Wichita State #16 in USA Today preseason poll

[Wufan]

Looking at the post season success of the Big East schools got me thinking about the MVC. Who has a final 4 or better?

WSU has 2.
Loyola has a National Championship
ISUb has a runner-up
Bradley has how many?
Drake?
Anyone else?

[Valley_Fan]

The Big East is a Major because the collective RPI will make it one. 9 of the 10 teams will finish in the top 100, which will mean it will trail only the big 10 and acc.

This is why the mvc needs to get back to its scheduling mandate. Spend two or three years taking the one-and-dones and getting 9 or 10 schools in top 150, much less the top 100 will allow the mvc to make progress. That is the only way it improves it's media deals.

[shoxrox]

I guess I really don't care what he does. Seems to be the norm around here now. Just found it comical that he suggests that CU is obsessed with WSU all the while he's responding left and right them.

Back to the topic at hand, we can't say whether the Big East is major or not this year. They certainly have teams/schools with firepower. Georgetown and Villanova have titles. We know about Butler, Xavier, and Marquette and their runs of recent success. Only CU and Marquette don't have a Final Four among the Big East teams.

Could they very well fall behind without the football money coming in? Sure. But only time will tell.

I expect Georgetown, Villanova, Butler, Xavier, CU, and Marquette to continue their success and separate themselves from the rest

Apparently you do care, as you continue responding about me left and right.

The only reason I'm talking about them is because there are about 3 or 4 CU posters who come here and can't seem to let the Valley go. I don't blame them.

I assume you farted out your last sentence of your second paragraph and meant Xavier, instead of Marquette?

How many Big East teams have never been to a Sweet 16 or Elite 8?

Butler is going to struggle now that Stevens has moved on. Xavier is in iffy territory. And CU will be heading downward after Dougie graduates. Daddy McD has already proven he can't handle "tougher" leagues and its recruiting. CU is an outlier in that conference in more than several ways. Their basketball program will struggle, as well as their entire athletic program. Guess we'll see.

[shoxrox]

The Big East is a Major because the collective RPI will make it one. 9 of the 10 teams will finish in the top 100, which will mean it will trail only the big 10 and acc.

This is why the mvc needs to get back to its scheduling mandate. Spend two or three years taking the one-and-dones and getting 9 or 10 schools in top 150, much less the top 100 will allow the mvc to make progress. That is the only way it improves it's media deals.

They. Are. Still. Here.

The Valley's collective RPI had been Top 6 consistently for several years. Guess we were major too. Mountain West is by far a major then. Using arbitrary numbers to try and make point is stupid. And how the hell do you know that 9 of 10 teams will finish in the Top 100 RPI?

You're really grasping, which is what straggling CU fans have been doing here since they supposedly "left". Hard to tell that they "left".

[Valley_Fan]

The Big East is a Major because the collective RPI will make it one. 9 of the 10 teams will finish in the top 100, which will mean it will trail only the big 10 and acc.

This is why the mvc needs to get back to its scheduling mandate. Spend two or three years taking the one-and-dones and getting 9 or 10 schools in top 150, much less the top 100 will allow the mvc to make progress. That is the only way it improves it's media deals.

They. Are. Still. Here.

The Valley's collective RPI had been Top 6 consistently for several years. Guess we were major too. Mountain West is by far a major then. Using arbitrary numbers to try and make point is stupid. And how the hell do you know that 9 of 10 teams will finish in the Top 100 RPI?

You're really grasping, which is what straggling CU fans have been doing here since they supposedly "left". Hard to tell that they "left".

I keep trying to bring the conversation back to the mvc and you keep trying to be a prick. Which one of us is the problem here?

mVC will not be top 6 this year. What part of my post about getting back there was a bad idea?

[iSASO]

Asked Gregg Marshall last night about the ranking. While he said it doesn't matter, he also said the team is preparing and embracing the target on their backs each and every night.

[TheAsianSensation]

How exactly is it major? Because it's still called the "Big East"? Because it got a tv contract made through a fringe network that nobody watches and isn't even on anybody's radar? Because they're private institutions?

Georgetown and Marquette are major programs that carry a lot of weight, but that's about it. Marquette is the only one recently that really has contributed anything meaningful in the NCAA's. Butler is there, but they're falling fast I think.

They are a decent league but not a major one. They've lost too much and didn't acquire nearly enough to compensate the losses.

Sorry.

A pretty big part of being "major" is money and revenue. And fact is, they got a big fat TV contract. It may be on a fringe network, but that money is money. (FS1 may be fringe now, but I think they'll be better in 5 years. But that's another debate for another day, and time will tell)

The teams are in a down cycle in the Big East, I'll admit that. But things cycle. Pac-12 just spent a couple years as god-awful and they're on the way back. B1G is cycling up. SEC is cycling down. This is still a league with power (everyone's forgetting about Xavier because they're in a down cycle, but look at their run the last decade or so).

I see nothing in the way of this conference producing 2 or 3 national championship contenders per year.

The Big East is a Major because the collective RPI will make it one. 9 of the 10 teams will finish in the top 100, which will mean it will trail only the big 10 and acc.

That's an argument I wanted to make too, but then again, the Mountain West was the #2 conference in the country last year.

That said, they will have a sterling RPI. People think the floor of the Big East are a bunch of bad RPI 250 teams. The real floor is more like 150.

[ihsi]

Sorry, I could care less about the Big East and probably most here feel the same way.

Your constant posting about the Big East and your signature would indicate otherwise.

[shoxrox]

Sorry, I could care less about the Big East and probably most here feel the same way.

Your constant posting about the Big East and your signature would indicate otherwise.

Posting does not equal caring. I just needed to set the record straight. If the Creightons like you weren't still coming here and continuing it further, I'm sure it would subside. Guess they need their Valley fix. But if their are fallacies to correct, I'll be sure to do so. It doesn't effect my care level about the Big East though.

As for my signature, it's there to piss off any lurking Creighton fans that still come here to stroke their egos. It worked because it got you here to log in and complain about it.

[JayPak]

People think the floor of the Big East are a bunch of bad RPI 250 teams. The real floor is more like 150.

I went away for 5 days and am surprised to return and find folks still discussing The Big East as though I'd never left. (Thanks, shoxrox!)

TheAsianSensation makes a great point... what makes a major conference isn't just the # of teams in the Top 25 or NCAA Tournament, but the RPI strength provided by the bottom of a conference.

Take a look at the 3 major Fall sports and notice the difference between the MVC and the BE. That's why Valley_Fan is exactly right about the need for an MVC scheduling mandate and why replacing the 56% of RPI games lost is so important for the Valley. Without a scheduling mandate in basketball, the Valley is headed at best for a huge gap between haves and have-nots (as in volleyball), or at worst for mediocrity (as in women's soccer).

In volleyball, Big East RPI's are holding steady. In contrast, while a few Valley teams rose slightly, the 4 top Valley teams keep getting knocked down whenever they play one of the league's 3 sub-200 teams. The gap between volleyball haves and have-nots in the MVC has become a chasm. I suspect it's something we will see in future years in all Valley sports.

Volleyball RPI as of Oct. 14

1. Creighton (7 in RPI) vs. Wichita St. (49)
2. Marquette (21) vs. ISUred (57)
3. Butler (44) vs. Missouri St. (73)
4. Xavier (60) vs. Northern Iowa (80)
5. Villanova (124) vs. Southern Illinois (150)
6. Seton Hall (129) vs. Loyola (176)
7. DePaul (133) vs. Bradley (198)
8. St. John's (147) vs. Evansville (234)
9. Georgetown (167) vs. ISUblue (268)
10. No Big East team (Providence plays vb in America East Conference) vs. Drake (298)

Median RPI -- Big East 124, MVC 163
Average RPI -- Big East 92, MVC 158
Top 100 teams -- Big East 4, MVC 4

In men's soccer, the Valley has improved in recent weeks, but still looks like a 1-bid conference. Competitive balance is stronger than volleyball. The Big East looks strong for 5-6 bids, and is likewise balanced.

Men's Soccer RPI, as of Oct. 14

1. Creighton (1 in RPI) vs. Drake (45)
2. St. John's (10) vs. Missouri St. (83)
3. Butler (15) vs. Evansville (90)
4. Georgetown (18) vs. Bradley (92)
5. Marquette (31) vs. Central Arkansas (105)
6. Xavier (76) vs. SIU-Edwardsville (119)
7. DePaul (77) vs. Loyola (168)
8. Providence (79) vs. No MVC team
9. Villanova (114) vs. No MVC team
10. Seton Hall (117) vs. No MVC team

Median RPI -- Big East 48, MVC 92
Average RPI -- Big East 54, MVC 100
Top 100 teams -- Big East 8, MVC 4

Women's soccer in the Big East has 8 top-100 teams and great balance throughout. On the other hand, the MVC is simply dreadful! Illinois St. is the only decent program and, if they manage to win the conference tournament, have no hope of a decent NCAA draw due to the ineptitude of their conference mates.

Women's Soccer RPI, as of Oct. 14

1. Marquette (4 in RPI) vs. ISUred (103)
2. Georgetown (6) vs. Evansville (189)
3. St. John's (55) vs. Loyola (193)
4. DePaul (56) vs. Missouri St. (203)
5. Villanova (70) vs. ISUblue (219)
6. Butler (82) vs. Drake (288)
7. Creighton (97) vs. Northern Iowa (314)
8. Xavier (98) vs. No MVC team
9. Seton Hall (114) vs. No MVC team
10. Providence (150) vs. No MVC team

Median RPI -- Big East 76, MVC 203
Average RPI -- Big East 73, MVC 215
Top 100 teams -- Big East 8, MVC 0