Syracuse loses! Shox lone unbeaten

[SHOXMVC]

Wichita St is undefeated because the Shox are good and the teams they've played haven't been. It's lunacy to think about a dozen other teams wouldn't also be undefeated playing their schedule. As Goodman pointed out, their only "quality" win is really SLU. But look at SLU, they are highly ranked only because they also haven't played anyone worth a damn. It's sort of the perfect storm for WSU.

Does Syracuse go undefeated with WSU's schedule?

Probably yes. I'll go one further and say if Creighton was still in the Valley they would be undefeated and not Wichita St.

Thanks Gotlieb.

[Cdizzle]

But look at SLU, they are highly ranked only because they also haven't played anyone worth a damn.

They are 8-2 against the RPI Top100. Find a team ranked below them with a better Win%. Don't just spout something you heard on TV once.

[Valley_Fan]

What's really getting lost in the national discussion about WSU is that they are a REALLY good team. Disciplined, tough on defense, and attack the game as a team. It would almost be better to lose one and have people focus on the quality of the team as opposed to the schedule.

The schedule is what it is. They should be congratulated for beating all comers, but at the same time don't pretend the schedule does not matter. Shockers were on the receiving end last year of a team that had a weak schedule and got a high seed. They benefited because Gonzaga was not ready for the high-quality opponent they faced. Might be good for CU and WSU to scrimmage in March

[TheAsianSensation]

The St Louis argument is about to be invalid because their A-10 sked was backloaded.

They just had their first game with VCU; they host George Washington, return the VCU game in Richmond, play at Dayton, and host UMass in a 16 day span.

We'll find out just how good the win was for Wichita. It's quality either way, probably a signature win, but it could be a signature win with a bullet very soon.

[Play Angry]

The St Louis argument is about to be invalid because their A-10 sked was backloaded.

They just had their first game with VCU; they host George Washington, return the VCU game in Richmond, play at Dayton, and host UMass in a 16 day span.

We'll find out just how good the win was for Wichita. It's quality either way, probably a signature win, but it could be a signature win with a bullet very soon.

3 of SLU's last 6 games have been against Top 50 opponents, all wins. They've been in the brutal stretch of their schedule for a while now but the lazy and uninformed are still repeating the "they haven't played anyone" line from 3 weeks ago.

Also, their remaining game against Dayton is at home. They beat the Flyers on the road shortly after New Year's. The finale is also @ UMass, not in St. Louis.

[mvcfan]

Shockers were on the receiving end last year of a team that had a weak schedule and got a high seed. They benefited because Gonzaga was not ready for the high-quality opponent they faced.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhot ... magna.html

[Aargh]

I'll go one further and say if Creighton was still in the Valley they would be undefeated and not Wichita St.

So, if CU were in the MVC instead of the BE, CU would not have lost 2 OOC games? CU was 1-2 in their exempt tourney.

[rlh04d]

Wichita St is undefeated because the Shox are good and the teams they've played haven't been. It's lunacy to think about a dozen other teams wouldn't also be undefeated playing their schedule. As Goodman pointed out, their only "quality" win is really SLU. But look at SLU, they are highly ranked only because they also haven't played anyone worth a damn. It's sort of the perfect storm for WSU.

This is just dumb.

There are 340+ basketball programs in D1. WSU's schedule is ranked roughly 100th. WSU is closing in on one of the only undefeated regular seasons in D1 basketball history.

This isn't a historically bad schedule. It is a historically successful year. Thousands of teams have had worse records than WSU and failed to go undefeated.

[rlh04d]

I'll go one further and say if Creighton was still in the Valley they would be undefeated and not Wichita St.

So, if CU were in the MVC instead of the BE, CU would not have lost 2 OOC games? CU was 1-2 in their exempt tourney.

How is it even possible to be this stupid?

Oh, and Creighton's schedule strength over the last few years, compared to number of losses:

2013: 82nd, 7 losses.
2012: 98th, 5 losses.
2011: 132nd, 14 losses.
2010: 90th, 15 losses.
2009: 111th, 7 losses.
2008: 75th, 10 losses.

Creighton's schedule has been consistently comparable to what WSU's is this year, and they haven't come CLOSE to going undefeated even once during that time frame.

WSU's schedule isn't historically bad this year. The MVC schedule is, but WSU had a very strong nonconference schedule. Much stronger than Creighton's that they lost multiple games against.

It's hilarious how much WSU's success is bothering Creighton fans. Doug McDermott is an incredible player, the best in Creighton's history, and their team should be going through their best stretch in program history. And yet they still have a poor NCAA tournament record and are being completely eclipsed by WSU again and again.

[rlh04d]

WSU vs Top 75 RPI??? No one uses that metric. Why not top 50 or Top 100? And why not include losses in the conference tournament? I'm guessing a lot of those 50-75 RPI spot wins are over teams like Indiana St and UNI (no disrespect) while some of the others are losses to Top 25 level teams.

A stat like this is terribly misleading in my opinion. It's a creation someone used to make a point when a metric others would use wouldn't support their argument.

Here you go ... the records of WSU, seven other major programs, and Creighton over the last three years, on the road and at neutral sites, including post-season, against the top 25, 50, 75, and 100:

Louisville: 25: 10-8 55.6%
Syracuse: 25: 6-5 54.5%
UK: 25: 8-7 53.3%
WSU: 25: 4-4 50%
KU: 25: 11-11 50%
tOSU: 25: 9-11 45%
MSU: 25: 9-12 42.9%
Creighton: 25: 3-5 37.5%
UNC: 25: 4-13 23.5%


Syracuse: 50: 17-10 62.9%
Louisville: 50: 18-10 64.2%
Creighton: 50: 9-6 60%
KU: 50: 19-14 57.6%
WSU: 50: 8-6 57.1%
UK: 50: 11-9 55%
tOSU: 50: 14-14 50%
MSU: 50: 14-14 50%
UNC: 50: 9-14 39.1%


Louisville: 75: 23-11 67.6%
WSU: 75: 14-7 66.7%
Syracuse: 75: 20-11 64.5%
KU: 75: 20-15 57.1%
tOSU: 75: 17-15 53.1%
MSU: 75: 18-16 52.9%
Creighton: 75: 11-10 52.4%
UNC: 75: 15-14 51.7%
UK: 75: 13-13 50%


Louisville: 100: 25-11 69.4%
Syracuse: 100: 23-11 67.7%
WSU: 100: 16-10 61.5%
KU: 100: 21-15 58.3%
UK: 100: 19-14 57.6%
Creighton: 100: 16-12 57.1%
tOSU: 100: 20-16 55.6%
MSU: 100: 20-17 54%
UNC: 100: 17-15 53.1%

There's no bias there and nothing you can complain about. WSU's winning percentage on the road and at neutral sites against the best competition is consistently among the best in D1 basketball. Better than Creighton in all but one category, and in most cases right behind Louisville and Syracuse. This has nothing to do with conferences: WSU is simply performing at an elite level, even against the best competition.

Other takeaways: UNC has been terrible the last few years. MSU is over-rated. Louisville and Syracuse have been great.