywhere...I decided this would show the true position of Goodwin. The NCAA uses just the raw numbers...ie total double doubles...Goodwin will always be at a disadvantage because he has played the fewest games. Doing it this way makes for a better comparison.....number of double double games divided by total games = 14 /20=70% which is a very high %.... good for 2nd place in Div 1. This game presents some unusual challenges ...They have 2 big men T Smith (6'11") their reb guy and Ado (6'10") their blocker and other reb guy. ...and yes they are both in at the same time. Needless to say they are a good rebounding team. On the plus side (for us) they can't shoot FTs...only Molinar and Stewart can shoot from the charity stripe. More good news ....this team is TO prone, we have got to bother them...if we do they will give us the ball. WWN2D2W.....MsSt is a 3 man team ...stop their 3 main guys and we win....Molinar, Stewart and Smith...hold them to 35pts. Don't let them jump out to an early big lead...control the game ...pressure them. We need to win the TO battle by 3 or 4 . Reb will be tough ...we need to be better than them even if only by 1 board....Don't let Ado turn into a fly swatter...that strategy didn't work well against St. B..... no more than 2 blocks for Ado. And finally, makes some shots...48/36/72 Bottom line...we are the better team especially on offense. We have to make them play our game...........If we do...it'll be round 2.

I don’t get it. People want the David vs Goliath story line. Mid Majors making runs is what makes the tournament exciting. When Kevin Wheeler was on 101.1 he would talk about how people want Michigan vs UCLA games not Butler vs Texas. It would drive me nuts Because the Butler vs Texas is what the tournament is all about. Im shocked if the average fan wants more blue bloods in. It’s my belief they want the opposite.

When I first heard about this I was told that Ford was not at the event, for whatever that is worth. I think it’s a bad look for our coach to be keeping his players from visiting home for Christmas while at the same time renting out bars for his son. But we all make mistakes and as long as this happening didn’t cause any rifts within the team then it’s not really my concern.

This story is a big nothing.

If the worst thing that happened to you this year was seeing the Billikens miss the tournament, then you've had a pretty good year.

I'm hyped. A chance to travel, see some fellow billiken fans and watch the guys play in person again this season. Not nearly as hyped about it as I'd be for a roadie to Indianapolis.

You can't spell ATLANTIC 10 without NIT.

College football plays DOZENs of meaningless Bowl Games that they hype up a ridiculous amount and that fans travel all over the country to watch in person. They make these Bowl Games themselves events & the winner doesn't really matter. Why shouldn't basketball have something similar with multiple postseason tournaments? The old NIT before NCAA took over, IMO, was way better because they understood it was a showcase and not really a tournament to determine the winner of anything. They didn't necessarily care about quality of teams / seeding and intentionally set up regional rivalries in the early rounds. IMO the NIT should get back to that. I really hate to say this, but realistically SLU is never going to win a national championship or at the very least the odds are miniscule. Gonzaga has a chance this year, but the last non Power conference team to win it was UNLV over 30 years ago and they were cheating their asses off. I don't root for SLU or watch games because I think they'll win a national title. I understand that there is more hype & I definitely get more excited about NCAA games, but most importantly I just like to watch SLU basketball games. Being in the NIT provides at least one opportunity to do that and put off the dreaded offseason content on this board for a little while. Therefore, I'm all in on the NIT at this point.

The Big East must think the NIT is now below it. Louisville (ACC) and the 3 Big East NIT range teams, Seton Hall, Xavier and St. John’s all opted out of the NIT. Meanwhile the supposed NCAA multi-bid A10 actually has 4 NIT teams: SLU, Davidson, Richmond and Dayton. Bravo A10!

To summarize: Screw Covid Screw Biondi/Creighton Screw A10 Commish Screw MVC Screw Ted Valentine’s Day Massacre

We were all wondering about your take on this. I'm shocked that it's so positive......

Just bought 6 NIT tix center court $16 each! Booked my Hotel too, Knights Inn here I come! Not sure if I'll have time to pregame like that KU game in KC or that Seton Hall game in Jersey. So 5 buy a few extra for me to slam upon arrival section 106, biz-natches! NIT Fever Catch It!!!!!!!

The timing of this getting dropped is what I think is interesting. This wasn't CIA secret level stuff, people knew. It was timed to drop when it would cause the most damage to Ford and not necessarily the program.

First let me dispel a misnomer. You can't become a great team by playing all cupcakes. If you play all F teams you will lose your A rating. In my model , I always put a warning at the beginning of the year that the model is using predictive data rather than real data. By the time we get to the 8th game, it is all real data. By the 12th game there is enough data to remove a lot of the volatility. This year we started at B+ with a range of B- to A.... The 12th game this year was the KC game finishing out the OOC schedule...also unusual due to the late season start. After the KC game we were an A team with a range of A- to A+. An A - meant that we were almost assured of a Dance bid (90% chance...we drew the 10% Covid card) ...An A+ finish would have meant a good chance to be a sweet 16 team. The point is we were a good team...that got Covid and it affected our play. Studies have shown that up to 25% of college athletes can have long term symptoms (right now that is at least 2 months ) Another 25% can have lingering affects. That means we could have had 3-6 players who were affected....You have good days and bad days...it comes and goes....one thing that is not good with this syndrome is back to back games...think St. B. Not trying to make excuses ...just trying to provide some context. Bottom line...We were and still are a good team.....A- to A+. I am hoping if we can make a run through the NIT we can back to the A level and maybe even reach our potential A+ level. While we won't reach the 30 game mark this year a few more wins will build a nice base for a good start for next year and better media coverage too. We were not picked for the Dance....we need to show everyone that they made a mistake and that we are deserving....deserving not through some Selection Committee hocus pocus but deserving through winning.

Dukie V is a relic that needs to be retired. He brings zero to college basketball and has for years!

We needed to beat St Bonaventure. THAT was our play in game. Win that one and no anxiety mhg

Is this the NIT bracket or the A10 tournament

When you devise a system that ranks one team 70 and one 40 but then say the 70 is better is the same as admitting your an idiot.

Well, there is no denying that this season’s end has been painful. The NCAA tournament is dead to me this year. I haven’t looked at the bracket, and I probably won’t unless we get called up. I hope for the best to SBU and VCU, but otherwise, I say meh. Feel free to organize a boycott on your own time. That said, pain is just a part of the journey in life, and it is time to turn the page. Onto the NIT! I am not sure why, but I am feeling fired up about this tournament. Part of it is that I really believe we can win it, but the other part is that I still want to see this team play. I want to see them recapture their early season form. I want them to hang a banner on the Chaifetz ceiling, and I want some token that this group can stamp into the history books. Cue the Pitbull.

This is a good way for the NCAA to appear like they're taking COVID protocols seriously without actually having to remove any teams or cancel many games...

I totally get it. But there are some really cool, fun things about being a Billikens fan too. Perkins is coming back, we get 2 more years of Okoro starting next year. When there’s a conversation speculating about a local former 4* maybe coming home, however unrealistic, and the first thing he says is bitching that it doesn’t matter because Ford’s not a good enough to take advantage of it anyway, that’s a troll in my book. Without adding a lot of details, I used to be the type of person that only ever saw the worst in everything. And I was absolutely miserable 24/7. I’m ok with genuine criticism. I criticize the team on this board PLENTY. But when every single post is just worst case scenario, that’s a problem. Maybe it’s not technically trolling, but it’s certainly not making the team, or this board, any better.

The trolling comes in because @Brighton never says anything positive about Billikens basketball, ever. Even if he says something factually accurate, the nonstop, relentless negativity makes him a troll. It gets old pretty damn quick.

I think if this conversation is after next season, there may be a better chance. I think I’d stay no matter what with what he has coming back. If they add a high end transfer or two they’re a preseason top 20 type team

It's a bulletproof strategy. The NCAA have effectively turned the NIT into a mid-major tournament. Eleven of the sixteen teams are from mid-major conferences. You have to wonder if this is the long term plan.

Corona Bro.

I's strictly talking about Ford funding it. He can fund it, and take safety measures.

I do not agree. Its relevant to what's going on around the world, but not relevant to SLU basketball.

Also who even is this guy?

This is probably the angle I take if SLU/Ford are forced to address it. I mean realistically this is probably the cause but you can't prove anything. More than anything it's just bad optics when you consider the expectations of the players

Yikes. I'm not sure what those pictures prove other than Ford's son was at the party. How do they prove it was a party for him that Travis paid for? I'm not sure why Gardner would make that up, but this isn't NYTimes level reporting. If Ford did have the party for his kid that is very disappointing given the expectations of players at the time, but I'm not ready to play COVID police with our coach & his family. Even if the party did happen, there is really no way to prove it is what caused the teamwide COVID outbreak. Speculating / rumor mongering is silly. I guarantee other coaches did similar things or worse. Just be glad that our coach didn't make any blatantly racially insensitive comments. Totally agree with @brianstl that the timing of the drop is interesting. Holding onto the info for 2+ months and dropping it when the most attention is on SLU / Ford is a blatant tell on Gardner's agenda.

-I have to believe we never recovered from Covid as I have no other way to explain the StB game that doesn't implicate the players and/or coaches

Young is relative. No postseason last year, half a season + conference tourney this year. Only Thatch and Bell have really experienced a full season with significant minutes other French and Goodwin. It could be worthwhile for this team.

So it seemed the NET was used for the NCAA tournament. That tells me that the Bills were punished due to Covid. They followed the computer rankings up until they got to a team who was hurt by a shutdown.

This makes some sense. If Phil has an opportunity to play more at another D1 school then it’s hard to fault him for pursuing that.

All teams are supposed to be Indianapolis by tomorrow. The earliest that Virginia can arrive is Friday. What is the use of protocols if they aren’t the same for all teams?

She sucks. Men's A10 basketball has regressed reputation wise since she's been commissioner. And the way she handled the season and tourney was horrible. And we haven't even touched that she failed in conference cheerleader even being right in the middle of the committee. Fire her now.

Bummer. I figured they were out but it still stings. Honestly I’m not entirely sure I believe they deserved a bid. This definitely reenforces my belief that the committee has no real method for picking teams. The pick and choose with different criteria for different teams. If they aren’t going to use the metrics they created they need to get rid of them. Again, I’m not sure I believe the Bills had a good enough résumé. That said every year the tournament does a great job of showing me how screwed up the entire process is.

The Cardinals have WS Championships in '42 and '44. I'll take a '21 SLU NIT banner.

Da’Monte Williams gets 25 mpg for Illinois but Goodwin may have been recruited over? Legitimately one of the worst posts ever.

DO NOT EVER question me again

You would think but the truth is loneliness is far more common than you think and some actually don't have a real life. We should be here for them.