Official Arch Madness discussion thread

[DUBulldog]

The downside is that we will only get one bid. The upside is that that one bid is going to unquestionably our best team

Is Loyola the best team in the MVC? Maybe. Are they "unquestionably" the best team. Nope.

They were the best team this weekend, but if they were unquestionably the best team, they should have been able to win the regular season title.

I'm biased as hell, but I think a healthy Drake team is better than Loyola. But, Drake never seems to be healthy, especially come Arch Madness.

[bradley_townie]

The downside is that we will only get one bid. The upside is that that one bid is going to unquestionably our best team

Is Loyola the best team in the MVC? Maybe. Are they "unquestionably" the best team. Nope.

They were the best team this weekend, but if they were unquestionably the best team, they should have been able to win the regular season title.

I'm biased as hell, but I think a healthy Drake team is better than Loyola. But, Drake never seems to be healthy, especially come Arch Madness.

Drake had every opportunity to win that game too. The 4 missed free throws by Penn and Hemphill (I think?) absolutely killed you guys. Also, if he doesn't foul out, I think we would have seen some Sturtz magic in the final few possessions.

[tribecalledquest]

The downside is that we will only get one bid. The upside is that that one bid is going to unquestionably our best team

Is Loyola the best team in the MVC? Maybe. Are they "unquestionably" the best team. Nope.

They were the best team this weekend, but if they were unquestionably the best team, they should have been able to win the regular season title.

I'm biased as hell, but I think a healthy Drake team is better than Loyola. But, Drake never seems to be healthy, especially come Arch Madness.

It’s funny how we see teams - and probably based on how our favorite team did against them.

I think MSU was the best team. They also swept Bradley. I also didn’t think Drake was anything super special. Of course Bradley swept them pretty handily both games.

[DUBulldog]

The downside is that we will only get one bid. The upside is that that one bid is going to unquestionably our best team

Is Loyola the best team in the MVC? Maybe. Are they "unquestionably" the best team. Nope.

They were the best team this weekend, but if they were unquestionably the best team, they should have been able to win the regular season title.

I'm biased as hell, but I think a healthy Drake team is better than Loyola. But, Drake never seems to be healthy, especially come Arch Madness.

It’s funny how we see teams - and probably based on how our favorite team did against them.

I think MSU was the best team. They also swept Bradley. I also didn’t think Drake was anything super special. Of course Bradley swept them pretty handily both games.

Yeah, sometime it's all about the matchups. I feel Drake matches up real well with Loyola....swept them in the regular season, but that was with DJ Wilkins. Bulldogs, for whatever reason, just don't match up well with Bradley. Hard to explain, because it's not like Bradley is necessarily better than Loyola.

I still stand by my original statement that Loyola is not unquestionably the best team in the league.

[BCPanther]

Flipping the Saturday matchups to UNI-Drake and MSU-Loyola would have made for a better day of basketball but what do you do...

UNI winning the regular season actually hurt the chance at the auto.

[tribecalledquest]

I still stand by my original statement that Loyola is not unquestionably the best team in the league.

I agree with this.

[Blers42]

Yeah, sometime it's all about the matchups. I feel Drake matches up real well with Loyola....swept them in the regular season, but that was with DJ Wilkins. Bulldogs, for whatever reason, just don't match up well with Bradley. Hard to explain, because it's not like Bradley is necessarily better than Loyola.

I still stand by my original statement that Loyola is not unquestionably the best team in the league.

Drake’s second regular season win against Loyola was without Marquis Kennedy, it’s worth mentioning if you’re going to point out Wilkins being injured. I don’t necessarily think that Loyola is a more talented team than Drake but I know they’re a deeper team. Their depth gave them an advantage over every team in the Valley during Arch Madness.

[BuBrave2006]

Yeah, sometime it's all about the matchups. I feel Drake matches up real well with Loyola....swept them in the regular season, but that was with DJ Wilkins. Bulldogs, for whatever reason, just don't match up well with Bradley. Hard to explain, because it's not like Bradley is necessarily better than Loyola.

I still stand by my original statement that Loyola is not unquestionably the best team in the league.

Drake’s second regular season win against Loyola was without Marquis Kennedy, it’s worth mentioning if you’re going to point out Wilkins being injured. I don’t necessarily think that Loyola is a more talented team than Drake but I know they’re a deeper team. Their depth gave them an advantage over every team in the Valley during Arch Madness.

I was just going to make this point. I think if Kennedy was healthy, Loyola wins the regular season. Yes, everyone can point to injuries, but I think that a healthy Loyola is better than every other team. Head and shoulders above everyone else? Probably not. But I'd still take them.

[Khan4Cats]

Yeah, sometime it's all about the matchups. I feel Drake matches up real well with Loyola....swept them in the regular season, but that was with DJ Wilkins. Bulldogs, for whatever reason, just don't match up well with Bradley. Hard to explain, because it's not like Bradley is necessarily better than Loyola.

I still stand by my original statement that Loyola is not unquestionably the best team in the league.

Drake’s second regular season win against Loyola was without Marquis Kennedy, it’s worth mentioning if you’re going to point out Wilkins being injured. I don’t necessarily think that Loyola is a more talented team than Drake but I know they’re a deeper team. Their depth gave them an advantage over every team in the Valley during Arch Madness.

I was just going to make this point. I think if Kennedy was healthy, Loyola wins the regular season. Yes, everyone can point to injuries, but I think that a healthy Loyola is better than every other team. Head and shoulders above everyone else? Probably not. But I'd still take them.

Throw UNI with a healthy Phyfe able to play more than 8 minutes a game and they become a lot tougher- and they did win the regular season even with that limitation. Everyone can play the what-if game.

I definitely thought that Kennedy back for Loyola and Wilkins out for Drake made a huge difference in the championship game. It seemed like Drake had no one able to shoot from outside except DeVries and he was constantly with Williamson or Uguak in his face. The drives of Hemphill, Sturtz, Penn, etc. were constantly clogged up by Loyola's ability to reach and disrupt dribbles and keep people in the lane due to few outside threats.