#12 Wichita State @ #18 Northern Iowa, 3 PM Saturday, ESPN2

[PantherSigEp]

So....does UNI leap over SHOX, in the national polls?

I would think so.

Perhaps not.
I was looking over the polling.
Many schools, losing to other schools also ranked didn't move ahead of them afterwards
IU didn't move past Maryland
Neither did Georgetown over 'Nova.
Guess, it'll all might depend on name recognition, to many of the voting members?

Good point. The biggest factor is how many points separated the Shox and Panthers. #12 and #18 might not seem like a lot but I wouldn't be surprised if Wichita had at least 2x as many points in the polls as UNI did. I have noticed a lot of teams in the #10-20 range stumbled at least once this week. UNI should be sitting pretty on Monday Hopefully a nice 2-3 spot bump? That might be optimistic.

[rlh04d]

So....does UNI leap over SHOX, in the national polls?

Obviously.

Probably but I'd be surprised if they moved UNI up that much. I'm more worried about how much the Shox will be penalized. A big win for the Panthers feels great at the moment but I doubt our "reward" out-weighs Wichita's "penalty" in any sense of the word. It does help that the Shox have built up plenty of credibility over the past few seasons.

Look at the scores around right now.

Teams between WSU and UNI: VCU lost today by 9 at home. Maryland lost @Ohio State by 24. West Virginia didn't beat anyone that mattered, Iowa State beat Texas. UNC currently in OT against Louisville.

Teams behind UNI: Texas has lost two in a row and are currently down by 14 to Baylor. Baylor lost by 11 @OKSt. Georgetown lost to Xavier by 13. Indiana lost @Purdue by 18. Miami lost at home to GT by 20. Oklahoma hasn't beat anyone worthwhile. Butler is the only team behind UNI with a good week.

IMO, it'd be difficult to justify not moving up UNI at LEAST over VCU, Maryland, and WSU. Meanwhile, there aren't many teams you could definitely push past WSU: UNI, Iowa State, maybe West Virginia, UNC if they win here. Maybe Butler, if you rocket them out of the #25 spot.

Voters are definitely capable of overly punishing any Valley team, but WSU lost on the road to a ranked team, and only six teams behind them (of 13) didn't lose this week, and two of those beat pretty bad teams to do so.

UNI has room to move up and WSU shouldn't be overly punished.

IMO, UNI #14, WSU #18.

*EDIT: Looks like UNC will lose in OT to Louisville. Could still see them being ranked over UNI, though.

[Kyle]

That was a good ol fashion butt whoopin. I'm not going to claim the torch has been passed, but it's obvious the Shockers finally have a challenger for the valley title.

[COUTEAU]

I predict positions 14 & 15.
Parts interchangeable.....

[musiccitybulldog]

The point spread could be the big factor in UNI's upward placement.

[SHOXMVC]

That was a good ol fashion butt whoopin. I'm not going to claim the torch has been passed, but it's obvious the Shockers finally have a challenger for the valley title.

Great game UNI. They were by far the better team today and Jake was by far the better coach. No, the torch isn't passed by the result of one game. When UNI goes a season and a half without losing, or is in first place consistently for a couple of years or more, then let's talk. I love UNI's team, and I always have (except for the lame coaching of the flop method of defense). Keep winning Panthers!!!

[rlh04d]

That was a good ol fashion butt whoopin. I'm not going to claim the torch has been passed, but it's obvious the Shockers finally have a challenger for the valley title.

Even if UNI wins all three games against WSU this year, they'll have to prove they can keep it up beyond a season dominated by junior/season players to ever start talking about a "torch being passed."

UNI has a terrific team and one that I think can legitimately win the conference and make a Sweet 16, or better, run in the NCAA tournament. But 10 upper-classmen makes this look like a team designed to win this year or not at all.

UNI's got some definite talent coming back next year, but they're going to lose a ton of talent. A high level program has to absorb those losses and keep succeeding. Otherwise you're just a good individual team -- even Drake had one of those recently

[MVCfans]

If WSU wins the rematch and neither team loses in the Valley, what's the tie-breaker scenario? I could look it up, but I imagine someone knows.

[rlh04d]

If WSU wins the rematch and neither team loses in the Valley, what's the tie-breaker scenario? I could look it up, but I imagine someone knows.

I believe this would be the tie-breaker:

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400586395

[MVCfans]

If WSU wins the rematch and neither team loses in the Valley, what's the tie-breaker scenario? I could look it up, but I imagine someone knows.

I believe this would be the tie-breaker:

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400586395

Well, that's true.... duh.. 2014 seems so long ago.

I'm looking forward to the Hacksaw graphs coming soon (I Hope).