Next season

[Milanmiracle]

All Valley teams should get in the best tournaments they can. Full stop. Don't just sign up for a tournament with low majors because it's "winnable." We need to get our NET up and every Valley team has to improve their schedule.

Loved what Loyola did last year. They were in the Belfast tournament, bought their way out and signed up for Ft. Myers (which was the best opening at the time). Big kudos to Porter for that.

With the NET still being figured out, and with such things as offensive efficiency weighing into the equation, it is going to be a delicate balance between playing good teams, teams you can beat, and teams you can use to pad the stats. Blowouts don't matter for individual games as they're capped at 10, but you can manipulate it by relies on game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, quality of wins and losses, and winning percentage vs. D1.

Belmont 47
Murray State 44
Loyola Chicago 128

Admittedly, I don't have the answers yet. However, it seems to me there's going to need to be some manipulation between scheduling enough good teams and beating some, and some really bad D1's to pad the stats. We'll see how it all plays out but I am not sure losing to good teams is the way to go like it would have been with the RPI.

[MOST]

Belmont was an add on gift by the NCAA.

[just ducky]

Belmont was an add on gift by the NCAA.

I expected them to make it in because they deserved to be in. It was no accident that they were seeder higher than Murray. They were multifaceted enough that they could have matched up better than Murray with a wider range of teams in the field.

And they beat Lipscomb both home and away.-----------------REMINDER-----TONIGHT---NIT Semi-final

ESPN 6:00 CST. at MSG Lipscomb vs Wichita St

[BEARZ77]

Belmont was an add on gift by the NCAA.

I expected them to make it in because they deserved to be in. It was no accident that they were seeder higher than Murray. They were multifaceted enough that they could have matched up better than Murray with a wider range of teams in the field.

And they beat Lipscomb both home and away.-----------------REMINDER-----TONIGHT---NIT Semi-final

ESPN 6:00 CST. at MSG Lipscomb vs Wichita St

Exactly, Belmont didn't get a gift, they should have been in. The NCAA tourney should be about determining the best team, but at the same time about answering some questions that the regular season can't. When a team from a p-5 conference gets in with a .500 or thereabouts conference record, there is no question that begs answering. It's already a known ; they can occasionally beat a top level team, but among their peers, they are average . A 30 game schedule said so. But when a top level mid is denied a spot, we don't get questions answered that need to be; how good are they really . They've earned the right to find out , and the NCAA Tourney should be about answering that question.

[musiccitybulldog]

Liscomb and Murray State would work also. Liscomb is only about 7-8 blocks further than Belmont.

[Mikovio]

So because Belmont turned the Valley down the Valley should add their little brother Lipscomb? I don't think Murray is worth all that.

[tribecalledquest]

So because Belmont turned the Valley down the Valley should add their little brother Lipscomb? I don't think Murray is worth all that.

Agreed.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

Their little brother is on the verge of winning the NIT. Pretty impressive. Of course, their coach may be gone soon and they need continued success before an invite BUT they are worth keeping on the list and watching.

[Mikovio]

Penn State won the NIT last year and played no postseason this year. George Washington beat Valpo in 2016 and both teams have been in steady decline since. Wichita of course used their NIT title as a springboard. I'm not one of those guys who jokes about the NIT winner being #69 but they need to show a lot more, especially since they apparently might lose their coach to Belmont.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Josh Jefferson departing Blo-No. Actually like this for ISUr. Redbirds had too many shoot-first guards. Muller can inject some D-first blood and get away from the dime a dozen trap he fell in last year.