Breaking Down Arch Madness

[BirdsEyeView]

Congrats UNI on winning the momentum championship.

Your trophy is in the mail.

[ACECARD]

I like your players, but I really dislike your coach. I like Balentine, Mock, and the point guard. I think his name is Brown.

I must admit that I am not a fan of player Simmons. He was worthless in the first half of the UNI game.

I saw the first half of your game with UNI.

Your offense looked just plain awful. The team was not prepared.

The good thing is that the Creighton-less Valley is looking more and more like a low-major conference. So going 1-5 against the best 3 teams in the conference ends up as a #2 seed.

Something is wrong. Recruiting, budget, coaching, scheduling, talent, administrative support, conference selection - something. Perhaps even all of the above in some combination. But if two once in a generation players can play on the same team and we can't even sniff the bubble, that is not a good thing.

PA Football, no way to disagree with your last paragraph. Oh, how I remember those EC-Butler football games. They were somewhat akin to the Aces-Shocker basketball games today. I will always remember how you guys fought to the end, and would never give up, but just couldn't catch a break.

[acepurple84]

UNI is the only team with a chance to beat WSU. They're the only team that is mentally tough enough to get through the run that Wichita inevitably goes on. They weathered 17-2 in Wichita with the building jumping and got it done.

UNI has been a different team for the last 4 weeks. Certainly the second best team in the league.

You beat Evansville twice by a basket each time, and got swept by Loyola. I don't see clearly the second best team. IMO, Evansville and ISUr both have superior talent, but UNI has a much smarter coach than either Simmons or Muller. These three are a tossup for second.

With the brackets the way they are, I do think UNI is the only one with a realistic chance to knock off Wichita. If they make it to the final, they will certainly be focused.

UNI is 3-1 against ISUr and Evansville, including a sweep of Evansville.
UNI is one of only two to beat WSU, and did it AT WSU...where ISUr was beaten by 3 touchdowns.

Evansville and ISUR aren't beating WSU should that be the title match up.

it all doesn't mean a thing. We swept WSU the year they went to the Final Four. Sometimes the match ups just happen at the wrong time.

[SubGod22]

I do believe UNI has the best chance of knocking off the Shox this week. Personally, if the Shox make it to Sunday, their depth is going to play a big part. ISU, and especially UE, will tire quicker due to less depth.

[pawball]

WSU is definitely on a roll after their two consecutive losses. People said nobody had a chance to beat them last year & that was not the case. Also, WSU hasn't done the greatest at the tourney under Greg Marshall. If you don't count games against Thursday teams, Marshall is 4-7 in the tourney[/quote]


Is Marshall's overall record in NCAA Tourney better than in the Valley Tourney???

[shocktheheart]

WSU is definitely on a roll after their two consecutive losses. People said nobody had a chance to beat them last year & that was not the case. Also, WSU hasn't done the greatest at the tourney under Greg Marshall. If you don't count games against Thursday teams, Marshall is 4-7 in the tourney

Is Marshall's overall record in NCAA Tourney better than in the Valley Tourney???[/quote]

By my math is Marshall is 9-6 in Valley tournament and 7-3 in NCAA tourneys at WSU. He is 8-9 in NCAA tourneys if you add in Winthrop.

[mathewson10]

WSU is definitely on a roll after their two consecutive losses. People said nobody had a chance to beat them last year & that was not the case. Also, WSU hasn't done the greatest at the tourney under Greg Marshall. If you don't count games against Thursday teams, Marshall is 4-7 in the tourney

Is Marshall's overall record in NCAA Tourney better than in the Valley Tourney???

By my math is Marshall is 9-6 in Valley tournament and 7-3 in NCAA tourneys at WSU. He is 8-9 in NCAA tourneys if you add in Winthrop.[/quote]

I have no clue what these last two posts have to do with the topic...

[Ricardo del Rio]

WSU is definitely on a roll after their two consecutive losses. People said nobody had a chance to beat them last year & that was not the case. Also, WSU hasn't done the greatest at the tourney under Greg Marshall. If you don't count games against Thursday teams, Marshall is 4-7 in the tourney

Is Marshall's overall record in NCAA Tourney better than in the Valley Tourney???

By my math is Marshall is 9-6 in Valley tournament and 7-3 in NCAA tourneys at WSU. He is 8-9 in NCAA tourneys if you add in Winthrop.

I have no clue what these last two posts have to do with the topic... [/quote]

It probably has something to do with Coach Marshall not winning the Big one.

[purple&orange]

My Thoughts from an Evansville perspective.

Wichita State- Has one of the best backcourts in the country, a collection of seniors who have experienced a lot. Heavy favorite because of talent and the ability to clamp down on the defensive end.
Evansville- Got a good of a draw as they could have hoped for. Evansville plays at their best in an up and down game. Avoids the two best grind it out teams in WSU and UNI until potentially the final.
Illinois State- Most athletic gifted team but can they put together a three game in three day stretch where they don't take themselves out of a game? Not so sure.
Northern Iowa- Hottest team coming into the tournament, are they more like the squad that took down UNC and Iowa State or the team that struggled early in conference play.
Southern Illinois- Exceeded expectations, Coach Hinson did a great job with this squad. Beane is a heck of a player.
Indiana State- Everybody looks better when shot go down and vs Evansville on the year they shot about 50% combined, but the split was about 65-35 in the two games. Not sure what to make of them.
7-10 I think Loyola has the biggest upside of that group this weekend but don't see anybody doing much on short rest.

I see Wichita, UNI, Evansville, and Indiana State in a minor upset making the semifinals. I see the last game of the night Friday as being a rockfight where a 3-4 stretch of good offense might be enough to win the game. That game to me is the most intriguing because both teams have shot it great at times and looked really good, and conversely shot it horribly and looked really bad, at least they did against Evansville in their first games.

In the semifinals I see Wichita winning a tough game vs UNI, pulling away late and Evansville taking down ISU (see what I did there) as the game as a better chance to have a more free flow to it.

Championship Sunday.......For anyone to beat Wichita State it will be difficult, I think the Aces can do it, although I think something that Marshall does not get enough credit for is the way that the WSU staff prepares teams to play. Simple little things like extending the game by letting the ball roll on dead balls to extend the game an extra possession or two or in that Final Four game I picked up immediately that WSU tried to cut a possession or two out of the game by not grabbing the ball immediately letting a few extra ticks run off the clock. Everybody knows everybody in this league, the round robin is a product of it.

Wichita is the odds on favorite for a reason and any success Evansville has had this year is when role players such as Brown, Wing, Mislav, and even Blake as of late all pitch in and score. Like I mentioned earlier I think the bracket is the best it could possibly be for Evansville all things considered with the grind it out WSU-UNI game potentially a day before. I want to believe in my Purple Aces and I do believe in them that they will have a shot if they get there. With that said to make anyone outside of Wichita the prohibitive favorite is a stretch, therefore I think they win it.

It's a great weekend, a lot of fun to see school colors everywhere and talk to fans of other schools. I just hope to be full of nervous energy all morning on Sunday for the potential of what could be for my Purple Aces, no matter who the opponent may be.

Save travels to all who head to STL, the weather looks to be really nice this weekend, and I think most of us can agree spring can't get here soon enough.