Breaking Down Arch Madness

[UNIFanSince1983]

UNI has been a different team for the last 4 weeks. Certainly the second best team in the league.

I think this is a great point. If I had to order teams in terms of momentum...

1. Wichita
2. UNI
3. Illinois State
4. Evansville
5. SIU

But since UNI played like crap for a good portion of the first half of conference play they get seeded with WSU in the Semis (if we are lucky enough to get past SIU).

It is what it is though. I think WSU will roll to the championship. They have looked quite different since the UNI loss at home.

[mathewson10]

UNI has been a different team for the last 4 weeks. Certainly the second best team in the league.

I think this is a great point. If I had to order teams in terms of momentum...

1. Wichita
2. UNI
3. Illinois State
4. Evansville
5. SIU

But since UNI played like crap for a good portion of the first half of conference play they get seeded with WSU in the Semis (if we are lucky enough to get past SIU).

It is what it is though. I think WSU will roll to the championship. They have looked quite different since the UNI loss at home.

WSU is definitely on a roll after their two consecutive losses. People said nobody had a chance to beat them last year & that was not the case. Also, WSU hasn't done the greatest at the tourney under Greg Marshall. If you don't count games against Thursday teams, Marshall is 4-7 in the tourney

[MissouriValleyUnite]

If Fever/Jamar are the new power alliance in Survivor: Missouri Valley, anything can happen at Arch Madness.

[Dean Wormer]

UNI is the only team with a chance to beat WSU. They're the only team that is mentally tough enough to get through the run that Wichita inevitably goes on. They weathered 17-2 in Wichita with the building jumping and got it done.

UNI has been a different team for the last 4 weeks. Certainly the second best team in the league.

You beat Evansville twice by a basket each time, and got swept by Loyola. I don't see clearly the second best team. IMO, Evansville and ISUr both have superior talent, but UNI has a much smarter coach than either Simmons or Muller. These three are a tossup for second.

With the brackets the way they are, I do think UNI is the only one with a realistic chance to knock off Wichita. If they make it to the final, they will certainly be focused.

[PurpleAcesFootball]

I like your players, but I really dislike your coach. I like Balentine, Mock, and the point guard. I think his name is Brown.

I must admit that I am not a fan of player Simmons. He was worthless in the first half of the UNI game.

I saw the first half of your game with UNI.

Your offense looked just plain awful. The team was not prepared.

The good thing is that the Creighton-less Valley is looking more and more like a low-major conference. So going 1-5 against the best 3 teams in the conference ends up as a #2 seed.

Something is wrong. Recruiting, budget, coaching, scheduling, talent, administrative support, conference selection - something. Perhaps even all of the above in some combination. But if two once in a generation players can play on the same team and we can't even sniff the bubble, that is not a good thing.

[uniftw]

UNI is the only team with a chance to beat WSU. They're the only team that is mentally tough enough to get through the run that Wichita inevitably goes on. They weathered 17-2 in Wichita with the building jumping and got it done.

UNI has been a different team for the last 4 weeks. Certainly the second best team in the league.

You beat Evansville twice by a basket each time, and got swept by Loyola. I don't see clearly the second best team. IMO, Evansville and ISUr both have superior talent, but UNI has a much smarter coach than either Simmons or Muller. These three are a tossup for second.

With the brackets the way they are, I do think UNI is the only one with a realistic chance to knock off Wichita. If they make it to the final, they will certainly be focused.

UNI is 3-1 against ISUr and Evansville, including a sweep of Evansville.
UNI is one of only two to beat WSU, and did it AT WSU...where ISUr was beaten by 3 touchdowns.

Evansville and ISUR aren't beating WSU should that be the title match up.

[BirdsEyeView]

You beat Evansville twice by a basket each time, and got swept by Loyola. I don't see clearly the second best team. IMO,

This.

UNI has momentum, but within that "momentum" was a 2nd loss to Loyola and barely beating Evansville. I would not say you are clearly the 2nd best team, just have momentum going into Arch.

At the end of the day, 4 teams have a chance at winning and I'd break the percentages down to this:

WSU - 70%
ISUr - 10%
UNI - 10%
UE - 10%

[tribecalledquest]

You beat Evansville twice by a basket each time, and got swept by Loyola. I don't see clearly the second best team. IMO,

This.

UNI has momentum, but within that "momentum" was a 2nd loss to Loyola and barely beating Evansville. I would not say you are clearly the 2nd best team, just have momentum going into Arch.

At the end of the day, 4 teams have a chance at winning and I'd break the percentages down to this:

WSU - 70%
ISUr - 10%
UNI - 10%
UE - 10%

Momentum isn't a thing

[uniftw]

You beat Evansville twice by a basket each time, and got swept by Loyola. I don't see clearly the second best team. IMO,

This.

UNI has momentum, but within that "momentum" was a 2nd loss to Loyola and barely beating Evansville. I would not say you are clearly the 2nd best team, just have momentum going into Arch.

At the end of the day, 4 teams have a chance at winning and I'd break the percentages down to this:

WSU - 70%
ISUr - 10%
UNI - 10%
UE - 10%

Last 10

UNI 9-1
@ BRAD W68-50
vs SIU W67-58
vs EVAN W57-54
@ DRKE W82-66
vs MOST W83-69
@ 25 WICH W53-50
@ L-IL L59-56
vs ILST W75-66
vs INST W66-44
@ EVAN W54-52

Evansville 6-4...Evansville is also only 1-5 against UNI, WSU and ISUr. The one was was ISUr on Jan 15th
@ SIU W85-78
vs 22 WICH L78-65
@ UNI L57-54
vs MOST W83-64
vs ILST L70-60
@ L-IL W74-73
@ DRKE W80-74
vs SIU W83-71
@ BRAD W67-55
vs UNI L54-52

ISUr 7-3
@ MOST L84-81
@ L-IL W78-70
vs 21 WICH W58-53
@ EVAN W70-60
vs BRAD W75-60
vs INST W78-50
@ UNI L75-66
vs SIU W73-50
@ WICH L74-58

[ACECARD]

You beat Evansville twice by a basket each time, and got swept by Loyola. I don't see clearly the second best team. IMO,

This.

UNI has momentum, but within that "momentum" was a 2nd loss to Loyola and barely beating Evansville. I would not say you are clearly the 2nd best team, just have momentum going into Arch.

At the end of the day, 4 teams have a chance at winning and I'd break the percentages down to this:

WSU - 70%
ISUr - 10%
UNI - 10%
UE - 10%

Last 10

UNI 9-1
@ BRAD W68-50
vs SIU W67-58
vs EVAN W57-54
@ DRKE W82-66
vs MOST W83-69
@ 25 WICH W53-50
@ L-IL L59-56
vs ILST W75-66
vs INST W66-44
@ EVAN W54-52

Evansville 6-4...Evansville is also only 1-5 against UNI, WSU and ISUr. The one was was ISUr on Jan 15th
@ SIU W85-78
vs 22 WICH L78-65
@ UNI L57-54
vs MOST W83-64
vs ILST L70-60
@ L-IL W74-73
@ DRKE W80-74
vs SIU W83-71
@ BRAD W67-55
vs UNI L54-52

ISUr 7-3
@ MOST L84-81
@ L-IL W78-70
vs 21 WICH W58-53
@ EVAN W70-60
vs BRAD W75-60
vs INST W78-50
@ UNI L75-66
vs SIU W73-50
@ WICH L74-58

The Aces would seem to be going in the wrong direction. It's tough to go with six players the whole season, and then expect them to win three games in three days. Not a real good situation to be in.