Per ESPN NCAA tournament bracket guru, Valpo gets favorable mention.

[vufan7501]

Check out @SaratogaMD's Tweet: https://twitter.com/SaratogaMD/status/676595138441924608

[vufan7501]

Valpo was Lunardi's answer. Not sure why that was not included in original shared tweet.

[agibson]

[tweet]676595138441924608[/tweet]
[tweet]676595794800168961[/tweet]

[agibson]

Nice of him to say it.  Hopefully it's in the _2nd_ round (or later), of course.

He also tweeted out what looks like a moderately updated S curve, compared to his last Bracketology release.

[tweet]676537258959355905[/tweet]

One of the lower 11 seeds.  But above the at-large play-ins.

[chef]

it would have to be in the second round if he projects Valpo as an 11.

[VULB#62]

We take it for more than granted because we went to school there (most of us at least) and have always referred to our alma mater as "Valpo," but seeing national sports personalities matter-of-factly refer to us as just plain old Valpo kind of struck me  this morning. I can't think of another college in the country that has such a unique brand recognition. Some schools are referred to by their mascots (i.e., U of Florida = Gators - but usually preceded by "the").  Others are a familiar mix of letters, i.e., IU.  But we are just Valpo   -- and anyone with any sports knowledge knows exactly what that signifies. And this team can will make that even more a household name.  Couldn't ask for more at this point. -- but if we make a run at the dance, the university cannot afford to drop the promotional ball like they did after "the shot."

[agibson]

Couldn't ask for more at this point. -- but if we make a run at the dance, the university cannot afford to drop the promotional ball like they did after "the shot."

I'm still not quite sure what this means.  Big $$ to keep Bryce?  Or at least to retain Bryce, if he gets antsy?

BIG $$ for some kind of new facility?  I've never understood exactly what that means in practical terms.  Seems like it might just be a sort of recruiting arms race, "Look, we care enough to have spent $40M on a facility." rather than something that actually accrues practical, day-to-day, advantages to the team.

What would help the team, practically speaking, to reach higher?

[vu72]

We take it for more than granted because we went to school there (most of us at least) and have always referred to our alma mater as "Valpo," but seeing national sports personalities matter-of-factly refer to us as just plain old Valpo kind of struck me  this morning. I can't think of another college in the country that has such a unique brand recognition. Some schools are referred to by their mascots (i.e., U of Florida = Gators - but usually preceded by "the").  Others are a familiar mix of letters, i.e., IU.  But we are just Valpo   -- and anyone with any sports knowledge knows exactly what that signifies. And this team can will make that even more a household name.  Couldn't ask for more at this point. -- but if we make a run at the dance, the university cannot afford to drop the promotional ball like they did after "the shot."

I'm trying to think of a similar situation but also really can't find one.  I suppose you could point to a TCU.  You'd also have to find a school with a long and difficult to pronounce name!   

[oklahomamick]

Does this work?  Gonzaga = zags

[crusaderjoe]

Vandy = Vanderbilt

[wh]

What would help the team, practically speaking, to reach higher?

One change with 3 indispensably linked steps:

A. Rebuild/revamp the ARC
B. Switch conferences to the A-10
C. Pay Bryce or any future head coach at least $1.2 M.

[vu72]

What would help the team, practically speaking, to reach higher?

One change with 3 indispensably linked steps:

A. Rebuild/revamp the ARC
B. Switch conferences to the A-10
C. Pay Bryce or any future head coach at least $1.2 M.

Totally agree on all three.  On a related note, I have it from a very good source that Bryce's contract keeps him as the highest paid coach in the conference.  This may not always show in current numbers as lots can be paid in deferred comp for tax reasons. Homer showed up recently as the highest paid employee even though he hasn't coached in years.  This simply says that the administration is indeed dedicated to making the basketball program a very high priority. Further renovations to Hilltop are underway as are plans to make it more exclusively a practice facility rather than using it for various other student activities.

[agibson]

A. Rebuild/revamp the ARC

For this one, in particular, I'm still trying to understand what practical difference it makes. Does it make a difference to the team, apart from the sort of psychological difference that repainting your living room might make?  Do we really think there's some reservoir of potential fans out there who would buy more tickets, or pay more for their tickets, if the facility was different?

Maybe there is some element of corporate entertaining we're missing out on.  Do basketball arenas have skyboxes?

[vu72]

A. Rebuild/revamp the ARC

For this one, in particular, I'm still trying to understand what practical difference it makes. Does it make a difference to the team, apart from the sort of psychological difference that repainting your living room might make?  Do we really think there's some reservoir of potential fans out there who would buy more tickets, or pay more for their tickets, if the facility was different?

Maybe there is some element of corporate entertaining we're missing out on.  Do basketball arenas have skyboxes?

[/b]

This is an age old discussion.  Some of us point to Loyola, who revamped their arena in a way similar to what many want for the ARC.  The result?  Hard to say.  It may have helped them into the Valley but their record continues to be pretty bad.  In general I think it helps with players who see it as more "big time" versus high schoolesk.  The changes to the ARC (better more comfortable seating, better concessions, more rest rooms) will certainly make the fan experience better and probably increase attendance but only if the product on the floor stays the same or improves.  As for sky boxes, yes, they exist.  I would hope that a renovation would include some sort of club situation where members/donors can entertain or watch the game with a beer or cocktail in hand.

[a3uge]

We take it for more than granted because we went to school there (most of us at least) and have always referred to our alma mater as "Valpo," but seeing national sports personalities matter-of-factly refer to us as just plain old Valpo kind of struck me  this morning. I can't think of another college in the country that has such a unique brand recognition. Some schools are referred to by their mascots (i.e., U of Florida = Gators - but usually preceded by "the").  Others are a familiar mix of letters, i.e., IU.  But we are just Valpo   -- and anyone with any sports knowledge knows exactly what that signifies. And this team can will make that even more a household name.  Couldn't ask for more at this point. -- but if we make a run at the dance, the university cannot afford to drop the promotional ball like they did after "the shot."

Eh, its still coming from a guy that butchers the pronunciation of "Valparaiso" every time he says it.

[valpo64]

As for Bryce's salary,  I know for a fact that Homer, after his successful Sweet 16 run, etc. received a very large annuity, which I assume was in addition to a salary increase altho I don't know about the salary thing.  Perhaps Bryce is getting some sort of compensation like that which probably wound not    show up under a "salary" figure.

[NativeCheesehead]

The ARC is sub par in almost every way. If the University truly wants to make a commitment to the program, a new building is needed. A true basketball arena. Something very similar to what Oakland has would be ideal. If you do that, and do it right, you don't need a separate practice facility. Duke practices at Cameron Indoor. One facility for men's and women's basketball use only, and some special events, can allow the current arena to be volleyball/lutheran tournament/rec sports. I'll never forget walking through the arena one time during my student days, seeing the men's basketball team practicing on the main floor, with the track team running the track and pole vaulting, and the cheerleaders in the corner. I realize no situation at a school like ours is perfect. But from what I understand, the endowment is pretty healthy, now is the proper time to build a first class mid-major facility. I don't know you could do anything to keep Bryce for the next twenty years, but getting the ball rolling on something like this could be the difference between him staying ten more years or leaving after this one. I also know that despite a better understanding of the value of a program like ours exists outside the athletic department, a new arena isn't even remotely on the radar right now, so i suppose it's a moot point.

[vu72]

The ARC is sub par in almost every way. If the University truly wants to make a commitment to the program, a new building is needed. A true basketball arena. Something very similar to what Oakland has would be ideal. If you do that, and do it right, you don't need a separate practice facility. Duke practices at Cameron Indoor. One facility for men's and women's basketball use only, and some special events, can allow the current arena to be volleyball/lutheran tournament/rec sports. I'll never forget walking through the arena one time during my student days, seeing the men's basketball team practicing on the main floor, with the track team running the track and pole vaulting, and the cheerleaderthe endowment is pretty healthy, rs in the corner. I realize no situation at a school like ours is perfect. But from what I understand, now is the proper time to build a first class mid-major facility. I don't know you could do anything to keep Bryce for the next twenty years, but getting the ball rolling on something like this could be the difference between him staying ten more years or leaving after this one. I also know that despite a better understanding of the value of a program like ours exists outside the athletic department, a new arena isn't even remotely on the radar right now, so i suppose it's a moot point.

A couple of things.  A new arena would be great, no doubt.  Unfortunately either a new facility or renovated ARC will have to be preceded by a new Field House/Rec Center.  Tearing the ARC down or even closing down the main floor would completely shut down all intramural and other sports practicing in the ARC.  It is the only game in town.  As for Oakland, we certainly need to aim higher.  The O'Rena only seats 3000.  Lastly, yes, our endowment is in excess of $200 million and the next pledge drive will seek to grow that number by a couple of hundred million more.  Oakland's endowment is only 84 million but, they have over 16000 students.  Student fees can cover a lot of ground with that many students.  The endowment is a much misunderstood vehicle.  If we had a $200 million athletic endowment that would be one thing.  The vast majority of the endowment is set aside for building maintenance and replacement as well as endowed faculty salaries and scholarship money for students etc.  You just can't go in and take 20 million out of the endowment.  These funds are legally restricted based on the intent of the donors.

[VULB#62]

Couldn't ask for more at this point. -- but if we make a run at the dance, the university cannot afford to drop the promotional ball like they did after "the shot."

I'm still not quite sure what this means.  Big $$ to keep Bryce? Or at least to retain Bryce, if he gets antsy?

BIG $$ for some kind of new facility?  I've never understood exactly what that means in practical terms.  Seems like it might just be a sort of recruiting arms race, "Look, we care enough to have spent $40M on a facility." rather than something that actually accrues practical, day-to-day, advantages to the team.

What would help the team, practically speaking, to reach higher?

I was originally thinking more from a promotional standpoint.  But that would, first and foremost, require the AD hiring a competent (read, familiar with big time college sports) marketing and PR consulting firm to come up with a near-term and long-term strategic plan to leverage the publicity that should come out of this season's successes. Secondly, an increased publicity budget needs to be implemented. I think these two things were not seriously followed up after the 1998 run -- Valpo just relied on what publicity got generated on its own back then (again, I think.).  This time VU needs to help things along.

What would help the team, practically speaking, to reach higher?

One change with 3 indispensably linked steps:

A. Rebuild/revamp the ARC
B. Switch conferences to the A-10
C. Pay Bryce or any future head coach at least $1.2 M.

Agree on these.  I would suggest that these be done in parallel with the PR strategic planning.  I would also list them as C first, then make an immediate, strong effort to get into the A-10 ASAP, and then start on A -- the ARC.  Of the 3,  the ARC will take the longest to implement from initial designs to construction plans, then construction, and ultimately regaining use of the facility again (might require a road season or "home" games at an alternative site depending on what will be done and how it will be scheduled?).

[VULB#62]

Does this work?  Gonzaga = zags

I thought of Gonzaga, but there is a "the" most commonly preceding "Zags"

Vandy makes the cut.  No "the" and no mascot.

[wh]

Vandy's probably the best comparison. UMass, UConn, Penn, Nova and Bama come kind of close, yet unlike Valpo and Vandy they are simply a truncation of the full name.

[VULB#62]

The ARC is sub par in almost every way. If the University truly wants to make a commitment to the program, a new building is needed. A true basketball arena. Something very similar to what Oakland has would be ideal. If you do that, and do it right, you don't need a separate practice facility. Duke practices at Cameron Indoor. One facility for men's and women's basketball use only, and some special events, can allow the current arena to be volleyball/lutheran tournament/rec sports. I'll never forget walking through the arena one time during my student days, seeing the men's basketball team practicing on the main floor, with the track team running the track and pole vaulting, and the cheerleaders in the corner. I realize no situation at a school like ours is perfect. But from what I understand, the endowment is pretty healthy, now is the proper time to build a first class mid-major facility. I don't know you could do anything to keep Bryce for the next twenty years, but getting the ball rolling on something like this could be the difference between him staying ten more years or leaving after this one. I also know that despite a better understanding of the value of a program like ours exists outside the athletic department, a new arena isn't even remotely on the radar right now, so i suppose it's a moot point.

As discussed previously many times, most posters agree that Valpo doesn't need a brand spanking new 7,000 seat basketball arena.  It does need an attractively renovated (expanded) ARC and possibly pushing the seating up to 6,000.  But that kind of renovation needs to also include more than just the arena portion of the building (subpar training facilities and inadequate locker space also need to be addressed "while we are at it").  A north wall expansion could address all three objectives.

For reference here are the A-10 seating capacities:

Dayton - 13435
SLU - 10600
G. Mason - 10000
UMass - 9493
URI - 7657
VCU - 7617
Richmond - 7201
VALPO - 5500
St Bona - 5480
Davidson - 5223
Duquesne - 4406
G. Washington - 4338
St. Joe - 4200
LaSalle - 4000
Fordham - 3470

Say we expand to 6000, we'd still be in the middle of the A-10 pack.  If SLU does move to the Big East I think we would be an ideal replacement and open the Chicago market for the A-10.

Note the present A-10 footprint attached (click to enlarge) has SLU as quite an outlier. Valpo has so many parallels with recent addition Davidson.  There is also a better public to private split.

[a3uge]

Valpo's facilities aren't good enough for the MVC, let alone the A10. We're not even remotely close to A10 consideration.

[vu72]

Valpo's facilities aren't good enough for the MVC, let alone the A10. We're not even remotely close to A10 consideration.

[/b][/b]

I gotta love this over the top reaction.  What knowledge do you have of A-10 facilities?  Based on arena size we would be in the middle of the pack. Enrollment size we would be near the middle being bigger then Davidson, Richmond and St. Bonnie and about the same size as LaSalle.  Academically we are a very good fit and we sure aren't in the Horizon. We play all their sports except Women's LaCrosse (probably next new sport at Valpo), Field Hockey (they have associate members in this sport so some of their schools don't play this either), and rowing.  Both St. Louis and Dayton are Catholic so would fit nicely into the Big East.  Now that we have a track, if we do a renovation to the ARC I think we certainly would get a serious look if St. Louis or Dayton bolted.

[VULB#62]

Valpo's facilities aren't good enough for the MVC, let alone the A10. We're not even remotely close to A10 consideration.

Maybe the MVC -- mostly mid-sized state universities with good sized athletic budgets (and lower academic thresholds for admission), many with FCS football and all that goes with that.  But I (or WH) weren't targeting the MVC.  We both focused on A-10 and here I disagree.

As noted below, half of the BB arenas are smaller than the ARC.  Some are much older.  St Bonaventure touts their 1966-built gym as cozy and fan friendly.  Most facilities other than BB in the bottom 7 capacity schools I listed are similar to Valpo's.  Many don't even have a track (We do!       Finally   )  Granted, the top 7 are generally better, but VU falls right in the middle of the whole lot.  But the biggest plus for a private university like Valpo is that of the 14 colleges in the A-10, 10 are private and the 4 public colleges all fall in the the top capacity 7 (no surprise there). The second biggest plus is that it is a non-football conference (I know the MVFC is "separate" from the MVC but......), though some schools do play football elsewhere.  Two (Davidson and Dayton) already are in the PFL with VU for non-scholarship FB.  Duquesne is in the NEC.  Fordham plays in the Patriot League.  The remaining schools are FCS FB ( URI, Richmond) in the CAA.  Only UMass is FBS -- and just within the last 5 years.

There's a common values thing here that there isn't with any other D-I conference.