Valpo in the Polls (and the HL too)

[historyman]

Bleacher report expects us to run the table in conference and go 17-1

Not quite.  "After watching the Crusaders continually find ways to win, it would not be surprising to see them run the table and finish 17-1." I would not be surprised either, but I don't expect us to win out.  Looking forward to the next 5 weeks!

looking at our schedule, it wouldn't be necessarily surprising, but i wouldn't bet on it either. besides the bracketbuster, we still have detroit coming to the arc, and they beat us by 20 in their last visit. and road games at green bay, wright state, and (i'm probably gonna take flak for this) loyola. we could win out, or we could lose up to 4 games the rest of the way. nothing from that range would really surprise me.

I would put Loyola in the large mid range mix in the HL. I would include Detroit (great offense, not enough discipline and below average head coach), Green Bay, Wright State (showing some scoring weaknesses but above average head coach), Youngstown St. and UIC.

That leaves Milwaukee & Cleve. St. in the low range and of course Valpo has earned itself the high range alone.

[wh]

Bleacher report expects us to run the table in conference and go 17-1

Friends don't let friends read Bleacher Report...

Beyond the usual generalizations about B/R's poor journalistic practices, does anyone know anything specific about this specific author of this specific article and why he lacks credibility?

[bbtds]

Bleacher report expects us to run the table in conference and go 17-1

Friends don't let friends read Bleacher Report...

Beyond the usual generalizations about B/R's poor journalistic practices, does anyone know anything specific about this specific author of this specific article and why he lacks credibility?

Nobody does. Isn't that the point? A newspaper or website spends time detailing the credentials of their writers.

[a3uge]

Bleacher report expects us to run the table in conference and go 17-1

Friends don't let friends read Bleacher Report...

Beyond the usual generalizations about B/R's poor journalistic practices, does anyone know anything specific about this specific author of this specific article and why he lacks credibility?

Nobody does. Isn't that the point? A newspaper or website spends time detailing the credentials of their writers.

Bleacher report expects us to run the table in conference and go 17-1

Friends don't let friends read Bleacher Report...

Beyond the usual generalizations about B/R's poor journalistic practices, does anyone know anything specific about this specific author of this specific article and why he lacks credibility?

http://bleacherreport.com/users/150584-jesse-kramer

Yes. He's literally still in high school.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Beyond the usual generalizations about B/R's poor journalistic practices, does anyone know anything specific about this specific author of this specific article and why he lacks credibility?

I hate that you made me give it more clicks to find the same info out.

author of such articles as
"Complete Preview for Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds vs. Manhattan Jaspers"
"LIU Basketball: How Julian Boyd's Season-Ending Injury Affects NEC Title Race"

Man--the stuff I am giving away for free on this site could be getting me DOLLARZ on Bleacher Report...

[agibson]

Lehigh got punished more than I expected for losing to Lafayette (they also beat #7 Bucknell), and we jump all the way to #10!

Utah State's really getting killed - they were nationally ranked in the _big_ polls just a couple of weeks ago, right?  I guess they had multiple key injuries?

Update: January 28th, 2013

1.    Gonzaga (29)    19-2    773    1    West Coast
2.    Wichita State (2)    19-2    743    2    Missouri Valley
3.    Belmont    17-4    668    5    Ohio Valley
4.    Creighton    18-3    667    4    Missouri Valley
5.    Saint Mary's    17-4    632    6    West Coast
6.    Middle Tennessee    18-4    617    9    Sun Belt
7.    Bucknell    17-4    576    3    Patriot
8.    BYU    16-6    536    7    West Coast
9.    Akron    15-4    513    13    Mid-American
10.    Valparaiso    16-5    452    14    Horizon
11.    Louisiana Tech    18-3    438    21    WAC
12.    Stephen F. Austin    16-2    420    10    Southland
13.    Lehigh    14-5    404    8    Patriot
14.    Ohio    15-5    381    16    Mid-American
15.    Murray State    15-5    327    11    Ohio Valley
16.    Montana    14-4    252    23    Big Sky
17.    North Dakota State    16-5    233    15    Summit
18.    South Dakota State    16-6    232    19    Summit
19.    Eastern Kentucky    16-5    204    18    Ohio Valley
20.    Davidson    13-7    161    24    Southern
21.    Western Illinois    16-5    127    20    Summit
22.    Bryant    13-6    107    17    Northeast
23.    Northeastern    13-7    89    NR    Colonial
24.    Stony Brook    15-5    80    NR    America East
25.    Niagara    13-8    73    NR    Metro Atlantic


OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Indiana State 68, Utah State 58, Santa Clara 52, Weber State 29, Harvard 15, Northwestern State 14, Western Michigan 14, New Mexico State 13, Oral Roberts 12, Vermont 12, Denver 11, Wright State 9, Iona 8, Long Beach State 8, Albany 7, Elon 7, Southern 7, Detroit 5, Robert Morris 5,  North Carolina Central 3, Charleston Southern 2, Loyola (MD) 1 .

[VULB#62]

Oh, to have Nebraska, Oakland and Loyola back 

[vuweathernerd]

Oh, to have Nebraska, Oakland and Loyola back 

No kidding. We'd be 19-2 and likely ranked in the full top 25.

[wh]

Beyond the usual generalizations about B/R's poor journalistic practices, does anyone know anything specific about this specific author of this specific article and why he lacks credibility?

I hate that you made me give it more clicks to find the same info out.

author of such articles as
"Complete Preview for Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds vs. Manhattan Jaspers"
"LIU Basketball: How Julian Boyd's Season-Ending Injury Affects NEC Title Race"

Man--the stuff I am giving away for free on this site could be getting me DOLLARZ on Bleacher Report...

How is this evidence of anything?  The web has a gazillion amateur sports journalists and bloggers that report about every sport under the sun, including a couple of regular posters on this forum, pantheruwm in Milw, etc., etc. Some are trying to make money from it, others not.  What makes the Bleacher Report any less credible than anyone else in this amateur arena?
 
Not a big deal either way, but I just never have understood the negativism. 

[HC]

They have been sipping too much of that Haterade.

[vusupporter]

Oh, to have Nebraska, Oakland and Loyola back 

No kidding. We'd be 19-2 and likely ranked in the full top 25.

And we could have lost to Kent State, Detroit and Wright State.

[hailcrusaders]

Oh, to have Nebraska, Oakland and Loyola back 

No kidding. We'd be 19-2 and likely ranked in the full top 25.

And we could have lost to Kent State, Detroit and Wright State.

Very true. Always important to have that perspective.

[vuweathernerd]

Oh, to have Nebraska, Oakland and Loyola back 

No kidding. We'd be 19-2 and likely ranked in the full top 25.

And we could have lost to Kent State, Detroit and Wright State.

very true

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Not a big deal either way, but I just never have understood the negativism.

Well, then I'll just have to post these for the Nth time on this forum until you actually read them.

Bleacher Report is unequivocally awful.  At writing.  At editing.  At what they've done to the business model of sportswriting on the internet.

http://www.sfweekly.com/2012-10-03/news/bleacher-report-sports-journalism-internet-espn-news-technology/

http://deadspin.com/5780983/bleacher-report-uses-japan-earthquake-as-excuse-for-sports-slideshow

The latter one comes from Deadspin, which is like Walmart making fun of QVC, but if it's true...

[wh]

Not a big deal either way, but I just never have understood the negativism.

Well, then I'll just have to post these for the Nth time on this forum until you actually read them.

Bleacher Report is unequivocally awful.  At writing.  At editing.  At what they've done to the business model of sportswriting on the internet.

http://www.sfweekly.com/2012-10-03/news/bleacher-report-sports-journalism-internet-espn-news-technology/

http://deadspin.com/5780983/bleacher-report-uses-japan-earthquake-as-excuse-for-sports-slideshow

The latter one comes from Deadspin, which is like Walmart making fun of QVC, but if it's true...

Now that you bring them to my attention, I do kind of recall seeing them before.  They're interesting, no doubt, but I'm having a little problem understanding why Turner Broadcasting would pay $200 Million less than 6 months ago to purchase Bleacher Report.  That's seems like a lot of money for a highly reputable business organization to pay for an enterprise with such abominable journalistic practices.  That's the problem with on-line "news reporting" in general.  You never know whether the critics are any more credible than those they're criticizing.     

[LaPorteAveApostle]

You never know whether the critics are any more credible than those they're criticizing.

Good point.  I suppose to be honest it would apply to myself as well :/

[bbtds]

They're interesting, no doubt, but I'm having a little problem understanding why Turner Broadcasting would pay $200 Million less than 6 months ago to purchase Bleacher Report. 

Turner Broadcasting:

During 1984, Turner initiated Cable Music Channel, now defunct.
Turner initiated Cartoon Network on Thursday, October 1, 1992.
During 2003, Philip I. Kent succeeded Jamie Kellner as chairman. The WB Network was acquired during 2001 while Kellner was chairman, but returned to Warner Bros. during 2003 with the departure of Kellner.
During May 2006, Turner Broadcasting, which already owned 50% of Court TV, purchased the remaining half from Liberty Media. 

Interactive/broadband sites
AdultSwim.com
CartoonNetwork.com
CNN.com
HLNtv.com
iReport.com
TBS.com
TCM.com
TNT.tv
truTV.com
TheSmokingGun.com
bleacherreport.com
thingx.com

Not everything TBS/Turner Broadcasting has done has been successful. Although I do admit that they certainly have been successful with many of their ventures. We'll have to wait and see what happens with BleacherReport.com

[StlVUFan]

I think the problem with Bleacher Report is that it is an amateur site slickly packaged to look like a professional one.

[zvillehaze]

I heard Will Carroll, formerly with SI, on a radio show today and he indicated he's now at Bleacher Report.  He seemed to indicate they would be merging with the CNNSI sports department in the near future ... I guess will see if that adds credibility to Bleacher Report or not.

For those following Bracketology, Valpo continues to show up as a #14 seed in brackets from CBS(Palm), ESPN(Lunardi), SI(Glockner) and NBCSports (Rob Dauster).  Two of them (don't remember which) have a first round matchup with Butler, which would certainly be interesting.  One of them (NBC?) shows Valpo and Miami in a NIT rematch.  Still early, but interesting to follow.

[vuweathernerd]

I heard Will Carroll, formerly with SI, on a radio show today and he indicated he's now at Bleacher Report.  He seemed to indicate they would be merging with the CNNSI sports department in the near future ... I guess will see if that adds credibility to Bleacher Report or not.

For those following Bracketology, Valpo continues to show up as a #14 seed in brackets from CBS(Palm), ESPN(Lunardi), SI(Glockner) and NBCSports (Rob Dauster).  Two of them (don't remember which) have a first round matchup with Butler, which would certainly be interesting.  One of them (NBC?) shows Valpo and Miami in a NIT rematch.  Still early, but interesting to follow.

bracketology is one of the stupidest schemes in college basketball. and duncenardi might be the biggest crock of the bunch. for mid-major conferences, all they do is plug in the leader of the conference, rather than who they think will win the auto-bid. it's best to ignore these faux brackets entirely until the week preceding selection sunday, when things start to actually matter, imo.

[agibson]

Valpo's RPI had fallen to 84 before the loss, and, on the loss (on the road, thankfully)... down to 91.  Detroit RPI currently at 87, and will pull _well_ ahead of us if they hang on to the win on the road at Wright State.   And, of course, they'll be just half a game back.

I suppose we'll stay above one hundred if we win at home against Milwaukee, but this isn't helping our Bracketbuster standing...

[oklahomamick]

Is the summit league a better conference the HL this year?  They have 3 teams in the mid-major top 25 and the HL only has one. 

[agibson]

You got a look, perhaps, at IUPUI, IPFW, and UNO, right?  Three RPI 300+ teams compare to the Horizon's lone dog.  We don't even have anyone in the 200's at the moment.

In the last years, they've often enough had two or three decent or even pretty good teams.  But, enough dogs to keep their average RPI low, and their conference RPI ranking in the 20's.  This year and last it's been up a little: 18 this year, 16 last.  (Compared to the Horizon's 12 and 13).

[vu72]

In the Sagarin's the Horizon is ranked 12th while the Summit is 21st.  As agibson said, it's the bottom that is pulling them back.  right now the Horizon has two teams in the 200's while the Summit has three in the 300's and one at 299! Meanwhile our best two ranked 71 and 85 while their's are 75 and 94.

[agibson]

We fell two slots on our loss at YSU.

Eastern Kentucky's at 29rd, adding some weight to the argument that their RPI is a bit inflated (relative to Sagarin, polls, etc.).  Detroit's at 33rd, which conflicts a bit with their standing in the Sagarin, and RPI.

Update: February 4th, 2013

1.    Gonzaga (30)    21-2    774    1    West Coast
2.    Belmont    19-4    718    3    Ohio Valley
3.    Creighton (1)    20-3    715    4    Missouri Valley
4.    Wichita State    19-4    652    2    Missouri Valley
4.    Saint Mary's    19-4    652    5    West Coast
6.    Middle Tennessee    20-4    619    6    Sun Belt
7.    Bucknell    19-4    583    7    Patriot
8.    BYU    18-6    552    8    West Coast
9.    Akron    17-4    526    9    Mid-American
10.    Louisiana Tech    19-3    499    11    WAC
11.    Stephen F. Austin    18-2    427    12    Southland
12.    Valparaiso    17-6    383    10    Horizon
13.    Lehigh    16-5    372    13    Patriot
14.    Montana    16-4    333    16    Big Sky
15.    Murray State    16-5    323    15    Ohio Valley
16.    Ohio    15-6    298    14    Mid-American
17.    North Dakota State    18-5    265    17    Summit
18.    South Dakota State    18-6    248    18    Summit
19.    Davidson    15-7    223    20    Southern
20.    Western Illinois    17-5    127    21    Summit
21.    Bryant    15-6    115    22    Northeast
22.    Stony Brook    17-5    86    24    America East
23.    Harvard    12-6    82    NR    Ivy
24.    Northeastern    14-8    65    23    Colonial
25.    Elon    15-7    61    NR    Southern


OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Niagara 57, Indiana State 56, Santa Clara 53, Eastern Kentucky 46, Weber State 23, New Mexico State 17, Western Michigan 17, Detroit 15, Oral Roberts 12, College of Charleston 10, Northwestern State 10, Vermont 10, Denver 9, Utah State 9, Long Beach State 8, Jacksonville State 6, North Carolina Central 6, Northwestern State 4, Albany 2, Loyola MD 2, Southern 2, Florida Gulf Coast 1.