Top 4

[sivert]

I certainly like all the UNI inclusions, but I'm afraid we lose most tie-breakers. So we NEED 13 or 14 wins to get top 4. Will be tough. Need 7 or 8 more wins.

W-1 A Illinois Chicago
W-2 H Valparaiso
?? A Indiana St.
?? A Drake
W-3 H Bradley
W-4 A Evansville
W-5 H Indiana St.
W-6 H Drake
?? A Missouri St.
?? A Southern Illinois
W-7 H Belmont

The 8th is going to be tough to come by. Even the 7 will be tough. Need Hackman to put up the charts...

[bradley_townie]

Hackman coming in clutch.

[Kyle_Saluki_17]

I certainly like all the UNI inclusions, but I'm afraid we lose most tie-breakers. So we NEED 13 or 14 wins to get top 4. Will be tough. Need 7 or 8 more wins.

W-1 A Illinois Chicago
W-2 H Valparaiso
?? A Indiana St.
?? A Drake
W-3 H Bradley
W-4 A Evansville
W-5 H Indiana St.
W-6 H Drake
?? A Missouri St.
?? A Southern Illinois
W-7 H Belmont

The 8th is going to be tough to come by. Even the 7 will be tough. Need Hackman to put up the charts...

I would assume your 5,6,7 wins you have are questionable at best. UNI is tough at home, but those are all tough games you’re including there.

[BCPanther]

I certainly like all the UNI inclusions, but I'm afraid we lose most tie-breakers. So we NEED 13 or 14 wins to get top 4. Will be tough. Need 7 or 8 more wins.

W-1 A Illinois Chicago
W-2 H Valparaiso
?? A Indiana St.
?? A Drake
W-3 H Bradley
W-4 A Evansville
W-5 H Indiana St.
W-6 H Drake
?? A Missouri St.
?? A Southern Illinois
W-7 H Belmont

The 8th is going to be tough to come by. Even the 7 will be tough. Need Hackman to put up the charts...

It's tough to flat out say we lose tiebreakers when you don't know who you're tied with.

That said, lots of bridges to cross to get there.

[Salukimadness86]

As of Today I would go as follows:

Bradley, Belmont, Salukis, Mo State.
Still a lot of season left, so a lot can happen over the next six weeks. Drake and UNI will factor in as well when it's all said and done.

[ValleyFAN]

If Missouri State wins tomorrow against SIU, I think they end up in that Top 4. If they lose, they're going to have to steal a tough road game to get back in the conversation--either @ Murray, @ SIU, @ Bradley, or @ Indiana State.

[BEARZ77]

While there is an obvious advantage to being in the top 4, with the top 6-8 so competitive,like others I can easily see the winner coming out of the first four winners. Gonna be 2-3 good teams in that mix . It's always about who is playing really good ball at the end of the season and who has enough depth for the tournament grind. Most teams sans late injuries, get better as the year progresses, but some teams have greater ceilings for that . Some teams get players that were injured early back, some teams discover their best lineups and rotations later in the season, freshmen and jucos mature, etc. There's still 11 conference games for most teams , so buckle up I think.

[Saluki 4 Life]

While there is an obvious advantage to being in the top 4, with the top 6-8 so competitive,like others I can easily see the winner coming out of the first four winners. Gonna be 2-3 good teams in that mix . It's always about who is playing really good ball at the end of the season and who has enough depth for the tournament grind. Most teams sans late injuries, get better as the year progresses, but some teams have greater ceilings for that . Some teams get players that were injured early back, some teams discover their best lineups and rotations later in the season, freshmen and jucos mature, etc. There's still 11 conference games for most teams , so buckle up I think.

And this right here is why even if specifically Missouri State does not get top 4 they are still super dangerous. They have top end talent, if they can put it together it does not matter if they are the 3 seed or the 6 seed... Also, the 5 seed could be a great spot, basically a warm up game for someone.

[Majik45]

I'm stealing this from the pjstarforums (Bradley) board, but it has good information about what teams have left as far as home and away against the other top 8 teams:

Southern Illinois Salukis 7-2 --- 7 games left vs top 8 (4H,3A)
Belmont Bruins 7-2 --- 7 games left vs top 8 (2H,5A)

Bradley Braves 6-3 --- 7 games left vs top 8 (5H,2A)
Missouri State Bears 6-3 --- 8 games left vs top 8 (4H,4A)
Indiana State Sycamores 6-3 --- 7 games left vs top 8 (3H,4A)
Northern Iowa Panthers 6-3 --- 8 games left vs top 8 (4H,4A)

Drake Bulldogs 5-4 --- 8 games left vs top 8 (4H,4A)
Murray State Racers 5-4 ---- 8 games left vs top 8 (4H,4A)


Based on this information, I think Bradley and SIU are in great shape for a top 4 finish. Although Belmont has the advantage right now, they have a lot of road games against the top 8 left, so I would not put them in the top 4 right now. I honestly don't know who I would put as my other two right now. And looking at Hackman's chart, the 3 and 4 spots are wide open.

[BEARZ77]

At some point the Bears have to play with more consistency to make a run. We just got Mayo back and he had an impact in the Drake game, and we hope to get Graham back in the next week. He was just coming on after missing most of the early season with a different injury than the one limiting him now. He gives the Bears another 6'6 wing type that helps make their perimeter defense tough, and was the leading 3 point shooter on the team in his brief earlier stints. But again, can the Bears get some consistency , but lots of time to still work towards that.