DePaul and Northwestern are wimps

[usc4valpo]

I wish DePaul and Northwestern would quit being such wimps and cover their ineptitude and play the Crusaders. Chicagoland college basketball is at an alltime low, and getting the locals teams to face off among each other will only help its exposure. I understand DePaul and Northwestern have a stance that playing Valpo will not help their programs, but at this day and age that is complete bovine excretion. Cripes, DePaul and Northwestern have not faced Valpo since 1980 - that's just not right!

[a3uge]

I wish DePaul and Northwestern would quit being such wimps and cover their ineptitude and play the Crusaders. Chicagoland college basketball is at an alltime low, and getting the locals teams to face off among each other will only help its exposure. I understand DePaul and Northwestern have a stance that playing Valpo will not help their programs, but at this day and age that is complete bovine excretion. Cripes, DePaul and Northwestern have not faced Valpo since 1980 - that's just not right!

If Depaul or Northwestern call to schedule a game, Valpo should say no. Not worth dragging down our RPI and SOS.

[usc4valpo]

touche - since I have family that went to those schools, I thought it would be fun to see that. Valpo needs to get more love from the Chicagoland community. Then again, DePaul and Northwestern hoops is not getting any love either.

[agibson]

I bet we'd happily take a home-and-home with Northwestern, and would be glad to welcome DePaul to the ARC or maybe for a multi-year series.

For the regional angle (look at all our IN teams), and they'd likely help our RPI. Northwestern will have plenty of non-con wins at home, and the contribution of each to our OORecord (3rd factor) would be good.

[VULB#62]

Does anyone have any credible information about that secret scrimmage beyond "we got spanked"?  And did we really get spanked as was reported earlier?  Kind of hard to believe given how we are playing.

NU (4-1, RPI 46) Schedule so far:
Beat Mass Lowell (2-2, RPI 100) 79-57
Beat Fairfield (2-3, RPI 166) 79-72
Beat Columbia (3-2, RPI 180) 83-80 OT
Lost #9 North Carolina (5-1, RPI 29) 80-69
Beat Missouri (2-3, RPI 185) 67-63

Heck, NU has Chicago State and DePaul on THEIR schedule.  Why not us?

[Valpower]

Does anyone have any credible information about that secret scrimmage beyond "we got spanked"?  And did we really get spanked as was reported earlier?  Kind of hard to believe given how we are playing.

NU (4-1, RPI 46) Schedule so far:
Beat Mass Lowell (2-2, RPI 100) 79-57
Beat Fairfield (2-3, RPI 166) 79-72
Beat Columbia (3-2, RPI 180) 83-80 OT
Lost #9 North Carolina (5-1, RPI 29) 80-69
Beat Missouri (2-3, RPI 185) 67-63

Heck, NU has Chicago State and DePaul on THEIR schedule.  Why not us?

My goodness, VULB#62.  Between your thinking that the Ball State game (and probably the game after that) is REALLY going to tell us how good this team is to worrying about the "results" of a scrimmage played a long time ago, I'm beginning to think nothing will dispel your doubt.

[a3uge]

I bet we'd happily take a home-and-home with Northwestern, and would be glad to welcome DePaul to the ARC or maybe for a multi-year series.

For the regional angle (look at all our IN teams), and they'd likely help our RPI. Northwestern will have plenty of non-con wins at home, and the contribution of each to our OORecord (3rd factor) would be good.

DePaul has had 19 or more losses in the past 8 seasons. Northwestern isn't so bad, but regularly finishes below .500.

Scheduling is still all a game, and their only chance to break out of the cellar. Schedule cupcakes at home (by buying off crappy teams) and try to schedule top teams on the road, or on a neutral court by buying into a tournament. DePaul has been so crappy and the Big East isn't nearly what it once was, so they've lost the ability to do this. Northwestern is still able to schedule like they're Kentucky, and they still can't make the tournament.

The NCAA should really cap the number of home and neutral court games a team can play. This will never happen because a game like Rider @ Maryland still draw 18,000 fans. The NCAA took out the 2 exempt tournaments in 4 years rule, so top teams can play top 10 teams in the comfort of a Caribbean island every year.

I'm not saying Kentucky should be forced to schedule Valpo on the road, but having 8 home games, 3 neutral and only 2 OOC road games is absurd. Kansas having 1 OOC road game is absurd. Texas having 1 OOC road game is absurd. Sure, they have to play tough games in conference, but mid majors are penalized already penalized for being in smaller conferences when it comes to at-large bids and seeding. Without being able to attract quality opponents at home, mid majors take a hit in both attendance and RPI - because you still need home games to keep the doors open. This has been going on forever, and is nothing new. The NCAA created this monster and now can't control it.

[VULB#62]

My goodness, VULB#62.  Between your thinking that the Ball State game (and probably the game after that) is REALLY going to tell us how good this team is to worrying about the "results" of a scrimmage played a long time ago, I'm beginning to think nothing will dispel your doubt.

Au contrare.  I don't believe we got spanked at NU and am looking for confirmation.  We are playing great. I mention Ball State only in the context that it is a trap game in my mind, and if we fall for it (I don't think that will happen, but we might come out flat) we will have gone back a step and we can't afford that in our drive toward establishing our national credentials.  Paul Oren's blog cites the next three games as not cake walks as well.

[agibson]

I bet we'd happily take a home-and-home with Northwestern, and would be glad to welcome DePaul to the ARC or maybe for a multi-year series.

For the regional angle (look at all our IN teams), and they'd likely help our RPI. Northwestern will have plenty of non-con wins at home, and the contribution of each to our OORecord (3rd factor) would be good.

DePaul has had 19 or more losses in the past 8 seasons. Northwestern isn't so bad, but regularly finishes below .500.

OK, checking some numbers.  DePaul might hurt a little.  But Northwestern would be good for us, and Depaul wouldn't hurt much (certainly not compared to YSU, etc.!).

Details below.

[
Let's try RPI Wizard and RPI Forecast (based on Sagarin ratings).

Our default, actual, schedule forecasts out (in RPI Wizard; slightly different than RPI Forecast... because of conference tournaments?) to 24-5, RPI 32.

Northwestern's expected record is 19-12, RPI 112, 8th in the Big 10/14.  (Expected RPI a bit better than Milwaukee. Better than anybody in the Horizon League but us.)

Depaul's expected record is 10-20, RPI 185, 10/10 in the Big East. (Expected RPI about like Detroit.)

Adding a win against Northwestern at the ARC to our schedule improves our expected RPI from 32 to 29.

Adding a win against Depaul at the ARC ... does hurt our RPI slightly, 32—>33.  A lot like all those Horizon League games are going to do.  Move the win to Lincoln Park, and it neither helps nor hurts our RPI.
]

[bbtds]

Adding a win against Depaul at the ARC ... does hurt our RPI slightly, 32—>33.  A lot like all those Horizon League games are going to do.  Move the win to Lincoln Park, and it neither helps nor hurts our RPI.

the Blue Demons are only playing exhibitions, Western Michigan and Little Rock at the McGrath-Phillips Arena in Lincoln Park. They play most of their games at All-State Arena in Rosemont and will be moving those games to the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority's (a quasi-public agency known as McPier) new facility on Cermack Rd in the south Loop near McCormick Place in the fall of 2017.

[usc4valpo]

RPI is one item, but to get local attention to college basketball, match ups with DePaul and Northwestern should happen