MVC Preseason Poll

[Kyle]

I'm a little surprised that people regard Indiana State so much higher than UNI. Odum is good no question, but I really think UNI can make a run at a tourney bid.

Do you mean an at large bid? What do you think it will take to be in the mix for an at large?

I'll be honest, I feel WSU has to be a MINIMUM 8-3 non-con, 15-3 Valley & 2-1 St Louis. That's 25-7 and a bubble team. It's the right side of the bubble hopefully, but bubble for sure.

How does UNI get to those numbers, or whatever number you think it will take, just curious.

Don't be silly. If WSU finishes 25-7 (15-3), they will be a 7 seed or better and ranked in the top 25.

For UNI to get an at large bid we need 8-2 non-con with a win over either #14 VCU or #24 UV, 14-4 MVC, and 2 wins in St. Louis. This = 24-6 and puts us solidly in. 23-5 puts us on the bubble. Anything over 20 wins = NIT.

I'm not predicting UNI will be a NCAA tourney team, but this is what we need to accomplish to become one.

[Wufan]

I'm a little surprised that people regard Indiana State so much higher than UNI. Odum is good no question, but I really think UNI can make a run at a tourney bid.

Do you mean an at large bid? What do you think it will take to be in the mix for an at large?

I'll be honest, I feel WSU has to be a MINIMUM 8-3 non-con, 15-3 Valley & 2-1 St Louis. That's 25-7 and a bubble team. It's the right side of the bubble hopefully, but bubble for sure.

How does UNI get to those numbers, or whatever number you think it will take, just curious.

Don't be silly. If WSU finishes 25-7 (15-3), they will be a 7 seed or better and ranked in the top 25.

For UNI to get an at large bid we need 8-2 non-con with a win over either #14 VCU or #24 UV, 14-4 MVC, and 2 wins in St. Louis. This = 24-6 and puts us solidly in. 23-5 puts us on the bubble. Anything over 20 wins = NIT.

I'm not predicting UNI will be a NCAA tourney team, but this is what we need to accomplish to become one.

In 2011 WSU was 24-8 and in the NIT.

In 2010 WSU was 25-9 and in the NIT.

UNI has not received an at-large in some time. I'm not sure you realize just how good you have to be if you don't win in St. Louis.

Also, your record hypothetical puts you at 24-7 (because if you win two in St. Louis you have to lose one). I think 14-4 would be difficult. We were 14-4 in 2011 and still went to the NIT.

[mvcfan]

This statement is the key to an at-large for UNI. If either of these two teams is a win and if that team continues to win big games, it will help UNI. UV has a lot of opportunities for big wins in their conference.

win over either #14 VCU or #24 UV, 14-4 MVC,

[Kyle]

In 2011 WSU was 24-8 and in the NIT.

In 2010 WSU was 25-9 and in the NIT.

UNI has not received an at-large in some time. I'm not sure you realize just how good you have to be if you don't win in St. Louis.

Also, your record hypothetical puts you at 24-7 (because if you win two in St. Louis you have to lose one). I think 14-4 would be difficult. We were 14-4 in 2011 and still went to the NIT.

Our non-conf schedule is pretty good this year. We will play 3-4 BCS teams (depending on how things shake out in the Paradise Jam) and at least 2 teams ranked in the top 25.

The big knock on the 10' and 11' WSU teams was the lack of a signature OOC win and one or two really bad 200+ RPI losses. This is why UNI not only needs to go 8-2, but also knock off #16 VCU or #24 UV. A win against ISU, Vanderbilt, or Maryland will also be a nice resume boost.

It's really pointless to argue what it will take, because I don't think UNI has a legit shot to finish the year anywhere close to 24-7. We are too young and inexperienced.

[CBB_Fan]

It will be very hard for the Valley to get two teams (or more) into the dance this season. To do so, UNI and Illinois State would need to either really show their stuff in their OOC and dominate teams 4-10 in the Valley or win the tournament.

The second one is far more likely, and it is something everyone in the Valley has to realize. It may take 26 or 27 wins to have a tournament level RPI, and even Wichita State isn't a lock. It is quite possible that we'll get to the tournament and only the winner will go.

[Kyle]

It's all up to the individual teams and how well they preform in the non-conference. Every year a handful of MVC teams put together a non-conference schedule good enough to garner an at large bid. The fact of the matter is nearly all of those teams just haven't performed well enough the past few years.

One thing about the valley this year is the bottom of the conference should be stronger. I don't anticipate two teams heading into conference play with 300+ RPI's like we had last year. Obviously trading CU for Loyola is a big loss, but eliminating these "RPI crushers" will be a huge IMO.

[Wufan]

One thing about the valley this year is the bottom of the conference should be stronger. I don't anticipate two teams heading into conference play with 300+ RPI's like we had last year. Obviously trading CU for Loyola is a big loss, but eliminating these "RPI crushers" will be a huge IMO.

I think we will see three teams in the mid 250s and I think the middle of the conference will be weaker. No CU means the top is weaker too.

[2livewu]

Agreed that we don't have anyone as good as Kwadzo or Kock, but Tuttle is much better than Jordan was. Jordan was big, but he was slow, uncoordinated, and generally not very skilled.

We'll play Saturday, at least, in St Louis.

Either I am not getting your sarcasm or you don't know anything about basketball. Tuttle isn't anywhere near Jordan. Jordan commanded double teams and was a defensive monster. You had to account for him on both ends of the court and mistakes were critical. Tuttle is a versatile player, but he's nothing compared to JE.

I'm hoping that was a poorly executed joke.

[Khan4Cats]

I'm a little surprised that people regard Indiana State so much higher than UNI. Odum is good no question, but I really think UNI can make a run at a tourney bid.

Do you mean an at large bid? What do you think it will take to be in the mix for an at large?

I'll be honest, I feel WSU has to be a MINIMUM 8-3 non-con, 15-3 Valley & 2-1 St Louis. That's 25-7 and a bubble team. It's the right side of the bubble hopefully, but bubble for sure.

How does UNI get to those numbers, or whatever number you think it will take, just curious.

Don't be silly. If WSU finishes 25-7 (15-3), they will be a 7 seed or better and ranked in the top 25.

For UNI to get an at large bid we need 8-2 non-con with a win over either #14 VCU or #24 UV, 14-4 MVC, and 2 wins in St. Louis. This = 24-6 and puts us solidly in. 23-5 puts us on the bubble. Anything over 20 wins = NIT.

I'm not predicting UNI will be a NCAA tourney team, but this is what we need to accomplish to become one.

UNI needs to be better than 8-2 since we play 12 non-conference games. Throw out the Coe D-III game and we have 11. 8-3 may give us something if the losses are VCU, UVA and another power conference team, I am just not sure some of the other non-con teams will be strong enough to warrant 'wows' come selection time.

I think we need to pick off VCU or UVA and then hope they still have good seasons and anyone who beats us turns out to be better than expected. Unfortunately I don't see Milwaukee or LMU being any good at all so we can't afford losses there, Savannah State, Iona, or George Mason as being so-so but not really good enough to garner votes which make those nearly must-win games for resume purposes. That leaves Iowa State and Ohio on the schedule as teams we could lose to as long as they perform better than expected, with Maryland (and maybe LaSalle and Vanderbilt) as possible at the Paradise Jam.

Unless we go 14-4 or better in conference, there isn't a lot of wiggle room this year. Not impossible, we could run the table non-conference, but I just don't see it with the new faces, the number of road/neutral games, etc.

Oh wait, this is the time of year for optimism. I just read how Illinois State is going undefeated...

[BCPanther]

Agreed that we don't have anyone as good as Kwadzo or Kock, but Tuttle is much better than Jordan was. Jordan was big, but he was slow, uncoordinated, and generally not very skilled.

We'll play Saturday, at least, in St Louis.

Either I am not getting your sarcasm or you don't know anything about basketball. Tuttle isn't anywhere near Jordan. Jordan commanded double teams and was a defensive monster. You had to account for him on both ends of the court and mistakes were critical. Tuttle is a versatile player, but he's nothing compared to JE.

I'm hoping that was a poorly executed joke.

Jordan was like that for exactly 3 months of his career here. Maybe the perception is different from the outside, but Jordan, while a big part of our run, wasn't really a great player. Hell, most of the time in crunch time it was Koch and O'Rear on the floor. In the stretch run against Kansas it was the Koch Brothers, and Jake was a skinny RS Freshman at the time...