games 11/29

[DUShock]

Well done Ramblers!

[mathewson10]

4-3 today

[Wufan]

Loyola salvages an otherwise abysmal evening for the league with an impressive wire to wire road win at Kent State. Easily their best win since joining the conference.

Congrats Ramblers.

I wouldn't call it abysmal by any stretch. MSU is bad right now, (as is Drake and Bradley which shouldn't be a surprise), yet MSU and BU almost pulled it off. Loyola surprised in the other direction. Great job Ramblers! A road win where Doyle didn't even score double figures (but he did have 7 boards and 7 assists).

[mathewson10]

Loyola salvages an otherwise abysmal evening for the league with an impressive wire to wire road win at Kent State. Easily their best win since joining the conference.

Congrats Ramblers.

I wouldn't call it abysmal by any stretch. MSU is bad right now, (as is Drake and Bradley which shouldn't be a surprise), yet MSU and BU almost pulled it off. Loyola surprised in the other direction. Great job Ramblers! A road win where Doyle didn't even score double figures (but he did have 7 boards and 7 assists).

I agree. Some ppl on the message board make every loss seem like it's the end of days.

[Play Angry]

Loyola salvages an otherwise abysmal evening for the league with an impressive wire to wire road win at Kent State. Easily their best win since joining the conference.

Congrats Ramblers.

I wouldn't call it abysmal by any stretch. MSU is bad right now, (as is Drake and Bradley which shouldn't be a surprise), yet MSU and BU almost pulled it off. Loyola surprised in the other direction. Great job Ramblers! A road win where Doyle didn't even score double figures (but he did have 7 boards and 7 assists).

Just because a team is "bad right now" doesn't make blowing 12 and 14 point second half leads less than disappointing. Those were not longshots- it is completely fair to hope for and expect a preseason mid-tier MVC team (MSU, with Marshall playing especially) to beat the preseason second-to-last team in a weak PAC-12. Similarly, a bottom of the MVC team (Bradley) against a bottom of the A-10 team (SLU) is a game which is at worst a toss-up in this league except in the very, very, very worst of years. I understand you are sugarcoating and hunting for the positive here, and I'm happy to pat Loyola (and others when appropriate) on the back for their good deed. But it is also fine to point out disappointments as well.

The sky isn't falling. The league is way down, however. We are all cheering for it to get back up again.

[mathewson10]

I think it was a known fact that the league was down once Creighton left. Were you expecting the league to get better when the top team left?

[DUShock]

I think it was a known fact that the league was down once Creighton left. Were you expecting the league to get better when the top team left?

Which team has generated more money for the Valley in the Dance, Creighton or Wichita State?

Edit: I am legitimately asking this question as I recall reading the Final Four run was a cash cow.

[Play Angry]

I expect the league to place 2 or more teams in the top 50 each season, along with an additional 3 or so in the top 100. The bottom of the league should not feature more than one 200+ team.

That was the norm for ~15 years even without factoring in Creighton's presence most seasons.

I guess it depends on what your goals are. If they are just to have nice seasons and win some games, then I am probably being too harsh. If the goal is for the MVC to be a multi-bid league every single season, year in and year out, then the standards above are right on target.

[Play Angry]

I think it was a known fact that the league was down once Creighton left. Were you expecting the league to get better when the top team left?

Which team has generated more money for the Valley in the Dance, Creighton or Wichita State?

Edit: I am legitimately asking this question as I recall reading the Final Four run was a cash cow.

I have a feeling it was a similar amount over the last 30 years, with WSU being a slightly larger earner. Creighton would have one more tournament "share" over that time frame, but WSU's are move heavily backloaded (at a time when the amounts were significantly larger than CU's string of one-and-done appearances in late 90s/early 00s).

[Wufan]

Loyola salvages an otherwise abysmal evening for the league with an impressive wire to wire road win at Kent State. Easily their best win since joining the conference.

Congrats Ramblers.

I wouldn't call it abysmal by any stretch. MSU is bad right now, (as is Drake and Bradley which shouldn't be a surprise), yet MSU and BU almost pulled it off. Loyola surprised in the other direction. Great job Ramblers! A road win where Doyle didn't even score double figures (but he did have 7 boards and 7 assists).

Just because a team is "bad right now" doesn't make blowing 12 and 14 point second half leads less than disappointing. Those were not longshots- it is completely fair to hope for and expect a preseason mid-tier MVC team (MSU, with Marshall playing especially) to beat the preseason second-to-last team in a weak PAC-12. Similarly, a bottom of the MVC team (Bradley) against a bottom of the A-10 team (SLU) is a game which is at worst a toss-up in this league except in the very, very, very worst of years. I understand you are sugarcoating and hunting for the positive here, and I'm happy to pat Loyola (and others when appropriate) on the back for their good deed. But it is also fine to point out disappointments as well.

The sky isn't falling. The league is way down, however. We are all cheering for it to get back up again.

I agree with all of this. The MSU and Bradley losses were disappointing. They were not, IMO, "abysmal". That said, what did you expect that the MVC record would be today? I honestly expected 3-4 with Illinois St, WSU, and SIU winning; maybe 4-3 with one other victory, and that's what happened. 5-2 would have been gangbusters to me with the teams playing today.

Thus far, this is how I see the league:

WSU- as expected

UNI-a little better than expected

UE-as expected with a chance to surprise in a positive way
ISUr-as expected and with a high ceiling

MSU-disappointing
SIU-slightly disappointing, but within reason

Loyola-slightly better than expected, but still not good
ISUb-disappointing
Bradley-disappointing, but with some potential

Drake-abysmal