MVC Discussion Thread Week 4

[VUGrad1314]

Start the discussion for the upcoming week of MVC Basketball here!

Here are the standings:

UNI 5-1

Loyola 5-1

Bradley 4-2

5 teams 3-3 (Drake SIU MSU ISUb VU)

Illinois St 1-5

Evansville 0-6

And Here is the schedule:

Wednesday:

Drake @ UE

Illinois St @ Bradley

Indiana St @ Loyola

UNI @ SIU

Thursday:

Valpo @ Missouri St. (This is definitely the biggest game of the early week games and will go a long way towards helping us avoid the PIG on Thursday in St Louis if we can win this game.) It's at 8:30ET\7:30CT on CBSSN

Saturday:

Bradley @ Indiana St.

SIU @ Illinois St.

Sunday:

Missouri St @ Drake

Loyola @ UNI (ESPNU)

UE @ Valpo

Tough stretch for Indiana St. facing Bradley and Loyola. Sunday has a couple of huge games: Missouri St @ Drake and Loyola @ UNI which are a battle to avoid the PIG and a battle for first place respectively. We'll see how UNI handles SIU in Carbondale which has been a really tough place for road teams as we know well. There are also some rivalry games such as Bradley and Illinois St that are always interesting. UE vs Valpo was a battle down in Evansville and I expect the same at the ARC. This should be a fun and interesting week that will tell us a lot about most MVC teams as the standings and the PIG picture begins to become a bit clearer.

Discuss!

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Sycamores should come out with a chip on their shoulder. Last year @Loyola was 46-12 at half. ‘Blers could’ve won with a whole half tied behind their back (LU scored 46 at half, ISUb scored 44 total).

[goramblers2011]

Hope neither UNI nor Loyola are caught looking ahead to their showdown on Sunday--both teams have pretty good challenges during the week. Excited to see how UNI handles SIU's defensive intensity as Loyola plays a similar defensive set (both installed by Mullins). In fact, SIU and Loyola have, by a pretty wide margin, the two best scoring defenses in conference play (Loyola only giving up 54.7 ppg and SIU giving up 58.8). UNI has the highest scoring offense at 76.8, so it will be fun to watch how Green and Co. handle.

[uniguy]

UNI playing in a big game where they are the high scoring offense, and the opposition is looking to slow them down with a grinding defense feels like some Freaky Friday ish from my perspective.

[keane1]

Hoping Drake takes their anger out on UE this week and is more calm by the time MSU comes to town on Sunday. Not sure how much longer we have to play without Tulio, but I like the way our 3 freshman (Black, Mosley, Cooper Jr) are playing together. This should be our core group going forward, something to build around.

[VUGrad1314]

Hoping Drake takes their anger out on UE this week and is more calm by the time MSU comes to town on Sunday. Not sure how much longer we have to play without Tulio, but I like the way our 3 freshman (Black, Mosley, Cooper Jr) are playing together. This should be our core group going forward, something to build around.

Considering how close the Bears came to some really big wins this year I am very excited for their future. It's very bright if they can keep everyone together. They should be very good.

[VUGrad1314]

UNI not in the top 5 mid majors with a shot at an at large? WTF Palm? (Unless he's only considering teams not currently leading their conferences in which case my WTF is humbly retracted.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... rojection/

[PantherSigEp]

Top 5 MM's right now (based on Mid-Major Madness, not my own opinions, although I agree with them):

1. Gonzaga - I guess they count but I'd argue they are "higher" in esteem and budget than a fair number of P5 teams

2. SDSU - Undefeated and looking like they'll pile up wins. 21% chance of winning out the regular season

3. Dayton - Flyers were supposed to be good again this year but they've looked really impressive and 100% deserving of their Top 10 spot

4. UNI - The D is "down" but this is one of the most efficient offenses in the country. Sweeping Bradley was impressive

5. BYU - honestly I think there are more deserving teams like VCU or Saint Mary's for this spot. They have a 1 pt win over Houston but 6 losses is a lot. Close loss to SDSU is respectable, Saint Mary's is tough and 15 pts to Kansas is...probably expected. But Gonzaga embarassed them the other night, and Boise St & Utah are little more than mediocre.



Mid-Major Madness rankings: https://www.midmajormadness.com/platform/amp/2020/1/20/21074101/the-other-top-25-utah-state-new-mexico-ncaa-tournament-bubble-dayton-basketball-tickets?utm_campaign=midmajormadness&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true

[VUGrad1314]

It must be nice for the WCC to have a program like Gonzaga to goose their metrics and to get a miracle realignment gift when BYU went independent in football. We should all be so lucky. I agree that VCU is very deserving but they are in danger after a slow (for an at large contender) start to A10 play. Luckily for them the A10 looks strong enough to provide them with the opportunities they need to play their way in.

[VUGrad1314]

Week 3 recap and Week 4 preview on St Louis radio.

https://www.ktrs.com/the-big-sports-show/