FromGreeceWithLove Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 About a week ago I was pretty certain that Missouri State was essentially a lock for the NCAA Tournament, but looking at things this morning they may be in for another disappointing March. Missouri State sits at 19-9 and has lost 4 of their last 6 games at home and have lost two straight after losses to SIU and Winthrop. They have an rpi of 41. SLU currently has an rpi of 77, a couple slots ahead of Washington at 81 and below Mizzou at 75. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p diddy Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 it looks like the valley got a serious reality check over the weekend. SIU and Bradley saved the league from a total catastrophe on bracket busters weekend. MSU, Wichita State and Creighton all lost at home and Northern Iowa got crushed at Nevada. This shouldn't be happening to a league that is supposed to be better than the big 12, big east and on par with the major BCS conferences. With all of the hype I've been hearing about the MVC, I was looking forward to watching the valley just dominate these little schools and show the basketball world that they are not a mid-major conference. Looks like only Southern Illinois could rise to the challenge. If you want to tout yourself as being prime time, you can't bee losing home games to winthrop, App. State and Drexel. bad boyz for life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 And the whining and sniveling about the Mo. State loss at SLU has resurfaced, almost two months after the fact, as fully expected just as soon as Mo. State went into the midst of its annual late season fold. See Bernie's Pressbox at stltoday.com. Surprisingly, Bernie M., MVC apologist that he is, didn't cut the Mo. State whiners any slack on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromGreeceWithLove Posted February 19, 2007 Author Share Posted February 19, 2007 Here is a link Joe Lunardi's bracketology. He has Missouri State as a 12 seed and among the last four in. Also, notice that he now has two teams from the A-10 in; Xavier as a 10 seed and Rhode Island as a 14. Huge win for SIU over Butler this weekend and he has them as a 3 seed as of now and I don't think I would really argue with that. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Lunardi has Illinois and Michigan State both out. Michigan State has an RPI of 31; Illinois is at 44 per kenpom.com and 42 per realtimerpi.com. Michigan State is 6-6 in the Big Ten; Illinois is 7-6. Usually, an above .500 record in the Big Ten gets you in. I think they are both in right now. USC inexplicably lost a big one last night at Pac-10 bottom feeder Arizona State. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 I don't care what the league is...a bottom dweller is going to rise up a few times a season and "inexplicably" beat one of their better conference foes at home. Happens every year in every league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Northern Iowa getting destroyed at home by Nevada? Like that was that big of a shock. NEVADA IS #10 IN THE NATION!!!! SIU beat #12 Butler!!!!! That is a HUUUUGE win Last time I checked, Appy St., Drexel, and Winthrop are all pretty darn good teams. You are so completely off base here its sad thinking those losses are terrible. Way off base. All have a heck of a better chance at the tourny then we do. We should have joined the MEAC. I think they had more games on TV this weekend then the A-10... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 They played 6 home games this weekend and went a combined 4-6. It was a bad weekend for them on the court, no doubt about it. Off the court, Friday and Saturday on ESPN2 was basically all Valley all the time. I think there were at least 4 games involving the Valley. That kind of exposure is huge and I wish the A-10 would get involved in the bracket-buster or some other similar made-for-t.v. event to get that kind of exposure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p diddy Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 canadian, you are such as lightweight and your level of cluelessness is beyond human comprehension. let me educate you, my ignorant little one. winthrop, app. state and drexel are very good teams, but when you cry that you belong with the big boys, these are the games you have to win. the story of barry hinson calling gary williams of maryland for a home and home, but winthrop comes into your house and cleans your clock. on most occasions, these are not really bad losses. but the perception of the valley has changed in the past two years. When your RPI is as high as third in the country (at one point this season) and you tout yourself as better than conferences that have legitimate final four teams and future nba lottery picks, you had better step up to the plate and act like it. The Atlantic 10 is in a down cycle right now, we all know that. But when they had the juice, their schools performed and put teams in sweet 16, elite eight on a regular basis and even the final four. They consistently pounded BCS conference teams. They even had teams ranked as high as No. 1 and look at some of the NBA teams right now and see how many impact A-10 players there are. When the C-USA had the juice, they put marquette and louisville in the final four and cincinnati was a consistent top 10 team. We don't need to mention the countless number of NBA players that we saw over the years (Dwayne wade, larry hughes, kenyon martin, etc., etc.)When it was their time to shine, they did the deal. Now, its the MVC's turn in the spotlight. They have the juice right now. The league has the hype, the publicity and the national attention that it has been seeking. They are also a league full of seniors who have been there a while. Now, it's time to perform and show. The conference had a good showing in last year's postseason with bradley and wichita state, but the valley got upstaged by the CAA in March when George Mason went to the Final Four and Hofstra and ODU played in the quarterfinals of the NIT and ODU went to the Final four. So far, Southern Illinois is quite worthy of the hype and then some, but their friends have to follow suit. Doug Elgin had to be cringing over the weekend with what he witnessed. To be mentioned with the best conferences in the country, it takes at least a decade of consistent success and deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. That's the test of the MVC. the next step. Canadian, don't ever respond to any of my post again unless you know what you're talking about. I hate to have to embarrass you in this manner once again. bad boyz for life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 That was the most worthless minute of my life reading that nonsense. Complete and utter nonsense. One average weekend by the MVC and you discount sweet 16 appearences and top ranked teams. You are a laugher. ROCK ON A-10!!!! How I love watching you on ESPN, Fox Sports, Internet (oh wait....the Horizon league has a better contract then us). Thanks for the laugh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SShoe Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Pdiddy is completely right. The Valley has been up the past two years, but never have they reached the level that the A-10 or C-USA have reached. This was a horrible weekend for the Valley and it's going to hurt them come tourney time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Canadian, I'm not sure how you can even pretend to argue a point that the MVC and A-10 can compete as far as conference traditions. It's not even fair. Nobody is saying the MVC is better than the A-10 this year (or last year for that matter). But, if they ACC played the same teams the MVC did over the weekend, do you think the scores would have been different? Of course they would. The ACC is a MAJOR conference. The MVC, is not. I'm not saying the A-10 is either...but we've been there. And we have the $$, media outlets, locations, and traditions to be one. The MVC has a long way to to go. And I actually hope they do, because nothing upsets me more than ESPN bias toward the BCS schools. Maybe it's just a pride thing, being that the M in MVC stands for Missouri...but between the STL newspapers and message boards, you'd think the MVC was the top conference in the nation while the A-10 is somewhere around 20. Reality is far different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 I seriously don't believe I am hearing that the A-10 was once a major conference. I really believe you guys have now dipped your toes into the A-10 kool-aid. One or two good years by UMASS back in the day doesn't make this conference a major one now, or ever. Nor does a good year by GW, as shown by their Top 10 ranking last year, congradulated with an 8seed in the tourny, a prompt loss in either the first or second round, i don't remember. Regardless, having one good team a year in the Top 25 (not this year) does NOT make you a major conference by any stretch of the imagination. Now CUSA was a different story. They clearly had signficantly more history, tradition, and success than the MVC. That wasn't my point, I never once mentioned CUSA. I was speaking to the A-10. Remind me the last time St. Bonnie's, Duquense, Lasalle, Fordham, etc were powerhouses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 You are just as wrong on this topic as you were on SLU having only two post-season victories ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUTGR Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 "...but between the STL newspapers and message boards, you'd think the MVC was the top conference in the nation" Amen brother. I have nothing against the MVC or any of the schools that make up that league, but I am so sick and tired of every radio hack in St. Louis telling me how great they are along with the post-dispatch sports page, I almost can't stand them at this point. I'm a big 12 guy myself, but I don't hear any intelligent talk in the St. Louis sports media about the big 12. Elgin has done a masterfull job of spreading the MVC's advertising dollar all over the St. Louis market. The league had a great year last year and is good this year, but let's not get too carried away. And with the exception of Altman, the league still appears to be a stepping stone for most coaches to greener pastures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 If the spread between the A-10 and the MVC this year represents the difference when the A-10 is down and the MVC is up, then i'll take it. At the end of the day, the MVC is peaking, but is only 1-2 bids better than the A-10 when the A-10 is admittedly having a down year (or two). Also, I think if the top 5-6 teams of each conference played head-to-head today, we'd have some pretty competitive basketball out there, with most games being a toss-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SShoe Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 > >One or two good years by UMASS back in the day doesn't make >this conference a major one now, or ever. Nor does a good >year by GW, as shown by their Top 10 ranking last year, >congradulated with an 8seed in the tourny, a prompt loss in >either the first or second round, i don't remember. > Man, you've got a selective memory. You ignored St. Joe's #1 seed and elite 8 three years ago or Xavier's elite 8 run and David West-led squads. You also forgot to mention the RI elite 8 team. If the Valley put a few teams in the Elite 8 during the next five years or can get a #1 bid, I'll bite. Until then, the Valley at its present height is not as close to being major as the A-10 was during its peak years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Heck, it wasn't all that long ago that the A-10 got five bids! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 or the #1 Mark Macon led Temple teams of around late 80's early 90's... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 >Heck, it wasn't all that long ago that the A-10 got five >bids! That would be the 2003-04 season the A10 received 5 teams. In 04-05 MVC had 3 to 2 edge 05-06 4-2. Everything else prior .....much different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 It is amazing how far free meals and free drinks can get you with the press in this town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Could it be that we just aren't very exciting to cover in the press and that's why the newspapers could care less about us? Or how about the fact that the MVC this year in the premeir conference outside of the SEC, ACC, Pac-10's of the world? Everything isn't a vendetta against SLU folks. The day we put a successful and entertaining product on the floor, maybe then we get some press coverage. Or maybe its the fact we play in a conference with the closest team about 400 miles away...or that 90% of our conference games we have to fly to....or maybe the fact that noone knows SLU is even fielding a team this year because WE CAN'T WATCH THEM ON TV!! It makes you look pretty pathetic when you are whining about media coverage of a very mediocre team. We had tons of preseason press due to the well deserved hype...and we failed miserably in delivering, during our golden oppotunity. it makes yourself look really sad, brian, when you make comments like that. you sound like a whiney, jealous, 5 year old... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 I guess those kyle korver Creighton teams can be selectively left out of some of your memories. the two are extremely comparable as far as past history. and in terms of this year, the MVC is clearly better. its a fact. look it up. numbers don't lie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Where did I whine? All I was saying is that Elgin knows how to play the media in this town. I didn't ***** at all about the coverage the Bills have recieved this year. The Bills have recieved more than their fair share of coverage. The valley is not the premier conference outside of the BCS. Last year it was the CAA. This year it is the MWC. Know what you are talking about before you go running your mouth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Must have missed the Final Four and Elite Eight appearances four those CU teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.