Selection Sunday

[Drakey]

I deserved that response. My post (and many of my posts on this board and my home board) are wholly irrational and lacking in substance. The reason I talked about Presidents is that I remember the scheduling mandate the MVC used to have and I heard the reason it doesn't exist is because the presidents at the time didn't want to do it anymore.

This is not a valid criticism. It is no longer possible for Valley teams to schedule good non-conference games. The Power 5 conferences have made a concerted effort to make sure that does not occur. The only reason UNI has been able to schedule some better games over the past few years was a combination of luck and fairly recent success which allowed them to schedule a few better opponents who did not think a loss to UNI would kill their RPI/NET. Drake played Iowa and Iowa State every year for about 100 years until they refused to play Drake anymore. There was a time when Big 10 and big 12 teams would actually come to Des Moines to play Drake. We can't even get a home and home with an A10 or Mountain West team anymore. How do you propose we get a better schedule? The system that he power 5 conferences instituted to make sure fewer teams from outside their conferences is working just as it was designed to work.

[BEARZ77]

I deserved that response. My post (and many of my posts on this board and my home board) are wholly irrational and lacking in substance. The reason I talked about Presidents is that I remember the scheduling mandate the MVC used to have and I heard the reason it doesn't exist is because the presidents at the time didn't want to do it anymore.

This is not a valid criticism. It is no longer possible foe Valley teams to schedule good non-conference games. The Power 5 conferences have made a concerted effort to make sure that does not occur. The only reason UNI has been able to schedule some better games over the past few years was a combination of luck and fairly recent success which allowed them to schedule a few better opponents who did not think a loss to UNI would kill their RPI/NET. Drake played Iowa and Iowa State every year for about 100 years until they refused to play Drake anymore. There was a time when Big 10 and big 12 teams would actually come to Des Moines to play Drake. We can't even get a home and home with an A10 or Mountain West team anymore. How do you propose we get a better schedule? The system that he power 5 conferences instituted to make sure fewer teams from outside their conferences is working just as it was designed to work.

This !! Yeah depending on recent success, a good draw in a MTE etc. a midmajor can occasionally put a decent noncon together, but it's not easy or likely for most. All you have to do is notice that with P-5 teams with bad NETS all the bracket guys talk about is their Q1 wins , which are mostly h/h conference wins. Whatever system that has been brought forward, RPI, NET,SOS, whenever mids found ways to effectively compete in that system, it was changed or disregarded. The one that works best for what they want is what they have now, Q1 wins, which they can effectively limit the opportunity for Mids to have.

Oh and VU Grad, while I disagree with much of your view on the value of expansion, I appreciate your passion for the topic and defend your right to post as much as you want about it .

[9628]

As a die hard Aces fan and as much as I dislike some of the Valley teams.I will always cheer on and hope the Valley gets more than 1 team into the tournament. Make some noise LOYOLA and I'm pulling for Drake to get an at large bid and make some noise also.

Not to mention that the Valley teams share the NCAA $$units. The more units the more dollars to share. This might be the most important reason to hope for more bids.

[Countrypanther]

Drakey hits the real problem, we need more cooperation between better mid majors in nonconference scheduling. Drake & UNI will never get fair scheduling with Iowa & IA St much less any other P5 team. Can't even get a 1 for 2 deal anymore.

[VUGrad1314]

Drakey hits the real problem, we need more cooperation between better mid majors in nonconference scheduling. Drake & UNI will never get fair scheduling with Iowa & IA St much less any other P5 team. Can't even get a 1 for 2 deal anymore.

Well said. That's something I've been advocating for too. We need to collude right back. Mids in general need to step up and take the opportunity to play these measuring stick games against other mids. Some years it won't be the MVC team that rises out of that and that's okay. But a loss to say a Boise State Colorado State Utah State Wright State or a Belmont or a WKU\North Texas\UAB team (especially on the road) isn't a bad loss. If it ensures that those who do make it through have a better chance and are better prepared, then that's what we should be doing and encouraging. That's what I mean by scheduling better. We won't get anything other than buy games against P5s but top tier mids should be able to get home and home deals and they should be doing it much more often. I'd love to see the MVC and other leagues like it move in concert like this for the betterment of all.

[Bulldog4life24]

Agree.

I see a lot of conversations about Leagues trying to get partnerships. I guess I’m maybe in a minority that thinks we shouldn’t have to be accountable for weak league teams year to year. Get the 2-4 stringest teams at the top together to go find home and homes with 2-4 other too MMs.

Isn’t there a school or movement doing that now? (Winthrop maybe? I can’t recall).

[BCPanther]

UNI's worst SOS in the last 15 years was 140 and that's the only year over 100 and have done it taking 6 buy games TOTAL over that 15 years.

It's totally possible to put together a good schedule. You just have to do your homework and not be afraid to play good teams on the road. Drake is going to get left out and has no one to blame but themselves.

[VUGrad1314]

You might well be right and that is very sad but here is the case for Drake:

I still think despite the SOS difference after looking at the numbers Drake has the superior case to other bubble teams. Their 6 Q1-Q2 wins are equal to those of Texas Tech and still more than Oklahoma Virginia Tech and UCLA it is also equal to Xavier and Duke. It is more than any of the bubble teams of the MWC or the AAC and also more than SLU. Here are the numbers:

Q1\Q2 wins:
Drake 6
Utah State 4
SLU 4
Wichita State 4
Memphis 4
SMU 4
Colorado State 3

Q3-4 losses:
Drake 2
Utah State 2
SMU 2
SLU 2
Boise State 1 (Q4)
Memphis 1
Wichita State 1
Colorado State 0

As you can see, despite a pretty terrible overall SOS Drake's metrics stack up very well against the bubble. Most of these teams have 2 Q1 wins against Drake's 1 but that is offset I think by the fact that Drake has 2 more Q1 and Q2 wins than any other contender and as many (or just one more) bad loss. Furthermore, in the NET, Drake trails only Utah State and (inexplicably) SLU who jumped them today for reasons that baffle me. if there's a bubble team that I say deserves to get in it's Drake in my very biased opinion but I think it's easy to see why when you zoom out and look at the entire body of work. If they do get in the MVC should send Missouri State a thank you gift for being the third good team in the conference to provide enough support to get the conference back to multibid status. They didn't sniff the bubble but without them, this isn't possible.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Where the top 10 bracketologists of the past 5 years slot Drake:

1) Bracketville - Last 4 In
2) Pulse on Sports - Last 4 In
3) Stallard’s - Last 4 In
4) Facts & Bracks - Last 4 Byes
5) Switching the Coverage - Second Team Out
6) Warren Nolan - Last 4 In
7) HoopsHD - Last 4 In
8) Heat Check - Last 4 Byes
9) Catch & Shoot - Last 4 In
10) One Man Committee - First Team Out

[VUGrad1314]

Let's hope they're right. 8\10 is a very encouraging sign. I don't care if it's the first four. I just want to see them in.