Has there been a worse day in recent MVC history?

by **MVCfans** » February 19th, 2011, 9:45 pm

Has there been a worse day in recent MVC history? In the last 24 hours, each of the top 6 MVC seeds lost their bracket buster game. Didn't matter whether we were at home or on the road, favored or an underdog - WSU, MSU, UNI, Ind St, Creighton, and Evansville all lost. Fortunately, the overall record for the MVC will ultimately appear misleading to our advantage as we managed to get wins by Bradley, SIU, and Drake.

Taking the two out of conference "challenge" type events - the MVC-MWC challenge and the Bracket Busters - the MVC was humiliated.

What needs to be done to remedy the problem? The high point for the MVC was only 5 years ago when four programs reached the NCAA tournament and two teams made it to the Sweet 16. The slide has been dramatic and confounding and fans of the conference have a right to expect more from their teams and league.

As we prepare for an exciting finish to the regular season and an entertaining Arch Madness, we can all hope that this is the bottom for the Valley and the climb back to mid-major dominance begins now.

**Sponsor**

by **PeKaph** » February 19th, 2011, 10:12 pm

You've already got my solution--we need new leadership, a return to the RPI non-conference rule, and, frankly, a couple of changes in the membership roster.

by **oneNEIGHBOR** » February 19th, 2011, 10:20 pm

PeKaph wrote:You've already got my solution--we need new leadership, a return to the RPI non-conference rule, and, frankly, a couple of changes in the membership roster.

what do you mean when you say "membership roster"? I guess it means kick teams out, but who? Drake looks to be getting better, same with Evansville. you cant just kick them out. idk... i think we need a new commissioner.

by **bigdawg** » February 19th, 2011, 10:43 pm

PeKaph wrote:You've already got my solution--we need new leadership, a return to the RPI non-conference rule, and, frankly, a couple of changes in the membership roster.

In the current environment, I think we need to be more concerned with keeping any of the teams we have from leaving rather than adding new schools.

by **DawgFan** » February 19th, 2011, 10:54 pm

Could of been Chris Lowery's last win as SIU coach, so maybe the day isn't a total loss.

League is really poor this year and some of the injuries didn't help.

You certainly can't have the Illinois schools all way down at the same time. When has that ever happened in modern day MVC?

by **MoValley John** » February 19th, 2011, 11:03 pm

Anyone can lay the blame anywhere they want, but the fact of the matter is this, the fanbases of each school need to look inward and not outward. Doug Elgin ended the 150 rule because of pressure from schools that complained that the bar was set too high. He didn't want to end it. Elgin has tried, he can only do what the member schools will allow. If you are upset with what has just happened, the writing has been on the wall for four or five years. UNI makes a S-16 last year and everyone discounted what was plainly visible, the Valley was spiraling downhill. So please, rather than casting blame elsewhere, look at your school, not just the W's and L's, look at your athletic budget, look at your local and state politics and see who is attacking your program; look at your AD's and look at your coaches and their scheduling policies. If you do a quick check and see that your coaching staff isn't paid in the top half of the Valley and your basketball budget isn't top half, the coaches need to be paid more, the budgets need to be increased and much more needs to be demanded. If you are paying your coaching staffs in the top half of the Valley and you have a well funded program that isn't garnering results, coaches need to be replaced. On the other hand, if you are paying entry level wages, underfunding the program and hoping for championships, you are dilusional.

As for today, I think a lot of the success, or lack thereof, can be traced back to the attitude of the Valley coaching staffs, players and fans. Everyone has badmouthed the event and complained about how it is a bad deal and that they really didn't want to play the damn game. We have a thread on this very board regarding the Valley coaches questioning the event. Well the event is scheduled and attitude has so much to do with success in athletics, so people need to quit biatching about the event, fans need to shut up and enjoy the games, coaches need to quit complaining and get their teams ready and the players need to lace up their shoes and play the damn game. The Valley isn't too good for the event as the results have proven.

On another note, the Valley is in a rebuilding year, we all knew that. Marshall has been at WSU for four years, Martin at MSU for three and McDermott is in his first year at Creighton. These three programs will be good for years to come and the Valley is looking to be much better next year. The Valley will be back, afterall, Jim Les is the Dean of the Valley coaches. For the first time in a long while, every program is somewhat of a state of flux. Next year promises to be better, but at the same time, like it or not, money drives success in college athletics, the Valley will bounce up and doown year to year unless schools pony up more cash to pay and keep coaches longer, recruit harder, play better schedules and demand, not hope for results.

by **pafan** » February 19th, 2011, 11:48 pm

The only day close to this was MVC-MWC challenge week back in December. Today's performances confirm what we found out then, that the MVC is not the league it used to be.

1 win and 2 losses today against the OVC? I'm sure Ace Dad will dislike this comment, but I don't think anyone could have predicted today's set of outcomes (ISU-b, UE lose and Bradley wins) and not been farcical.

There's a few games in today's BB that probably would have been toss-ups or even favored the other team. WSU's loss to VCU was surely disappointing, but not surprising to me (it was to oddsmakers in Vegas!). Same for MSU vs. Valpo.

It goes down to the rising tide which lifts all boats. Look at the MWC, which has two of the top three teams ( BYU and San Diego State) in the RPI today. That didn't happen in a vacuum. Some ADs probably decided they wanted to dethrone the MWC's perennial leader, UNLV in hoops. So they changed things around at their programs so they could do that. BYU getting Jimmer Fredette sure didn't hurt the cause.

If Bradley was three games ahead of everyone else in the conference this year, it would have an effect on teams next year. It would make all the teams play more like Jim Les, recruiting players similar to Simms-Edwards, perhaps.

It definitely benefits the conference to have a team lead the conference year in and year out. So go Les!

by **Ace Dad** » February 19th, 2011, 11:51 pm

Pafan, I knew Murray State was quick, but I did not expect to be pasted the way we were. The Racers have won 21 games this year. My biggest dissapointment was our inability to stop their runs.

by **St. Sebastian** » February 20th, 2011, 2:09 am

I was at Hulman Center today and Morehead State was a team that would compete in the MVC. Kenneth Faried was the real deal for them.

Yeah, it's not a good loss for Indiana State at home, but part of the arrogance MoValleyJohn is talking about has its roots in the fact that teams from X-conference should automatically beat teams from Y-conference. It usually doesn't work that way. All teams should be taken on their own merit, not by association with a conference.

Having said that, man did the Valley suck today!

by **MVCfans** » February 20th, 2011, 7:35 am

From ESPN.com:

LOSERS
The Missouri Valley Conference in general: It was not a good weekend for the MVC. Before the BracketBusters, both Missouri State and Wichita State had hopes -- however faded they may have been -- of landing at-large bids to the 2011 NCAA tournament. After Saturday, it's clear this is a one-bid league. The Valley went 3-7 in BracketBusters this weekend thanks in large part to losses by its top six teams. Creighton lost at Akron. George Mason beat Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Valparaiso rocked Missouri State. Throw in Wichita State's crushing one-point loss to VCU Friday night, and well, yeah. As much as it pains us to toss this proud mid-major league to the bubble dustbin, we really don't have a choice.