MVC Power Rankings

[Ace Dad]

I would expect nothing less than a NIT bid but Itruly believe that Evansville will be in the NCAA at the end of this year.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you my case that sixth ace has consumed the entire supply of Purple Kool-Aid in Evansville.

That, and the fact that I have been forced to drink real grape juice tonight. In vino veritas.

Sixth Ace and McBulldog drank the whole jug of purple kool aid. McBulldog calls for the Aces to finish 2nd on another thread. I love my Aces, but I also try to face reality.

[valleychamp]

Here it is: Evansville didn't cost anyone a bid. If a second or third bid was not handed out, don't go blame someone else. Start by looking in the mirror. Unbelievable attitude, we don't get a bid so we are going to blame another team in our conference. Man up and take the blame!!!!!

You are right. And you are also wrong.

You have to realize this--There is a HUGE difference in losing to an Evansville team with an RPI in the 250's that went 5-7 in the non-conf, or losing to an Evansville team that went 10-2 in the non-conf with an RPI in the 50's.

While it is true that is your own fault if you lose a game, it is also true that losing to a team that did not perform well in the non-conf season can be pretty crushing (more so than it deserves to be). Do you realize that when a top 25 ranked UNI team lost at Evansville toward the end of the season in 2010 that some people thought a loss that bad could knock UNI out of the tournament altogether? Do you realize how incredibly frustrating that is???

The point is this: everybody loses conference games, especially on the road. Everybody. Its a simple fact of life in CBB. Those of us in the Valley know how tough these games are, regardless of how good the teams are. And we'd certainly rather have it be that a loss on the road to Evansville is a respectable loss to a team that has already proven itself against non-conf teams to go along with a respectable RPI, and not a NCAA tournament resume crushing loss.

[sixth ace]

You are right, Evansville is not to blame for winning those conference games, and the competition is exactly why the games are played. My point is simply the ugly reality of the situation. In. Mid major league, those "upsets" do a lot of damage. If Wake Forest stuns Duke, it is a great win for Wake and doesn't hurt Duke or anyone else. When EVille jells in late January, it punishes the Valley. It isn't fair, but life isn't fair. As a fan, I mentioned you would and should be excited, but at the same time, understand the damage that is done.

So,John, should Evansville take down a premier team as,y'all put it CU, UNI, WSU,ILS this year, then we should come in and apologize to the Valley that we were better on that particular night than the darlings were because we lost to Buffalo, that and our strength of schedule sucks at this time.

[Wufan]

You shouldn't apologize or feel bad for winning, ever! You should realize that it's a real pisser when you lose to Buffalo and then drag down a good teams RPI. All we want is for you to win your OOC games and not whine about how you aren't getting the respect you deserve. If you win you will get respect, but don't expect teams to pull for you as an underdog in Valley play if you totally choked your non-con.

[MoValley John]

You are right, Evansville is not to blame for winning those conference games, and the competition is exactly why the games are played. My point is simply the ugly reality of the situation. In. Mid major league, those "upsets" do a lot of damage. If Wake Forest stuns Duke, it is a great win for Wake and doesn't hurt Duke or anyone else. When EVille jells in late January, it punishes the Valley. It isn't fair, but life isn't fair. As a fan, I mentioned you would and should be excited, but at the same time, understand the damage that is done.

So,John, should Evansville take down a premier team as,y'all put it CU, UNI, WSU,ILS this year, then we should come in and apologize to the Valley that we were better on that particular night than the darlings were because we lost to Buffalo, that and our strength of schedule sucks at this time.

My simple answer is you just don't get it.

My long and hopefully good enough to get through to your grey matter is this:

Competition is competition and you should never apologize for a win. Fans should be excited with those wins, they should be happy for their team. My points go beyond the rah, rah, sis boom bah, go team go. My point goes to establishing this league above what its perception is now. Not the perception held by fans of the 10 Valley teams, but by fans and pundits, nationally
It is about growing the image, prestige and money of each and Evey school. Teams losing to Buffalo hurts allof that. Having low RPI teams upset the league leaders hurts all of that. Putting multiple teams in the tournament, helps. Getting good seeds helps. The NCAA pays out I believe for four years on each share of the nCAA tournament. Additional berths and wins in the tournament don't help every valley team for only one year, but four. And just as much, every bubble burst by these upsets hurts for four years as well.

Also, raising the perception, prestige and interest in the valley can only benefit individual schools ticket demand, prices, media contracts and licensed goods sales. The same goes with the league's TV contract. The current TV deal sucks, plain and simple. Two and three bids every year will raise the value of the league and allow for a better TV deal in the future. All of the additional revenue each school receives can be squandered or wisely used to build an even more competitive and valuable product.

In the end, nobody should feel apologetic for upsetting league leaders, it is fun and exciting. But at the same time, don't look for praise from others when your win damaged what some schools in this league are working diligently to build. You will find that a lost cause.

[DoubleJayAlum]

You are right. And you are also wrong.

You have to realize this--There is a HUGE difference in losing to an Evansville team with an RPI in the 250's that went 5-7 in the non-conf, or losing to an Evansville team that went 10-2 in the non-conf with an RPI in the 50's.

While it is true that is your own fault if you lose a game, it is also true that losing to a team that did not perform well in the non-conf season can be pretty crushing (more so than it deserves to be). Do you realize that when a top 25 ranked UNI team lost at Evansville toward the end of the season in 2010 that some people thought a loss that bad could knock UNI out of the tournament altogether? Do you realize how incredibly frustrating that is???

The point is this: everybody loses conference games, especially on the road. Everybody. Its a simple fact of life in CBB. Those of us in the Valley know how tough these games are, regardless of how good the teams are. And we'd certainly rather have it be that a loss on the road to Evansville is a respectable loss to a team that has already proven itself against non-conf teams to go along with a respectable RPI, and not a NCAA tournament resume crushing loss.

An excellent post. Well said.

[Aces1982]

Here it is: Evansville didn't cost anyone a bid. If a second or third bid was not handed out, don't go blame someone else. Start by looking in the mirror. Unbelievable attitude, we don't get a bid so we are going to blame another team in our conference. Man up and take the blame!!!!!

You are right. And you are also wrong.

You have to realize this--There is a HUGE difference in losing to an Evansville team with an RPI in the 250's that went 5-7 in the non-conf, or losing to an Evansville team that went 10-2 in the non-conf with an RPI in the 50's.

While it is true that is your own fault if you lose a game, it is also true that losing to a team that did not perform well in the non-conf season can be pretty crushing (more so than it deserves to be). Do you realize that when a top 25 ranked UNI team lost at Evansville toward the end of the season in 2010 that some people thought a loss [b]that bad could knock UNI out of the tournament altogether? Do you realize how incredibly frustrating that is???[/b]
The point is this: everybody loses conference games, especially on the road. Everybody. Its a simple fact of life in CBB. Those of us in the Valley know how tough these games are, regardless of how good the teams are. And we'd certainly rather have it be that a loss on the road to Evansville is a respectable loss to a team that has already proven itself against non-conf teams to go along with a respectable RPI, and not a NCAA tournament resume crushing loss.

All I can say is WIN the game then!! I would be way way more frustrated with my team then the team I lost to. Every mid major conference goes through that exact same thing. They know they must come ready to play every night in conference cause a loss will not look good to the selection committee. The only 2 things you can do is, win those games and then you won't have to blame the other team OR move to a big conference. And when that time comes, you become the "Evansville" of the big conference.

[Aces1982]

I don't think some of you understand. If it is not UE having a bad loss or low RPI it will be someone else. All conferences have top tier teams and lower tier teams. This is not unique to the MVC or UE. You don't think just because a bubble team is in the Big 10 and gets beat by another team at the bottom of the Big 10 it doesn't hurt them? You are wrong. All conferences have them, every single one. So instead of acting like whinny babies and complaining about them sucking except the game they beat you. Go out and beat the bad teams. If you are NCAA worthy that shouldn't be a problem.

[MoValley John]

Here it is: Evansville didn't cost anyone a bid. If a second or third bid was not handed out, don't go blame someone else. Start by looking in the mirror. Unbelievable attitude, we don't get a bid so we are going to blame another team in our conference. Man up and take the blame!!!!!

You are right. And you are also wrong.

You have to realize this--There is a HUGE difference in losing to an Evansville team with an RPI in the 250's that went 5-7 in the non-conf, or losing to an Evansville team that went 10-2 in the non-conf with an RPI in the 50's.

While it is true that is your own fault if you lose a game, it is also true that losing to a team that did not perform well in the non-conf season can be pretty crushing (more so than it deserves to be). Do you realize that when a top 25 ranked UNI team lost at Evansville toward the end of the season in 2010 that some people thought a loss [b]that bad could knock UNI out of the tournament altogether? Do you realize how incredibly frustrating that is???[/b]
The point is this: everybody loses conference games, especially on the road. Everybody. Its a simple fact of life in CBB. Those of us in the Valley know how tough these games are, regardless of how good the teams are. And we'd certainly rather have it be that a loss on the road to Evansville is a respectable loss to a team that has already proven itself against non-conf teams to go along with a respectable RPI, and not a NCAA tournament resume crushing loss.

All I can say is WIN the game then!! I would be way way more frustrated with my team then the team I lost to. Every mid major conference goes through that exact same thing. They know they must come ready to play every night in conference cause a loss will not look good to the selection committee. The only 2 things you can do is, win those games and then you won't have to blame the other team OR move to a big conference. And when that time comes, you become the "Evansville" of the big conference.

I guess if you want to discuss frustration, sure fans are frustrated with their team when they don't beat Evansville. And no, its not the Aces fault and Aces fans shouldn't feel apologetic about those wins. At the same time, other fans DO get frustrated when Evansville loses to freaking Buffalo! All the Aces did in that game was hurt everyone. And the fact that some Aces fans don't get it is very, very frustrating.

[pafan]

I don't think some of you understand. If it is not UE having a bad loss or low RPI it will be someone else. All conferences have top tier teams and lower tier teams. This is not unique to the MVC or UE.

You're good so far.

You don't think just because a bubble team is in the Big 10 and gets beat by another team at the bottom of the Big 10 it doesn't hurt them?

To use your example:
If you're Michigan State and you lose to Penn State, you fall from a #3 seed all the way to a #5. No big since the B1G is getting 7 bids anyway. When you're 24-2 UNI and lose to a 8-18 Bradley squad late in February, you fall from a #12 out of the field altogether.