Early Report - At Large Bids Next March

by **NeutralObserver** » November 28th, 2011, 12:54 pm

At the tune of "I left my heart in San Francisco", it appears that Wichita State left their at large in Puerto Rico; probably not the Alabama loss but the Temple loss was a killer. Now Indiana State left their at large in Orlando; not necessarily an at large to be won there but for sure one can be & was lost there this weekend. Creighton would appear to be the only at large eligible alive and if things go as projected they won't need the at large to get in the field. Would be a real surprise if any other Valley team gets close to any consideration. Probably another one bid season ????????????

:Violin:

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by **MVCfans** » November 28th, 2011, 3:21 pm

The Valley is in much better shape this year than in the past couple of years and I expect more than one team to dance.

by **MSUDuo** » November 28th, 2011, 3:23 pm

I guess MO State being undefeated still keeps them from being alive for an at-large bid...

I say 3 teams Dance

by **SubGod22** » November 28th, 2011, 3:31 pm

I'd be surprised if we only got one team in. The Valley should be stronger this year which should help when it comes to games against top 100 RPI teams and overall strength. And there are still some good games to be played that can help the resume. I know WSU has a shot at UNLV which is a good one. Tulsa should be solid as well. Don't know what to think of USU. I'm sure MSU, CU and others still have some decent games on the schedule as well that can help lift the profile of the conference. But I'm not going to go too far one way or the other until the end of December when we can start to see where teams stand as far as records and RPI. We'll start to get a decent look around then.

by **Kip Dynamite** » November 28th, 2011, 3:35 pm

So your name is Nuetral Observer huh? And this is your first post? Big surprise from a probable BCS imbicile.

by **BirdmanBB** » November 28th, 2011, 3:45 pm

I think our backs are to the wall in terms of NCAA units to be shared amongst the valley. I think it was pointed out that the last of the money from the 05 runs will be ending this year. In this case, it is very important that the valley gets about 3 teams into the tourney and 1-2 of them win a couple.

I think it is still possible. Still plenty of non-conference games left to prove ourselves and I would say we are off to a much better start than last year regardless of WSU and Indiana St. Just need to keep winning to maintain our status as a top 5 RPI conference and hope the teams we beat win after losing to us.

by **Jays26** » November 28th, 2011, 3:48 pm

Nice first post! :lol:

Still a very very long way to go for all.

Is this Casey under another screen name?????????

by **glm38** » November 28th, 2011, 4:58 pm

Mr. "neutral observer" how would you possibly count MSU out? Based on an independent source our out of conference SOS was one of the higher in the Valley. And we've won all of our games to date. So that makes absolutely no sense?

And I think it's still too early to count out any of the MVC teams yet particularly WSU and Ind state.

I'd be interested to know if you really are a "neutral observer" or someone trolling and trying to stir things up.

by **BEARZ77** » November 28th, 2011, 5:08 pm

To me this year is going to expose whether the selection process has any integrity or not; most of us suspect it doesn't but this year may really expose that. The reason being is that the second level of BCS teams have had some truly embaarassing losses in the noncon this year, and many more non BCS teams have notched BCS scalps this year, and some big ones at that. I think it's going to be a tough sell this year for double digit Big East bids and for many of the other BCS leagues to go beyond 5-6 bids. There just isn't that much quality among the second level in those leagues. On the other hand, quite a few non BCS leagues are showing 2-3 teams that are doing enough in noncon that if they hold service in their leagues should garner at large bids. Long way to go yet in the noncon season, but right now it's shaping up to be a very volatile year when NCAA bid time comes around. Will be very interesting watching the paundits try to sell how a late season home conference win in a BCS league makes up for a drubbing they took in November on a neutral court.

by **FeartheQ** » November 28th, 2011, 5:15 pm

3 might be pushing it, but it certainly is possible.

The problem with the Valley is that it is the double round robin. Yes it is the perfect way to provide a champion, but looking at our competition out of conference we are playing 18 conference games to C-USA, A-10, and Mountain West's 16 games. We are beating up our own conference for 2 extra games.

I know SOS and RPI is huge, but when a mid major gets near the 8 to 10 loss range, they have to have some killer wins.

For the Valley to be successful this year 3 teams need to run away with the conference. we cannot have 3rd place teams losing 6 or 7 conference games and expect to make it, unless they are flawless in non conference.