MVC Games Week 17 2023-24

[TylerDurden]

Today's Drake/Bradley result was the best thing that could have happened for the league.

It was meaningless for Arch Madness seeding, but it gives Drake another Quad 2 win, which it needed as they were 1-3 in Quad 2 games before today.

I'm not sure they've done enough to earn an at-large bid, but Drake absolutely had to win today to keep themselves on the board.

[Mikovio]

Belmont getting the blowout could help them jump UNI.

The problem with saying teams are 5 spots apart is that those 5 teams could be REALLY close, or REALLY far apart. You don’t know. Sure SIU is a better opponent but winning margin favors Belmont. Could be interesting.

[IllinoisState]

Today's Drake/Bradley result was the best thing that could have happened for the league.

It was meaningless for Arch Madness seeding, but it gives Drake another Quad 2 win, which it needed as they were 1-3 in Quad 2 games before today.

I'm not sure they've done enough to earn an at-large bid, but Drake absolutely had to win today to keep themselves on the board.

I'd say for any hope we need every higher ranked NET team to win in the tournament and then for Drake to win a close game against Indiana State.

[TylerDurden]

Belmont getting the blowout could help them jump UNI.

The problem with saying teams are 5 spots apart is that those 5 teams could be REALLY close, or REALLY far apart. You don’t know. Sure SIU is a better opponent but winning margin favors Belmont. Could be interesting.

It's not happening. We do know. If it does happen, I'll delete my account and never return...which almost no one will care about haha

[Mikovio]

The Bruins let up a bit and the margin fell to 17, not much better than UNI’s 12. Panthers should be fine now.

[hot nuts]

I see Humricous didn't play for Evansville today. What's going on with him?

[TylerDurden]

Because there were a few folks thinking Belmont might have a chance to jump UNI in NET:

UNI is now nine spots ahead of Belmont in the NET ranking (109 to 118). Before yesterday's games, UNI was 116 and Belmont was 121.

Obviously none of this happens in a vacuum, but UNI's road win allowed them to jump seven spots, whereas Belmont's win at home yielded a three-spot shift.

I'm not sure that Belmont could have done anything with one game that would have jumped UNI in this situation.

Also for the record, Belmont is still behind SIU in NET, despite the SIU home loss. SIU went from 105 to 113.

From what I can see, SIU and UNI were the biggest movers after Sunday's game, though it wasn't a busy slate. Most teams around the country played Saturday. Seton Hall, another bubble team, lost by 30 at UCONN and dropped just six spots.

Drake's home win over Bradley saw no change to its NET (48). Indiana State (29) also stayed the same.

Point is that no one should expect a big jump late in the season, especially when you're in the top-100 range.

[BigMacAttack]

I see Humricous didn't play for Evansville today. What's going on with him?

Ben has not fully recovered from his foot injury. The last two games he played he left a lot of his shots short. Precautionary rest, but in reality yesterday's game with Belmont was inconsequential to UE compared to a chance of a win at Arch Madness.

[AcesAces]

I see Humricous didn't play for Evansville today. What's going on with him?

I think they are shutting him down for the rest of the year. No real need in playing him in the tournament if he isn't fully healed.