Bears vs #6 Shockers 7pm Jan 11

[pafan]

Just for fun:

I ran a simulation with WSU losing 4 games:
@ InSU, vs. Evansville (couldn't resist ), @UNI, @Drake

I also gave InSU 9 losses, including all of their remaining road games, and home vs. Evansville ( ) and home vs. MSU. This put InSU in 6th.

The simulation says UNI would become the conference regular season champion at 14-4, by virtue of splitting with Wichita and having a better SOS.

Evansville, despite being gifted two somewhat unlikely road wins, had 5 wins and finished in 9th place.

For the record:
1. UNI (14-4)
2. WSU (14-4)
3. Drake (11-7)
4. MSU (10-8)
5. Ill. St (9-9)
6. In. St (9-9)
7. Bradley (7-11)
8. Loyola (7-11)
9. Evansville (5-13)
10. SIU (4-14)

I'll set the odds of this being the finishing order at 1:1000.

[Aargh]

Hey, FearDaTrees, InSU will get two of their games highlighted on ESPN SC this year - the 2 against WSU.

If your opinion actually mattered, I'm confident you would have a vote in one of the polls.

Rankings don't mean anything, well, except for getting your school's name in every media outlet, and getting all your games blasted across the national media, and impressing recruits.

Maybe WSU isn't actually a top-10 team. Right now, the coaches and a bunch of major sportswriters think WSU is a top-10 (probably top-5) team. Whether WSU is or is not "actually" a top-10 team is totally irrelevant.

Until March, it's all about perception. WSU is perceived to be a top-5 team in the nation. National media is speculating whether WSU can get a 1 seed in the Tourney coming out of the MVC.

[Player13]

Ignorant and unimformed? Wichita St was down 18 pts at halftime to a team that got destroyed by Loyola. If crowd noise was really that big of an issue, they may not be a top 20 team. If 10,000 people in Springfield gets them shook, what's gonna happen when 75% of a crowd of 20,000 is rooting against them in the first round? Shox lose 4 games before the big dance, book it.

Yes, ignorant and "unimformed".

Again, please give us your list of Top 10 teams so all of us fools can understand what a "great" basketball team looks ike.

[FearDaTrees]

1. Arizona
2. Syracuse
3. Wisconsin
4. Mich St
5. Villanova
6. Oklahoma St
7. Baylor
8. Florida
9. Iowa St
10. Pittsburgh

Wichita St at 12.

[AndShock]

Literally have a team that went to OT at home against Northwestern State. That game proves they suck and will lose 10 games in the Big XII

[PantherSigEp]

1. Arizona --only beat Drexel by 4
2. Syracuse--didn't beat St. Francis until the final minute of play
3. Wisconsin--outscored in the 2nd half and barely beat UWGB
4. Mich St--won by just 4 against sub .500 Oakland and lost by double digits to UNC. And not a good UNC team either
5. Villanova--only beat Delaware by 4 and needed OT against Butler
6. Oklahoma St--lost to K-State and Memphis, beat Butler and West Virginia by a combined 3 pts
7. Baylor-- 5 pts over Charleston Southern, 2 pts over South Carolina, 1 pt over Dayton and took a beat down in Ames to Iowa State.
8. Florida--only beat Arkansas by 2 pts
9. Iowa St--beat BYU and Boise St by only 6 combined pts, needed OT to beat UNI
10. Pittsburgh--didn't even score 45 pts in a loss to Cincy. I mean, I'm a UNI, Ben Jacobson control-the-pace-slow-it-way-down fan and that's pathetic

Wichita St at 12.

[jturner38]

As a indiana state fan, even I am wondering what was the point of that post. Wichita st deserves all the rewards they are getting. To say they dont is mind blowing to me, while they made not seem like a top 10 team..the fact is they are. They are undefeated, not the best of schedule but do you think a Ohio st or Gonzaga wants to play them again? No. I would not be so cocky bc Indy state while we are winning games and clearly look like the 2nd best team which I think we are, UNI is right behind us so we could easily get passed. If you want to point out about the game for Wichita st then Wichita st fans can point out our game against Bradley. Bottom line is GOOD teams find a way to win even when they play bad or shots arent falling. That was the case for both teams. So before you try to downplay the shockers better have good facts. Im all for compettive trash talk but think about what you say otherwise someone is gonna make you sound stupid. Now with that said I hope Ind st beats missouri st and Wichita st beats bradley so the showdown Saturday will be the battle of first place. My mouth is drooling with excitment. The MVC best offensive team vs The MVC best defensive team.

[Cdizzle]

1. Arizona --only beat Drexel by 4
2. Syracuse--didn't beat St. Francis until the final minute of play
3. Wisconsin--outscored in the 2nd half and barely beat UWGB
4. Mich St--won by just 4 against sub .500 Oakland and lost by double digits to UNC. And not a good UNC team either
5. Villanova--only beat Delaware by 4 and needed OT against Butler
6. Oklahoma St--lost to K-State and Memphis, beat Butler and West Virginia by a combined 3 pts
7. Baylor-- 5 pts over Charleston Southern, 2 pts over South Carolina, 1 pt over Dayton and took a beat down in Ames to Iowa State.
8. Florida--only beat Arkansas by 2 pts
9. Iowa St--beat BYU and Boise St by only 6 combined pts, needed OT to beat UNI
10. Pittsburgh--didn't even score 45 pts in a loss to Cincy. I mean, I'm a UNI, Ben Jacobson control-the-pace-slow-it-way-down fan and that's pathetic

Wichita St at 12.

Thank you. Glad to see this sort of thing from a non-WSU fan. Top 10 teams do not play Top 10 basketball every minute of every game. But they usually average out to a lot of good minutes, and often the "bad" minutes aren't as bad. If a viewer tuned in to the MSU-WSU game, they saw a Top 50 WSU team get shellacked by a Top 15 MSU team in the first half. Then they saw a Top 5 WSU team come back and beat a Top 50 MSU team in the second half and overtime. And before you jump on "Top 5 WSU team," take your right hand and count the number of teams that would overcome a 19-point deficit on the road, in 11 minutes. If your hand is full before you get to WSU, I'd be surprised.

At some point, a team earns the benefit of the doubt. Especially after a WIN. For some people, that point hasn't been reached yet re: WSU. I don't really understand that, but they are entitled to that opinion. PantherSE does a good job of pointing out the inconsistency in evaluation of what constitutes a "Top 10 team."

In an unrelated note to the above; MSU, please, for the love of Pete, bring a crowd and team half as impressive as that performance to every game. You would not lose again at home. I was extremely impressed with the MSU crowd, and the MSU talent. I am excited that so much of that talent is young talent. As a WSU fan, a team that plays a fun brand of basketball, can pull in 10k fans, and can contend for the league title, is a team I can get excited about having on the schedule 2-3 times a year.

[KC MVC FAN]

1. Arizona --only beat Drexel by 4
2. Syracuse--didn't beat St. Francis until the final minute of play
3. Wisconsin--outscored in the 2nd half and barely beat UWGB
4. Mich St--won by just 4 against sub .500 Oakland and lost by double digits to UNC. And not a good UNC team either
5. Villanova--only beat Delaware by 4 and needed OT against Butler
6. Oklahoma St--lost to K-State and Memphis, beat Butler and West Virginia by a combined 3 pts
7. Baylor-- 5 pts over Charleston Southern, 2 pts over South Carolina, 1 pt over Dayton and took a beat down in Ames to Iowa State.
8. Florida--only beat Arkansas by 2 pts
9. Iowa St--beat BYU and Boise St by only 6 combined pts, needed OT to beat UNI
10. Pittsburgh--didn't even score 45 pts in a loss to Cincy. I mean, I'm a UNI, Ben Jacobson control-the-pace-slow-it-way-down fan and that's pathetic

Wichita St at 12.

So what does this prove? You are cherry picking. If I looked at all of the top 10's schedule would find some good scores against some good teams, maybe even some beat downs, some close scores or losses to weaker teams. But, over a season, year after year, these teams play a much tougher schedule than mid majors . Can't support your using one game(s) as an example. ACC, Big 10, Big 12, etc. can be down, but their schedules, especially in conference, are tough every year. Plus, when they are down, relative to what---last year, 5 years ago, etc. How many times, how often, and what were the seeds of each of these top 10 teams to the NCAA TX-relative to how many times, frequency and seeds at the NCAA TX by mid majors (including MVC teams).

Get real!!

[Cdizzle]

1. Arizona --only beat Drexel by 4
2. Syracuse--didn't beat St. Francis until the final minute of play
3. Wisconsin--outscored in the 2nd half and barely beat UWGB
4. Mich St--won by just 4 against sub .500 Oakland and lost by double digits to UNC. And not a good UNC team either
5. Villanova--only beat Delaware by 4 and needed OT against Butler
6. Oklahoma St--lost to K-State and Memphis, beat Butler and West Virginia by a combined 3 pts
7. Baylor-- 5 pts over Charleston Southern, 2 pts over South Carolina, 1 pt over Dayton and took a beat down in Ames to Iowa State.
8. Florida--only beat Arkansas by 2 pts
9. Iowa St--beat BYU and Boise St by only 6 combined pts, needed OT to beat UNI
10. Pittsburgh--didn't even score 45 pts in a loss to Cincy. I mean, I'm a UNI, Ben Jacobson control-the-pace-slow-it-way-down fan and that's pathetic

Wichita St at 12.

So what does this prove?

It very well proves the point that he was trying to make.....that WSU is no worse than these teams, based on current results.

Near as I can tell, you didn't have a point, other than you are a BCS toolbag.