The MVC officially sucks this year

[Mvc123456]

I can’t believe nobody mentioned this earlier, but UNI almost lost to a D3 school (University of Dubuque) on Saturday, at home!!! UNI is allowing on average 74 points a game to its Division 1 opponents.

It seems UNI fans are generally fine with this as they seem to think AJ Green is already akin to an All-American and therefore UNI no longer needs to play defense.

I also find it strange nobody has concerns about whether the fact that having a player that is the son of an existing coach (Kyle green, assistant coach, is AJ’s father) is affecting team dynamics.

This team has had struggles before but I never remember them being this uniformly bad on defense. UNI has never won on talent and generally wins on hussle.

My question is - how long does this last? I liked UNI in the past because they always played well as a team and I feel like that focus is being lost, at least in part from some of the issues above. Less defense, maybe some favoritism.

I realize this can be a sensitive subject because everyone wants to believe that they themselves are objective but I feel like it needs to be discussed. I didn’t put this on the UNi board because I feel I would be ridiculed for even mentioning it.

[BCPanther]

I can’t believe nobody mentioned this earlier, but UNI almost lost to a D3 school (University of Dubuque) on Saturday, at home!!! UNI is allowing on average 74 points a game to its Division 1 opponents.

It seems UNI fans are generally fine with this as they seem to think AJ Green is already akin to an All-American and therefore UNI no longer needs to play defense.

I also find it strange nobody has concerns about whether the fact that having a player that is the son of an existing coach (Kyle green, assistant coach, is AJ’s father) is affecting team dynamics.

This team has had struggles before but I never remember them being this uniformly bad on defense. UNI has never won on talent and generally wins on hussle.

My question is - how long does this last? I liked UNI in the past because they always played well as a team and I feel like that focus is being lost, at least in part from some of the issues above. Less defense, maybe some favoritism.

I realize this can be a sensitive subject because everyone wants to believe that they themselves are objective but I feel like it needs to be discussed. I didn’t put this on the UNi board because I feel I would be ridiculed for even mentioning it.

***Yawn***

Hard to claim favoritism when the kid in question is your best player and it isn't close.

UNI has struggled, no doubt. Injuries (Pickford and Haldeman), academic issues (Croft) and serious illness (Phyfe) have put everybody into positions they didn't think they'd be in. Pickford is back to looking like himself and the decision to redshirt Phyfe at least adds certainty.

They'll get better. The defensive end was better on Saturday and the offense would look better if we could just knock down open shots consistently. Good looks just aren't going in.

We've also played by far the toughest schedule in the league all on the road. UNI doesn't play a Division I home game until December 19th.

Go ahead and write UNI off. I think by the time league play rolls around, UNI will be right in the mix just like the vast majority of the last 15 years.

[Mvc123456]

“We've also played by far the toughest schedule in the league all on the road. UNI doesn't play a Division I home game until December 19th.”

UNI SOS is 63 right now, which is an imperfect calculation this early in the season and still not a strong schedule by any means.

Clearly you feel my concerns are unfounded. You’ve given your opinion.

Also, our schedule this year is easily weaker than previous years and more importantly lacks power 5 programs as playing such games gets more people to see your team (Iowa an exception.)

We’ll see how things are going in Late January and February, I just don’t like what I’m seeing.

[Mvc123456]

“They'll get better. The defensive end was better on Saturday and the offense would look better if we could just knock down open shots consistently. Good looks just aren't going in.”

You are also making this observation about a Division III school! There should be no issues like this against a D3 team.

[IWokeUpLikeThis]

UNI doesn’t play a Division I home game until December 19th.

Well they played a home game Saturday and trailed Dubuque by 10.

They lost by 9 to a 2-7 UTA team who’s lost to Rio Grande Valley and Corpus Christi.

They lost to South Dakota St by more (32) than 2 winless SWAC teams combined (17, 9).

Probably not the year for fear and jealousy.

[BCPanther]

The possibility that UNI isn't very good certainly exists. No question. Outside of AJ Green, we haven't had anybody else show any consistency on the offensive end. Your theory that he's causing friction is really far fetched, he's been playing pick up games and been around the team and program since he was in 8th grade. There isn't a player on the team that wouldn't recognize him as UNIs best player.

I'm just saying let's let them get into a normal routine, let's let them play some home games and give Jake a chance to figure some things out before we make final judgements.

If they still look this bad after the Grand Canyon and Stony Brook games, I'll be right there with you but for now, I'm going to let it play out a bit.

[Adunk33]

The MVC does appear to be down this year. I have no idea what to expect, but I do anticipate around half of the league to be 9-9. A lot of teams; Loyola, Illinois State, UNI, etc, seem to be limping into the conference season.

Illinois State has been incredibly disappointing. The effort has been getting better but it seems they will live and die by the three. Someone mentioned ppg UNI has given up to D1 opponents... the Redbirds have given up 79.4 points to D1 teams. Depth is surely an issue but effort has been questionable. It was much better against Ole Miss but they had guys that just couldn't miss, even when guarded well.

If you look at some of the teams Multiple MVC teams have played, you still don't really get an idea of what is going to happen.

Loyola lost to Ball State at home and UE beat them (then lost to them).
Loyola beat UIC, Bradley barely lost, and ILST got crushed.
Valpo lost to WKU, while Mo State and INST beat them (WKU just beat Arkansas in Fayetteville)
ILST skipped by Chicago State and Bradley smoked them.
Loyola smoked UMKC, while Drake got by them by 3.
Bradley beat SEMO at home, and SIU beat them by 10 on the road
Drake beat Boise State by 9 at home, while ILST beat them slim at a neutral site.
Valpo beat SIUE by 5 in OT, SIU beat them by 21.

I'm sure there's more that I'm missing but the word of the 2018-19 MVC season? P-A-R-I-T-Y...except Valpo, they don't look great.

I think SIU, and Loyola are the only teams solidified as "top 4" at this point. Everyone else has room to grow. INST getting Neese and Williams along with Barnes makes them my sleeper. Mo State is my second sleeper when Ridder becomes eligible. Of course, the Birds often struggle in the noncon under Muller just to become like 12-6 or better in the MVC. So, I'm holding out hope they figure it out.

[usmcsaluki]

The MVC does appear to be down this year. I have no idea what to expect, but I do anticipate around half of the league to be 9-9. A lot of teams; Loyola, Illinois State, UNI, etc, seem to be limping into the conference season.

Illinois State has been incredibly disappointing. The effort has been getting better but it seems they will live and die by the three. Someone mentioned ppg UNI has given up to D1 opponents... the Redbirds have given up 79.4 points to D1 teams. Depth is surely an issue but effort has been questionable. It was much better against Ole Miss but they had guys that just couldn't miss, even when guarded well.

If you look at some of the teams Multiple MVC teams have played, you still don't really get an idea of what is going to happen.

Loyola lost to Ball State at home and UE beat them (then lost to them).
Loyola beat UIC, Bradley barely lost, and ILST got crushed.
Valpo lost to WKU, while Mo State and INST beat them (WKU just beat Arkansas in Fayetteville)
ILST skipped by Chicago State and Bradley smoked them.
Loyola smoked UMKC, while Drake got by them by 3.
Bradley beat SEMO at home, but SIU lost to them by 10 on the road
Drake beat Boise State by 9 at home, while ILST beat them slim at a neutral site.
Valpo beat SIUE by 5 in OT, SIU beat them by 21.

I'm sure there's more that I'm missing but the word of the 2018-19 MVC season? P-A-R-I-T-Y...except Valpo, they don't look great.

I think SIU, and Loyola are the only teams solidified as "top 4" at this point. Everyone else has room to grow. INST getting Neese and Williams along with Barnes makes them my sleeper. Mo State is my second sleeper when Ridder becomes eligible. Of course, the Birds often struggle in the noncon under Muller just to become like 12-6 or better in the MVC. So, I'm holding out hope they figure it out.

SIU won by 10 at SEMO

[Blers]

I'd definitely take SIU over LU right now. We've played good teams tough, but the Furman and Ball State loses really hurt; with Williamson i think we beat Ball State by 5, but it is what it is.

The young pieces are really learning on the fly but the ball movement isn't where it needs to be at this point in time. I love that Moser's looking to the future and letting (currently forced to) them play through mistakes and taking time to develop them, even though it can be frustrating after how crisp we looked last year. Hopefully a softer end to the non-conference season can help these pieces gain some confidence as we get healthy!

[Adunk33]

The MVC does appear to be down this year. I have no idea what to expect, but I do anticipate around half of the league to be 9-9. A lot of teams; Loyola, Illinois State, UNI, etc, seem to be limping into the conference season.

Illinois State has been incredibly disappointing. The effort has been getting better but it seems they will live and die by the three. Someone mentioned ppg UNI has given up to D1 opponents... the Redbirds have given up 79.4 points to D1 teams. Depth is surely an issue but effort has been questionable. It was much better against Ole Miss but they had guys that just couldn't miss, even when guarded well.

If you look at some of the teams Multiple MVC teams have played, you still don't really get an idea of what is going to happen.

Loyola lost to Ball State at home and UE beat them (then lost to them).
Loyola beat UIC, Bradley barely lost, and ILST got crushed.
Valpo lost to WKU, while Mo State and INST beat them (WKU just beat Arkansas in Fayetteville)
ILST skipped by Chicago State and Bradley smoked them.
Loyola smoked UMKC, while Drake got by them by 3.
Bradley beat SEMO at home, but SIU lost to them by 10 on the road
Drake beat Boise State by 9 at home, while ILST beat them slim at a neutral site.
Valpo beat SIUE by 5 in OT, SIU beat them by 21.

I'm sure there's more that I'm missing but the word of the 2018-19 MVC season? P-A-R-I-T-Y...except Valpo, they don't look great.

I think SIU, and Loyola are the only teams solidified as "top 4" at this point. Everyone else has room to grow. INST getting Neese and Williams along with Barnes makes them my sleeper. Mo State is my second sleeper when Ridder becomes eligible. Of course, the Birds often struggle in the noncon under Muller just to become like 12-6 or better in the MVC. So, I'm holding out hope they figure it out.

SIU won by 10 at SEMO

Good catch, I forgot I was looking at SEMO's schedule not SIU's and saw the "L" it's fixed.