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I actually don't have much of a problem with the tourney moving, but the suddenness and location to which it was moved does feel like a middle finger and/or response to our MVC flirtation. If HL came out last year and said they were moving the tournament to the new arena in Detroit when it opens, and would spend a couple of years building up media exposure and interest, it could be a success.  They lucked out this year by Oakland getting the two seed and (likely) making the championship game. If and combo of Valpo, WSU, and the Wisconsin schools were to be in the championship we'd be in Kemper Arena level emptiness.

(apologies if this point has been made in the past)
Another gripe I have is that the championship should be on Sunday, not Tuesday. 
I've seen this in the MVC tournament: It's common that if an unexpected team springs an upset in the semis, a legion of fair-weather fans drop what they're doing and travel for the (Sunday) championship. 
This is pretty much impossible with a Tuesday championship; adult fans have jobs, and 7 of 10 HL schools have class (Valpo, NKU and YSU are on spring break).  The result is well-said above: "Kemper Arena-level emptiness."

By the by, I have my Horizon League Tournament bracket filled out.  I'm predicting that an Oakland/Detroit matchup inspires local interest in the tournament. 
Despite team injuries and the weight of the whole city of Detroit against them, Valpo scores on a put-back at the buzzer to beat Oakland 82-80.

The mock selection was based on current resumes, not projected ones, so they caught Valpo at their highest RPI after playing NKU, UIC, and YSU in the past 3 games. If Valpo wins out, their RPI will slide into the 20's, and it would be really tough to leave Valpo out. There's only been a few teams between 20-35 RPI to miss the tournament.

So they based their selection on the 3/4 of a season that's been played thus far, and just sort of arbitrarily chose auto-bids?  Wow that's dumb.  I just assumed they simulated the remainder of the season so they'd have full (albeit hypothetical) resumes to compare.  That would have made more sense.

Still though, I'd prefer not to be at the mercy of the selection committee come March.

[Winning the Horizon tournament]

Also, I am afraid that if we WIN OUT AND WIN THE TOURNAMENT that we would end up with an 8-9 seed.  I don't want an 8-9.  I don't think they will give us a 7 seed. So yeah, having 1 more loss is actually beneficial in my mind.

I don't want an 8 or 9 seed either but if you weigh that against a 60 or even 70% nail biting, edge of your seat, elevated blood pressure probability for an at-large; then give me the 8 or 9. I don't want an NIT spot even if we might be the best team in the field.

If anyone tracked NCAA's Mock Selection over the past two days, it was based on a premise (likely a random simulation) that Valpo lost in the Horizon tournament and Oakland won.  In that scenario, the selection committee seeded Oakland at 15, but Valpo was among the "last four out."  In other words, we did NOT make the tournament.

Sorry Horizon League: In my opinion we should be looking out for Numero Uno, and hoping for VU to completely win out.  It's the only certain path to the Tournament for VU.
(Correction: Winning the Horizon tournament is the only certain path to the Tournament.  We can lose as many games as we want until that time.  But let's not.)

I know we have a lot of "casual viewers" of this thread... so now you can participate!  (if any of the games are canceled, I'll even give you credit for a WIN!!) Friday 1/22 Rhode Island @ George Washington St Peters @ Iona Saturday 1/23 Ball State @ Eastern Michigan Utah Valley @ Chicago State UCLA @ Oregon Tennessee State @ Belmont IUPUI @ IPFW Sunday 1/24 USC @ Oregon State Iona @ Fairfield Southern Illinois @ Missouri State Evansville @ Indiana State

My winners (6-5):
Ball U
Oregon
Belmont
IPFW
Iona (Sunday)
IN State

Oh, that game, it was classic.  Definitely one of the best games I experienced in my 4 years.  Thanks for the flashback.

Blast from the past:

For some of our younger members, probably the most exciting Valpo vs. Milwaukee game was played at the ARC in 2004 - a full 3 years before Valpo joined the Horizon League. Milwaukee, under the leadership of former coach Bruce Pearl, was a powerhouse that year. They brought a huge, very vocal (dare I say obnoxious) group of fans with them that day, who were fully expecting to witness a beat down at the hands of their beloved Panthers.  Instead, here's what happened:

Loyd's Last-Second Free Throw Lifts Valpo Past Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Valparaiso, Ind. - Freshman Jarryd Loyd's free throw with 1.8 seconds left lifted Valpo past Wisconsin-Milwaukee 72-71. The victory was the Crusaders' first of the season, while the Panthers suffered their first loss in seven games.

Dan Oppland led four Valpo players in double figures with 20 points. Ron Howard added 13, while Jimmie Miles and Seth Colclasure netted 12 each. Valpo (1-5) was red-hot from 3-point range, draining 9 of 12 from beyond the arc in the first half and finishing with 10 of 16 (63 percent) overall.

The Crusaders were shorthanded as starters Ali Berdiel, Kenny Harris and key reserve Shawn Huff were sidelined with injuries.

In a game that was close throughout, Valpo took a 67-61 lead with 4:12 remaining on Oppland's two free throws. UW-Milwaukee (6-1) trimmed the lead to one on two separate occasions - the last at 69-68 with 1:18 left on a basket by Joah Tucker.

After Valpo center Moussa Mbaye made a layup off a pass from Colclasure with 25 seconds remaining, the Panthers tied the game at 71-71 on Boo Davis' 3-pointer from the right corner with six seconds left.

Loyd then took the inbounds pass and raced up to halfcourt where he was fouled by Chris Hill with 1.8 seconds remaining. Valpo was already in the two-free throw bonus and Loyd missed the first charity toss before UWM called timeout. Loyd calmly swished the second free throw before Adrian Tigert's three-quarter court pass was intercepted by Mbaye as the horn sounded.

The game featured seven ties and nine lead changes- eight of which occurred in the first half. Behind the nine 3-pointers, including three by Colclasure, the Crusaders took a 36-35 lead with 3:57 left before halftime after UWM had gained a seven-point advantage two minutes earlier. Colclasure and Miles hit consecutive treys before Davis and Tigert scored two points each during a 4-0 run to help the Panthers regain a two-point lead. Colclasure's two free throws with 1:24 left produced a 41-41 score at halftime.

Valpo, which shot 54 percent in the first 20 minutes, maintained its productivity and held the lead for most of the second half. Oppland's two free throws broke a 48-48 tie with 16:05 remaining and the Crusaders extended their lead to seven (65-58) with 5:04 left on Howard's well-defended 3-pointer from left of the top of the key.

Ed McCants' 3-pointer with 2:39 left cut UWM's deficit to 67-64 and Tucker dropped in a layup to complete a 5-0 run at the 2:28 mark. Oppland then added two free throws to push the Valpo lead back to three to set up the exciting final minute.

Oppland, who scored 25 points in Thursday's loss to Indiana State, converted 11 of 13 free throws. The 6'8" junior added seven rebounds, four assists and one blocked shot.

Miles and Howard (3 steals) each made two, 3-pointers. Mbaye, who received his first start, was 4-of-4 from the field for eight points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Loyd tied Oppland with a team-high four assists.

Valpo finished shooting 49 percent (21-43)overall, while limiting UWM to 39 percent. The Panthers struggled from 3-point territory, draining 9 of 32 (28 percent). The Crusaders made 80 percent (20-25) of their free throws to UWM's 10-14 (71 percent).

Tucker topped UWM with 20 points and seven rebounds, while McCants added 14 and Davis had 12.

I still remember walking out of the ARC feeling very happy and maybe even chuckling a little thinking about the long, quiet bus ride home our visitors from the great state of Wisconsin had in store.    Fun memories like that never grow old.

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400814231

An SC-Valpo matchup would be great. The only mismatch would be cheerleader quality...

Man, I would sure like another shot at those Lobos this year.  Shame we can't get some revenge on last year's debacle.

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400814231 An SC-Valpo matchup would be great. The only mismatch would be cheerleader quality...

Come on man -- I'd consider the USC cheer squad to be nationally celebrated, and perhaps that's your point.  But our cheerleaders put the time in supporting the team, and that's all that matters to me.

I believe to watch it on pac-12.com, you have to subscribe to the network in your cable or satellite package?

Affirmative.  Pac-12's online service is a lot like ESPN3's. 
My cable provider is worthless and hasn't not set up Pac-12's online streaming (or ESPN3).

If I don't start "seeing" some basketball soon instead of having to settle for just "hearing" it (not a knock on Ickow--he does a great job) I'm just going to snap.

I guess nobody read wh's post with the story on the UNH president except VULB#62. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/gabrielle-cintorino/university-president-offended-bias-free-language-guide-deems It also determines that use of the term "American" is "problematic", and notes that the preferred term is "'U.S. citizen or resident of the U.S.'" This is because "North Americans often use 'American' which usually, depending on the context, fails to recognize South America." Another stated reason for the abolishment of the term "American" is that it "assumes the U.S. is the only country inside these continents," according to the guide.

I understand this argument, in principle, but it's "un-United-Statesian" to ban such usage of an expression as old as the "United-Statesian Way" itself.


I'll counter an article with an article.  I'm conservative, so I dug up a piece from a liberal writer at liberal Slate.com, which I agree with 100%.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/a_fine_whine/2013/08/america_the_continent_vs_america_the_country.html

And to be truthful it is Vespucci's first name, Amerigo that the name America comes from. Could you imagine if we were the United States of Vespuccia and called Vespuccians? It's also similar to saying that Europeans only refers to the people of the UK.

Interesting.  I would add that "Asian" as we tend to use it in Amer-- . . . the U.S. . . . rarely includes India or Russia, and never includes the Middle East.

I guess nobody read wh's post with the story on the UNH president except VULB#62. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/gabrielle-cintorino/university-president-offended-bias-free-language-guide-deems It also determines that use of the term "American" is "problematic", and notes that the preferred term is "'U.S. citizen or resident of the U.S.'" This is because "North Americans often use 'American' which usually, depending on the context, fails to recognize South America." Another stated reason for the abolishment of the term "American" is that it "assumes the U.S. is the only country inside these continents," according to the guide.

I understand this argument, in principle, but it's "un-United-Statesian" to ban such usage of an expression as old as the "United-Statesian Way" itself.


I'll counter an article with an article.  I'm conservative, so I dug up a piece from a liberal writer at liberal Slate.com, which I agree with 100%.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/a_fine_whine/2013/08/america_the_continent_vs_america_the_country.html

NBA scouts are going to become a theme:

From Twitter:
Bill Koch ‏@BillKoch25  3 minutes ago
Scouts from the Mavs, Cavs, Clippers, Celtics, Spurs, Nuggets, Pacers, Jazz and Nets all scheduled to attend #URI-Valparaiso today. #Rams

Twitter doesn't say anything about Skara, but I don't question him sitting this one out.

I like Lunardi's Tournament preview video for Valpo.  It's essentially "Valpo's good, I'm not going to say they won't pull an upset; I just don't know."
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=12492726

And the Maryland video has that tinge of "F--- it, whoever makes the S16's gonna lose to Kentucky anyway."

Maybe there in Columbus we can benefit from some mid-major crowd-love after Buffalo beats WVU.

I live in Columbia, I'm not even really aware that Mizzou has a basketball team haha it is brutal.  Glad they finally won a game, got their RPI on rpiforecast.com up above 200 which is nice for Valpo.  And for what it's worth, I give Kim Anderson (the new Mizzou coach) credit for changing things up and taking his lumps in a major rebuilding year.  Maybe they turn it around soon.  I bet Donovan thought he had win #500 locked up...Mizzou over Kentucky in the SEC final?

I echo that.  Here in STL, in February, there's more talk about football than basketball.  Not much to be excited about

Fun fact: Not a single one of Missouri's 5 NCAA-D1 schools has a winning record. Of them, only UMKC has a winning conference record (4th in the WAC).  Mizzou is last in the SEC.

One would think they'd have their cancer awareness night and senior night as separate games, to give cancer awareness the attention it deserves, and the seniors the recognition they deserve.  Nope, not Detroit.

http://www.detroittitans.com/news/2015/2/19/MBB_0219152428.aspx

With the GB losses to us and CSU our RPI has inched down as a result of their significant fall. The result should move us almost completely off the bubble if we win out but fall in the championship game. You should never have to go to the NIT with only 5 defeats but----- Will somebody try to cheer me up and convince me I am wrong?

NCAA Sports article from March 10th 2014:
"10 years ago ...
Utah State went 25-3 and did not make the field, the best record for an eligible team ever to fail to get an at-large berth."
http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2014-03-10/do-you-remember-when

At least we won't feel as screwed-over as Utah State did.

Going back to 2010, the only case I see of less than 6 losses in the NIT is Stephen F Austin at 27-4 in 2013.

[which could put all of those beds off line]

I think it might also be less about the cost and more about the timeline.  You would have to tear scheele down and start over which could put all of those beds off line for probably closer to 2 years.  If you renovate you could limit that to one year.  The biggest crunch the university seems to be in now is space. They need most of the beds they have available so they either need to build a new dorm (like beacon)or find a way to move people around to free up a dorm to renovate. The sorority housing offers an opportunity to empty a current dorm without losing revenue(and probably increasing it as I'm sure living in the houses will cost more) and still giving time to fix it up for the next year.

So the new plan for the sorority houses says each unit will have 25 beds.  There are six units so that's 150 beds.  Does Sheele have more than 150 beds?

The rooms in Lank were numbered from 01 to about 40.  And Scheele and Lank have near-identical layouts.
I'm not sure if I can assume this, but if all 40 rooms on each floor in Lank (2-5, since the layout of the 1st floor is different) are dorm rooms, we're talking about 320 beds.  So if that's also true for Scheele, then 320 people (+ first-floor residents) would fit in Scheele.

Maybe those "25" beds each sleep two?

21,000 sq ft for 150 people seems quite small. I'll be interested to see the renderings of the complex. 

Hmm.  Provided the 21,000 square feet were all living space (but I'm not saying that's the case), it'd be about 280 sq ft per 2-person room.


Per Valpo's Res Life website, Brandt Hall rooms, which if I recall have the same dimensions as the other Freshman dorms, are approx. 11' x 13' (143 sq. ft.)


So provided the rooms aren't luxury suites, I think such a facility could house 150.


What I don't understand is the reference to six "townhouses," but then the reference to a single "building" in the remainder of the article.  Perhaps the building has a common area and six wings?
We'll see.

Is it 2016 yet?

-Speaking of music this has been bugging me and it seems to be getting progressively worse. The pep band seems to be unaware of the actual flow of the game and the crowd general feeling. Many times they'll do a sped up, crazy fast version of "Rock and Roll" (you know what I'm talking with the "Hey, VU!") which is definitely a crowd pleaser, only to have 45 seconds left in the time out so they break out Mortal Combat. Honestly I'm not sure how much of the student body knows what that song is and anyone over the age of 35-40 probably has no idea. Why not play another round of "Rock and Roll". I love when the band has been cut off and the student section keeps singing the song all the way to completion. I understand not doing it when VU is about to shoot free throws, but how great is it when you're spelling out "V-A-L-P-A-R-A-I-S-O, let's go Valpo, let's go Valpo" when the other team is shooting? It's outstanding.

The other one that gets me is "Time Warp" from Rocky Horror. I never understood it's place or value at a basketball game and I can tell you when I was in the student section no one was singing along. The circles of people who go see Rocky Horror and those who go to basketball games probably has a very minuscule overlap.

But what took me over the edge last night was when Valpo had just retaken the lead in the second half and there's a time out. What does the pep band do? Go into a rousing (please note my sarcasm with the word rousing) rendition of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. When well done it can be impactful, but it's not exactly a "get the crowd excited and on their feet" kind of song. I wish I had taken a video of it last night because the cheerleaders' reactions and "clapping" was perfect. Slow, methodical and droning, much like the song was.

I'm not a music person but I think just some subtle changes can help improve the gameday experience. I feel like last year and especially 2 years ago the pep band had slightly better music selection and judgement on what songs were appropriate for the moment. I don't know if they changed directors or if it's the batch of students in the band, but it's been kind of rough this year.

You know your team is good when we begin to dissect what the pep band plays!

I AM a music person, but I'll abstain from any comments on the pep band or the music provided therefrom, except to say that the Pirates of the Caribbean theme is a middle-of-the-first-half song.  Or perhaps a we're-too-far-behind-in-the-game-for-it-to-matter song in the 2nd half.

Yikes.  My post vomited HTML all over itself.  This is edited:

Impressive!  I'll point out, though it's likely already been realized but not said:

There is one multiple 14-2 team scenario--it wouldn't involve RPIs though: Oakland and Cleveland State.  They've already played twice and split the series 1-1.
So it goes OU/CSU at 14-2, then Valpo & GB finish 3 and 4 (order doesn't matter), both teams would have gone 1-1 with GB, but Oakland would have beaten Valpo twice and would win the tiebreak.

This is some sort of joke.  Where will they play if the weather is above freezing??   

A quick Google search tells me Valpo's high school hockey plays at an indoor rink in South Bend.  That might be your answer. (Edit: Valpo_Hockey already said this.)

Valpo_Hockey:
If this is serious--and if it happens--let us know.  I'll be first in line for a jersey.

I appreciate it.  But I should have thought this through.  My laptop is technically owned by my employer so I don't want to be exposing it to viruses--or for that matter doing anything illegal on it (all these methods almost certainly violate copyright laws).

I'm going to opt for the Ickow-cast tonight.

While Valpo is looking to say they are no fluke and could beat anybody they play.

Bold prediction: Alec will have one of the greatest Crusader performances tonight, going 11/17 from the field 7/11 from 3, 8/9 from the FT line for a total of 37 points, with 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, and 2 turnovers.

This will be the statement game of the season, in spite of their being favored and having the home-court advantage, and it will be the highest pressure OOC game because of it and because of the quality of the opponent. However, I look forward to seeing whether they can respond to a "normal" game from Alec as he'll undoubtedly have them and there'll be no greater confidence builder than knowing that others can step up. I'm hoping for a win with less dependence on perimeter shooting or, at least, less from Alec and the emergence of another potential go-to option offensively. Of course, a defensive clinic would be reassuring as well.

Ugh.  Don't remind me of a "normal" Peters performance.  I attended the Mizzou game.  I predicted 6-1 out of fear such a performance might happen ONE time this month--but I really hope I'm wrong.

So um. Anyone know some sort of back-door way to see ESPN3 games?  Or anyone willing to give up their login info?
The jerks at my cable company told me I'd have to call back on Monday and upgrade to the sports package to get ESPN3.  The upgrade is fine--the issue is "Monday."

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to come check out your message board and fill you all in on the Lobos this season.  The Lobos have gone to the NCAA tournament the last 3 seasons and have been ranked in the top 25 in all of those seasons.  However, we lost Alex Kirk (Cleveland Cavaliers), Cameron Bairstow (Chicago Bulls) and Kendall Williams (overseas) from last years team.  As you can imagine, its really difficult to replace 3 guys who all average over 15 pts a game, so the Lobos are currently in a transitional/rebuilding year. 

The Lobos have 2 Seniors led by Hugh Greenwood and Deshawn Delaney.  Hugh has been a starting guard for the Lobos all 3 years he's been here and Deshawn became a starter around conference time last season.  Hugh has been looked to this season to shoulder a lot of the offensive load but has struggled to find his shot early in the season.  Delaney is a freaky athlete and loves to try to get to the rim.  The Lobos are playing without arguably our best player this year in Cullen Neal as he was injured just 3 games into the season.  He was shooting 50% from behind the arc and was averaging 24 pts a game going into our 3rd game against Boston College.  Arthur Edwards who was coming off the bench and starting for Cullen after he got hurt also broke his hand and will miss Saturday's game.  Lastly, we are playing without Jordan Goodman who is out with a concussion.  Goodman is a 6-10 PF/SF and was the #2 rated JUCO player in the country.  In the one game where he really played significant minutes he scored 18 pts.  So the Lobos are in a transitional year and playing without 3 talented and key players. 

In the last couple games we have started Hugh Greenwood (Sr), Xavier Adams (Fr.), Deshawn Delaney (SR), Devon Williams (So.), and Obij Aget(So.).  Off the bench we have Tim Jacobs (Jr.), Sam Logwood (Fr.) Joe Furstinger (Fr) and JJ Nganga (Jr.).  Overall we are very young and missing key players while we also have Elijah Brown and Tim Williams who transferred and are redshirting this year. 

We are coming off a tough tournament where we lost 2 out of 3 games and came back home and lost to Southern Cal.  We got back on the winning track last night against our in state rivals New Mexico State and looked alot better than we have recently.  All in all it seems like you guys have a pretty good team this year and will more than likely win against our young and inexperienced team.  Good luck to you guys! 

Wait a minute.  Who creates an account and posts an informational article on his team on the opponent's message board, before concluding by saying "you guys will probably win; good luck"?

Not sure if LOBOS is unrealistically cheery and outrageously bored . . . or hiding something.

Great man. 
Anyone still hanging on to their Dave Hilldebrand caricature "Valpo Victory" shirts, circa . . . 2005ish?