2015-2016 Opponents

[a3uge]

Looks like a home game vs UTSA (12-16 last year)

[justducky]

Looks like a home game vs UTSA (12-16 last year)

If this is your typical home and road series then it would almost seem impolite not to pay a brief visit to Scott sitting in nearby Waco. Scheduling UTSA doesn't make too much sense unless you can make it a two game road trip.

[bbtds]

Looks like a home game vs UTSA (12-16 last year)

If this is your typical home and road series then it would almost seem impolite not to pay a brief visit to Scott sitting in nearby Waco. Scheduling UTSA doesn't make too much sense unless you can make it a two game road trip.

Face it. It isn't going to happen no matter how much we moan, groan and quibble because as previously stated the preferences of the Drew brothers and their family is to not play a game between Valpo and Baylor unless it scheduled by the NCAA tournament.

[valpotx]

Let's see a home-and-home against TCU!

[justducky]

Let's see a home-and-home against TCU!

Well Fort Worth is a bit further from San Antonio than Waco but TCU could also meet the needs for another quality opponent and travel efficiencies. No reason in the world for a one game road trip to UTSA.

[justducky]

As a temporary escape from the local rain and flooding i wandered over to Racer Nation to see what they might be discussing. Same old story as nobody will travel to Murray and at-large quality bigs will not even host them for good pay day games. Sound familiar? I hope Bryce is developing better results but I find it hard to get optimistic. Saw no speculation of us staying or reappearing on the MSU schedule but with their new coach who knows. (maybe Prohm will want to give us a game with Iowa State so he can get some revenge? Na! Much too risky!)

So if year in and year out you have phone records of lengthy conversations with every top 100 team in the nation all of which are unwilling to play you (for anything less than larcenous terms and conditions) will the NCAA finally realize that the system is broken? Isn't it adding insult to injury for any top mid-major to cobble together the best OOC schedule they can find only to be told after NCAA bids and seeding that it wasn't strong enough and you just haven't been able to beat any of those teams that you haven't been able to schedule.

OK so obviously I need a week of sunshine to cheer me up or maybe some confirmed scheduling announcements so that I can put on my happy face.

[zvillehaze]

Look for Oregon State also

Confirmed by Jon Rothstein this morning.

[vufan75]

[tweet]610778572974915584[/tweet]

[a3uge]

Terrible game for Valpo. There is no upside to scheduling road games vs bottom dwelling power conference teams. None.

[vusupporter]

Yep, no upside to scheduling a game against a team which went 14-2 at home last year, including 7-2 in Pac-12 play, and rose to 7th in the final Pac-12 standings under a first-year head coach, just one game out of fifth. And has one of the nation's top recruiting classes coming in next year.

[agibson]

Terrible game for Valpo. There is no upside to scheduling road games vs bottom dwelling power conference teams. None.

I dunno, I'd be pretty pleased if Valpo won.  Oregon State beat UCLA, Arizona.  An RPI of 133 in the PAC-12 isn't fantastic, but it's not like loss there will kill our RPI.

[a3uge]

Terrible game for Valpo. There is no upside to scheduling road games vs bottom dwelling power conference teams. None.

I dunno, I'd be pretty pleased if Valpo won.  Oregon State beat UCLA, Arizona.  An RPI of 133 in the PAC-12 isn't fantastic, but it's not like loss there will kill our RPI.

After looking at their schedule last year, Oregon State did actually finish above .500 and doesn't lose anybody next year... So I guess it's not that terrible if Oregon State isn't a bottom dweller anymore.

Gut reaction was that it was another Missouri/Nebraska scheduling, which were both lose-lose games.

[justducky]

Yep, no upside to scheduling a game against a team which went 14-2 at home last year, including 7-2 in Pac-12 play, and rose to 7th in the final Pac-12 standings under a first-year head coach, just one game out of fifth. And has one of the nation's top recruiting classes coming in next year.

Looked like they had no seniors and finished the year at 133 RPI. Oregon at 27 RPI lost 4 seniors.

I am glad that both are scheduled (is Oregon official?). We can not cherry pick our opponents like an Indiana or ND can. We will have to take what we can get and then learn to win in some difficult places. We have a team that needs to be tested so be prepared to throw standard cautions to the wind.

I saw that Kentucky announced their OOC and we were not on it. That didn't disappoint me but somebody here was wanting them.

Keep lining them up! I hope that UTSA will be the easiest game that we play.

[VULB#62]

"What doesn't kill ya, makes ya stronger"

Opinion of a non-RPI guy:  This group of players is on the verge of being a really, really good team.  But they have got to get battle-hardened.  Short of pulling a Kampe and selling your soul for a gazillion guarantee games, this young group has to be put in OOC situations where they learn how to confidently play away from home and compete/win against power conference talent in large arenas with rough crowds.  No more Ark-Pine Bluffs, IU South Bends, etc. Time to challenge some big boys. Maybe the season record won't be as shiny, but the possibility of going deeper into post season certainly would be strengthened.

[vu72]

"What doesn't kill ya, makes ya stronger"

Opinion of a non-RPI guy:  This group of players is on the verge of being a really, really good team.  But they have got to get battle-hardened.  Short of pulling a Kampe and selling your soul for a gazillion guarantee games, this young group has to be put in OOC situations where they learn how to confidently play away from home and compete/win against power conference talent in large arenas with rough crowds.  No more Ark-Pine Bluffs, IU South Bends, etc. Time to challenge some big boys. Maybe the season record won't be as shiny, but the possibility of going deeper into post season certainly would be strengthened.

Only one point to correct you on. This is NOT a young group.  It is a very mature, very experienced team that has played together for at least a whole season. Time to shine even more then last year.

These are the guys who will see the bulk of the action:

Vashil (if truly back)  5th year senior
Keith  Senior
Darien  Senior
E. Victor 5th year senior
Alec  Junior
Shane  4th year Junior
Jubril  Junior
Lexus 3rd year Sophomore
David  Sophomore
Tevon  Sophomore
Derrik  Freshman

[78crusader]

Terrible game for Valpo. There is no upside to scheduling road games vs bottom dwelling power conference teams. None.

Why is this a terrible game for VU?  Most posters want an upgraded OOC schedule, and here is a good game against a quality opponent, a game that gives VU, with perhaps its most talented and deepest team in years, a chance to break a long losing streak against power conference teams.  If we are what we say we are -- a really good team -- then we should be able to win our fair share of the games against the Oregon States of the world. 

Paul

[a3uge]

Terrible game for Valpo. There is no upside to scheduling road games vs bottom dwelling power conference teams. None.

Why is this a terrible game for VU?  Most posters want an upgraded OOC schedule, and here is a good game against a quality opponent, a game that gives VU, with perhaps its most talented and deepest team in years, a chance to break a long losing streak against power conference teams.  If we are what we say we are -- a really good team -- then we should be able to win our fair share of the games against the Oregon States of the world. 

Paul

Terrible game for Valpo. There is no upside to scheduling road games vs bottom dwelling power conference teams. None.

I dunno, I'd be pretty pleased if Valpo won.  Oregon State beat UCLA, Arizona.  An RPI of 133 in the PAC-12 isn't fantastic, but it's not like loss there will kill our RPI.

After looking at their schedule last year, Oregon State did actually finish above .500 and doesn't lose anybody next year... So I guess it's not that terrible if Oregon State isn't a bottom dweller anymore.

Gut reaction was that it was another Missouri/Nebraska scheduling, which were both lose-lose games.

Sent from my XT1095 using Tapatalk

[VULB#62]

[quote author=vu72 link=topic=2152.msg59800#msg59800 date=1434486168
Only one point to correct you on. This is NOT a young group.  It is a very mature, very experienced team that has played together for at least a whole season. Time to shine even more then last year.

These are the guys who will see the bulk of the action:

Vashil (if truly back)  5th year senior
Keith  Senior
Darien  Senior
E. Victor 5th year senior
Alec  Junior
Shane  4th year Junior
Jubril  Junior
Lexus 3rd year Sophomore
David  Sophomore
Tevon  Sophomore
Derrik  Freshman
[/quote]

I definitely agree with experienced cuz so many played as freshmen/sophs.  They frequently played with a maturity beyond their chronological ages, but they overall, IMO, are still young in the sense that they, as a team, have a way still to go and they'll make dumb errors that they would get away with against lesser competition.  That's why I think pushing them against stiffer competition is good and will increase team maturity  faster. 

72, if you're wondering, my definition of a "Not Young" team would be the Rowdy-KVW 2012-13 team where basically the first 6 or 7 on the floor were seniors.  This team is a blend of experienced youth (my bold) and senior maturity.  But there will be times when there will not be a senior on the floor.  I would definitely be more than willing to remove the 'young' tag next season though 

[justducky]

All quiet on the scheduling front.    How should this be interpreted?    Is there still hope for a good OOC lineup ; or should we start to panic? 

[valpo64]

Don't panic...I think we will be OK on a nice OOC schedule

[valpo4life]

So we're looking at home against UTSA and away against Indiana State, Oregon and Oregon State so far. Correct?

[valpopal]

I am told that Missouri State will play at the ARC on Saturday, December 19. Unfortunately, most students will be gone from campus for that game. Confirmed that the road games dates in Oregon will be Oregon on November 22 and Oregon State on November 24.

[SanityLost17]

http://www.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/valparaiso-university/notes-on-valparaiso-men-s-basketball---schedule/article_61e3bbc8-24e4-11e5-8377-cb0b97a5c115.html


I hope the Belmont series is for real!

[justducky]

http://www.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/valparaiso-university/notes-on-valparaiso-men-s-basketball---schedule/article_61e3bbc8-24e4-11e5-8377-cb0b97a5c115.html


I hope the Belmont series is for real!

My early take is that we need to find some good competition for our final 4 or 5 openings or we will have very little chance of an at-large bid if we total 5 losses. Looks like Oregon, Oregon St, and Oakland are our only near certain top 100 opponents with Belmont listed as somewhat likely and UWM, Ind St, and Missouri St. all with some potential for that type of significant rise.

OK. If the rest of our schedule is filled with twiddle-dum or twiddle-dee type programs could we get an at-large bid with losses at Oregon, Oregon St and Oakland coupled with a loss to Oakland in the HL championship game? Would only 4 losses coupled with almost no significant wins get us in?

[wh]

Not sure that I understand Oren's thought that we may end up with 1 or 2 non d-1's on the schedule. With the addition of NKU we have 2 fewer OOC opponents to line up than a year ago. Moreover, ml is on record as saying they need to do a better job of OOC scheduling, including moving away from playing non D-1's. IMO there is no justification for bringing anyone into the ARC other than a D-1. The "no one wants to play us at the ARC" excuse is getting pretty tired. Other good mids make it happen - so should we.