Pretty Impressive

by **MVC Phil** » March 2nd, 2021, 6:50 am

All 10 teams managed to complete the 18 game Valley schedule in the season of COVID.

I have to say that is a pretty impressive feat.

Off the top of my head, I cannot think of another league that can say the same thing.

The Valley staff did an outstanding job with the schedule and rescheduling of games. Impressive work by the Valley office.

It is something that should be considered in the "room" when discussing at large bids.

Teams like Drake and Loyola both had pauses but each played a full slate of games and this should count for some extra points when looking at at-large teams. Bigger leagues and bigger schools with bigger budgets couldn't figure this out.

**Sponsor**

by **Countrypanther** » March 2nd, 2021, 9:17 am

Likely cost Drake the regular season championship. Too many games in too few days after the Covid forced layoff.

by **MissouriValleyUnite** » March 2nd, 2021, 10:35 am

Only D1 league to complete their full regular season schedule. Bet it ends up as a Jeopardy question at some point.

by **DUBulldog** » March 2nd, 2021, 10:21 pm

Countrypanther wrote:Likely cost Drake the regular season championship. Too many games in too few days after the Covid forced layoff.

Yep, 14 games in 33 days is a lot, not matter what. Throw in the lingering effects of the virus, and the injuries....the Bulldogs were never the same team post-COVID that they were prior. They were absolutely burnt out by the end of the season. Coach DeVries couldn't even play the running/pressing style he prefers due to tired legs.

by **hot nuts** » March 3rd, 2021, 8:45 am

Countrypanther wrote:Likely cost Drake the regular season championship. Too many games in too few days after the Covid forced layoff.

The refs cost my Redbirds a regular season championship. Lousy bums. :Beer:

by **BEARZ77** » March 3rd, 2021, 9:39 am

Certainly injury and covid conspired to impact Drake's season, but it's pretty hard to know to what degree any team's record has been impacted as compared to others. So many teams had starts and stops, players who were infected and then returned to play, but were compromised, etc etc. Obviously as has been noted by many , teams that had returning intact rosters certainly had an advantage over teams that had significant #s of newcomers who weren't able to be integrated in well over the summer , so that'impacted those teams alot. The year is what it is, there's just been more "what it is " spread across more programs than normal.

by **squirrel** » March 3rd, 2021, 6:56 pm

DUBulldog wrote:
Countrypanther wrote:Likely cost Drake the regular season championship. Too many games in too few days after the Covid forced layoff.

Yep, 14 games in 33 days is a lot, not matter what. Throw in the lingering effects of the virus, and the injuries....the Bulldogs were never the same team post-COVID that they were prior. They were absolutely burnt out by the end of the season. Coach DeVries couldn't even play the running/pressing style he prefers due to tired legs.

Every team had similar stretches at some point in league.

by **MVCBeat** » March 3rd, 2021, 7:46 pm

This is the most impressive thing that has happened in the MVC this year. The league did a great job with this. They set up a scheduling system that was most likely to allow for the most games to be played as scheduled and put contingencies in place to allow space for easy make-up games. Teams were very mobile and flexible as well. Extremely impressive accomplishment. Say what you want about the MVC being conservative with decisions, but the league certainly understands logistics.

Compare that to a league like the MWC. There were certainly more hurdles to deal with in that league. Larger geographic area to cover, states with more stringent COVID policies, etc. But they are scrambling to get games in right before their league tournament starts, putting their squads in tough spots. They've got Colorado State, who is one of the bubbliest teams in America, playing four games in seven days right before the league tournament. They did not plan for contingencies nearly as well as the MVC.

Kudos MVC.

by **LanceShock** » March 4th, 2021, 10:01 am

Congratulations on getting all of your regular season games in. That is quite an accomplishment this year. The American was horrible at getting games made up.

by **Dansen** » March 4th, 2021, 10:37 am

Countrypanther wrote:Likely cost Drake the regular season championship. Too many games in too few days after the Covid forced layoff.

So many “what if’s” you could play.

Maybe a team coming off covid protocol isn’t so tired and upsets Drake.

Maybe Loyola goes undefeated if Covid scheduling doesn’t force them to play @Drake, @Indiana State, and @Mo State (the next three top teams) or they don’t lose to Indiana State if the scheduled isn’t changed immediately before the game.