Summit Fans think they are catching up to MVC

[Turner]

They might be. Oakland and Oral Roberts are better than most of the teams in the league this year.

I would love to see Oakland beat Texas, but I'm not convinced that any of the Summit teams will be regularly better than the MVC teams. This year- maybe. Long term - doubt it.

[MoValley John]

Oakland and Oral Roberts may be better than most Valley teams this year, but that is fleeting. I have said this several times, the Valley will be much improved next year. Much improved. Indiana State will have a year under its belt with their youth and they are recruiting players. Wichita State will shed a bit of their "depth" that left you wondering who would start, a more cohesive starting five could make them a force. Creighton has their top three players returning, plus the addition of a sharpshooter in Ethan Wragge and the emergence of Jahens Manigag, a couple more trees and added quickness, they will be much better. UNI has a nice nucleus of players. In the offseason, UNI will figure out how to win without O'Rear. This is just a gut and nothing to base it on, but I really think Lowery will have his Salukis ready to play and I think as his last stand, he will return SIU to Floorburn U, they will be tough. Missouri State loses a ton, but you can't think they will drop that much. Cuonzo is a winner, if he doesn't get the big gig in this offseason, they will be back. Evansville is up and coming, both Indiana schools have been recruiting well. Drake is a question mark, they have the talent, but they just don't have consistency. We will see what Phelps does to keep his job. Bradley, tough to say they will be worse than this year, but they are a big unknown. Illinois State is a freaking mess.

So here is how the Valley will look in 2012 compared to 2011:
Creighton- Better
UNI- Same to better
Wichita State- Better
Southern Illinois- Better
Indiana State- Better
Drake- Same to better
Evansville- Better
Missouri State- Same to a little worse
Bradley- Worse
Illinois State- Train wreck. Either Jank lerns how to coach or he's in trouble.

So you have five teams that will be better next year, two teams that will be about the same to better, one team the same to a little worse and two teams that will be bad. Regardless of who finishes first or fourth, the teams and competition in the Valley will be much better next year and the Valley will finish in the Top 10 of the RPI, probably 8th.

When the Summitttttt league ever finishes in the Top 10 of the RPI, then they have accomplished something, but when the best they can think is that trading Centenary for a commuter school in Omaha is going to help them, they are looking for the wrong help. Of the schools in the Summit the Valley should be concerned, it's the Dakota schools, they may be from small states, but their fans donate money, travel well and play for keeps. Plus it won't be long until that new oil money in North Dakota trickles into the athletic departments.

[Jamar Howard 4 Pres]

Wow these people are nuts. They are essentially saying the North Central Conference is going to be better than the Valley. Guess what Summit? Your league is full of guarantee games for big conferences and for MVC teams as well. The MVC had their worst season in forever and even your stats show we are way better than the Summit.

UNO has no fans in this area and bringing your teams in to play won't help attendance. There is a reason why 800 people go to their basketball games and once they can't take D1 castoffs who can play immediately they will stink too.

You are absolutely and completely misrepresenting the conversation on that thread. It is full of a few excited fans who are happy to see their conference on the rise. They have been respectful and complimentary of the Valley, and they are using the Valley as a standard that they look to one day achieve for themselves.

Turner, you are the one who is "nuts".

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

They might be. Oakland and Oral Roberts are better than most of the teams in the league this year.

I would love to see Oakland beat Texas, but I'm not convinced that any of the Summit teams will be regularly better than the MVC teams. This year- maybe. Long term - doubt it.

Oakland's a nice little team. They could give Texas a bit of trouble but I think the gap between them and the rest of the Summit is pretty big. ORU is not very good and they made the Summit Championship game. Overall, I'd say the Valley future is much brighter. We are at a low point, they are at a high and we are still ahead of them in nearly every objective analysis.

[starshiip]

Read where 4th place Summit league team IPFW's coach Dane Fife is interviewing at MVC's last place team Bradley this week...step up??

[Drakey]

One good thing coming out of these meaningless post season tournaments is that the Valley's RPI has gone from 12 to 11.

[LMS]

Read where 4th place Summit league team IPFW's coach Dane Fife is interviewing at MVC's last place team Bradley this week...step up??

Bradley is a much, much better job than any Summit school.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

Read where 4th place Summit league team IPFW's coach Dane Fife is interviewing at MVC's last place team Bradley this week...step up??

Bradley is a much, much better job than any Summit school.

I'd say that the Oral Roberts and Oakland (maybe) jobs are better. Definitely the ORU job in Tulsa, that is a great mid major gig. Oakland is probably only as good as they are because of Kampe, so that one is more the coach than the program. Nothing against Bradley, but I think their supporters overrate their job. There is a reason they are looking at Dane Fife and not someone more accomplished like a Greg Kampe or a Rick Byrd at Belmont for example. Then again, someone can have success at Bradley and get to a Sweet Sixteen within the past 5 years and then get canned so the rapid nature of expectations might turn a potential applicant off.

[TylerDurden]

Just about every school overrates their job.

[AndShock]

Read where 4th place Summit league team IPFW's coach Dane Fife is interviewing at MVC's last place team Bradley this week...step up??

Bradley is a much, much better job than any Summit school.

I'd say that the Oral Roberts and Oakland (maybe) jobs are better. Definitely the ORU job in Tulsa, that is a great mid major gig. Oakland is probably only as good as they are because of Kampe, so that one is more the coach than the program. Nothing against Bradley, but I think their supporters overrate their job. There is a reason they are looking at Dane Fife and not someone more accomplished like a Greg Kampe or a Rick Byrd at Belmont for example. Then again, someone can have success at Bradley and get to a Sweet Sixteen within the past 5 years and then get canned so the rapid nature of expectations might turn a potential applicant off.

I'm just gonna go with a simple "no." This, combined with your NIT>NCAA comments are a bit ridiculous.