The Case for Indiana St

[DoubleJayAlum]

I find Indiana St to be one of the most intriguing stories so far this year.

What I'd like to do is start a discussion on what they need to do, short of winning the MVC tourney, to get into the dance.

Present metrics:
Present D1 Record: 9-5 (3-3 on the road)
SOS: 12 (Best in the MVC)
RPI: 26 (third in the MVC)
Notable wins: Miami (RPI-7; the best win in the conference this year); Ole Miss (RPI - 44)
Bad Loss: @Morehead St (RPI-225) (Note: this was on the road, limiting the "badness" slightly)
Close losses: New Mexico (RPI-9); San Diego St (RPI-46)
Other losses: @UCLA by 27; @Creighton by 13

If INS ends the year at 14-4 in the MVC and gets a win at bracketbuster are they in? What if those four losses are all to CU and WSU? Do they need to advance to the MVC tourney final?

A couple of important points:
1) The Morehead St loss really, really hurts.
2) The MVC slate is really going to drag down INS' SOS. It is very possible that the overall weakness in the conference outside of the top 3 teams could be the single greatest reason why INS wouldn't get a bid.
3) Remember that the field is now 68, not 65 teams. Those extra 3 places could be really important for INS.
4) If INS can keep its RPI under 50, it really helps the resume of CU and WSU.

Thoughts?

[kochhead22]

I think if they are able to go 14-4 and MAYBE 13-5 in the conference and at least make it to a Saturday game in the conference tourney and win their bracket buster game they'll be close to an at large, i think it will come down to what happens in some of the other leagues and who wins their tourney conferences. Can't really afford any bad losses in conference play.

[MoValley John]

Indiana State is good. That said, I don't see them finishing first or second. Short of winning in St. Louis, they are NIT bound. Sycamore fans will find out fist hand what it feels like putting together an NCAA worthy team, only to get shut out because the league sucks. After this year, Trees fans may have some sympathy for what has been pissing off Shocker and Bluejay fans for years. And when they complain, they will hear the old, tired adage, "You should have won one more game."

Frustrating.

[jaybydna]

I don't think Morehead State hurts on its own. Everyone can stumble. But combined with any MVC loss outside of CU or WSU then you have 2 bad losses instead of 1. Any other loss will drop them 20 spots in the RPI. However, a win or two over CU/WSU and they have a little more room for error.

They got a shot.

[havoc]

Indiana State is good. That said, I don't see them finishing first or second. Short of winning in St. Louis, they are NIT bound. Sycamore fans will find out fist hand what it feels like putting together an NCAA worthy team, only to get shut out because the league sucks. After this year, Trees fans may have some sympathy for what has been pissing off Shocker and Bluejay fans for years. And when they complain, they will hear the old, tired adage, "You should have won one more game."

Frustrating.

Please tell us what years CU or WSU have put together an NCAA worthy team only to be brought down by the lowly MVC.

[MoValley John]

Indiana State is good. That said, I don't see them finishing first or second. Short of winning in St. Louis, they are NIT bound. Sycamore fans will find out fist hand what it feels like putting together an NCAA worthy team, only to get shut out because the league sucks. After this year, Trees fans may have some sympathy for what has been pissing off Shocker and Bluejay fans for years. And when they complain, they will hear the old, tired adage, "You should have won one more game."

Frustrating.

Please tell us what years CU or WSU have put together an NCAA worthy team only to be brought down by the lowly MVC.

Top of my head, Wichita State two years ago and Creighton four. Two years ago, Wichita State finished second to Missouri State and both Missouri State and Wichita State were left out as Indiana State won in St Louis. Four years ago, Creighton tied UNI for the regular season, but was beaten by Illinois State in the second round in St. Louis. There are three recent examples of bubble or better teams left out based on conference strength.

[jaybydna]

Indiana State is good. That said, I don't see them finishing first or second. Short of winning in St. Louis, they are NIT bound. Sycamore fans will find out fist hand what it feels like putting together an NCAA worthy team, only to get shut out because the league sucks. After this year, Trees fans may have some sympathy for what has been pissing off Shocker and Bluejay fans for years. And when they complain, they will hear the old, tired adage, "You should have won one more game."

Frustrating.

Please tell us what years CU or WSU have put together an NCAA worthy team only to be brought down by the lowly MVC.

29-win Creighton in 2011

[MoValley John]

And for all three, the retort will be, "win one more game." They all won 20+.

[MoValley John]

Indiana State is good. That said, I don't see them finishing first or second. Short of winning in St. Louis, they are NIT bound. Sycamore fans will find out fist hand what it feels like putting together an NCAA worthy team, only to get shut out because the league sucks. After this year, Trees fans may have some sympathy for what has been pissing off Shocker and Bluejay fans for years. And when they complain, they will hear the old, tired adage, "You should have won one more game."

Frustrating.

Please tell us what years CU or WSU have put together an NCAA worthy team only to be brought down by the lowly MVC.

29-win Creighton in 2011

That makes four examples in less than five years. It's not the teams but the perception of the league.

[shockem]

InSU needs to swepp the remaining conference games (outisde of WSU and CU) and make it to the championship in St.Louis to have a shot. If they win 1 or 2 against WSU/CU I think they have a good shot, but they can't screw up the other games.