2017-18 VU Schedule

[vu72]

I think this conference challenge is great.  Think about being able to play a top tier Mid-Major every year. They bring Colorado State, San Diego State Nevada, New Mexico etc.  The only thing potentially better would be the West Coast Conference with games against Gonzaga, St. Mary's and BYU.

[vu72]

as far as mid major conference goes I would much rather see a mvc/A-10 or MVC/American

So, U Conn, Cincinnati, Memphis, Houston et al are now mid-majors?? The Valley would be murdered.

[FieldGoodie05]

as far as mid major conference goes I would much rather see a mvc/A-10 or MVC/American

So, U Conn, Cincinnati, Memphis, Houston et al are now mid-majors?? The Valley would be murdered.

If we went into this wanting SOS, makes sense.  If we wanted to win a challenge....not so much.

[talksalot]

http://www.mwcconnection.com/2017/5/15/15640744/breaking-mountain-west-missouri-valley-challenge-matchups-announced

[wh]

A little more gratitude might be in order about the MVC's ability to arrange something our former conference could not. Let's wait until we win a game or 3 before suggesting a more worthy opposing conference.

[VU2014]

Interesting to see the Mountain West is ranked above the A10 in the Preseason KenPom rankings. These are before Valpo joined the MVC (likely wouldn't change after adding Valpo).

https://twitter.com/kenpomeroy/status/850389750313701376

Also Utah State appears to be a much stronger team next year. Their best player was a freshman 3.7-star PG. Quite a few other very talented young players. Could turn out to be a pretty good opponent.
https://twitter.com/CBB_Central/status/864122849174401024
https://twitter.com/kylesportsbias/status/864190278332104704

[valpotx]

Let's be ecstatic to be part of an MVC/MWC challenge.  That will be fantastic for us as we continue to win, as we will get better match-ups.

[vu72]

So, U Conn, Cincinnati, Memphis, Houston et al are now mid-majors?? The Valley would be murdered

Considering that last year they got 2 teams in tournament I absolutely consider the American a mid major conference. If you want to maybe say they are something in between such as h mid I might agree with you there but they are a lot closer to the mid majors then they are to the power conferences.

To answer your question yes I believe those teams are all now mid majors by the fact that they are in what I would consider a mid major conference. Just like Gonzaga is a mid major. some of those teams used to not be mid majors and now they are. Just like creighton, Butler and Xavier used to be mid majors and now they arent

Way to much focus on conference and one year results. Gonzaga, Cincy, U Conn fans would find you analysis laughable.

[VU2014]

So, U Conn, Cincinnati, Memphis, Houston et al are now mid-majors?? The Valley would be murdered

Considering that last year they got 2 teams in tournament I absolutely consider the American a mid major conference. If you want to maybe say they are something in between such as high mid I might agree with you there but they are a lot closer to the mid majors then they are to the power conferences.

To answer your question yes I believe those teams are all now mid majors by the fact that they are in what I would consider a mid major conference. Just like Gonzaga is a mid major. some of those teams used to not be mid majors and now they are. Just like creighton, Butler and Xavier used to be mid majors and now they arent

The American Conference is just such a "hodgepodge" of teams that want to be in an "elite" FBS football conferences that are also pretty good basketball conference.

There are so many teams in the AAC that are ready to "jump-ship" to go into a new conference. Lots of discontent members in that conference right now. It's a very strange conference.  Future realignment could impact that conference if the P5 or Big East (non-football) choose to start grabbing schools. The Big 12 was really close to taking Houston last year and could add them eventually

[bigmosmithfan1]

We're not even officially in the Valley yet, and they've already landed us one more quality non-conference home game than the HL ever did. I'm gonna love Valpo being in this league. 

[VULB#62]

We're not even officially in the Valley yet, and they've already landed us one more quality non-conference home game than the HL ever did. I'm gonna love Valpo being in this league. 

BEST POST OF THE DAY   

[justducky]

Let's be ecstatic to be part of an MVC/MWC challenge.

While good there are some drawbacks to this setup. Most road teams go half way across the country for one Saturday game. So you get an additional home game with a reasonably equal opponent every other year. If this is about strengthening schedules and RPI boost seems like a Friday, Sunday 2 game MVC/MWC challenge swing could be the better option. Yes it is a long way from Boise to San Diego and VU to Missouri St but I have to wonder if this approach has been studied?

[vu72]

Let's be ecstatic to be part of an MVC/MWC challenge.

While good there are some drawbacks to this setup. Most road teams go half way across the country for one Saturday game. So you get an additional home game with a reasonably equal opponent every other year. If this is about strengthening schedules and RPI boost seems like a Friday, Sunday 2 game MVC/MWC challenge swing could be the better option. Yes it is a long way from Boise to San Diego and VU to Missouri St but I have to wonder if this approach has been studied?

Rest assured, every party needs a pooper!   

[EddieCabot]

We're not even officially in the Valley yet, and they've already landed us one more quality non-conference home game than the HL ever did. I'm gonna love Valpo being in this league. 

Agreed.  The Horizon definitely dropped the ball in helping teams like Valpo get better non-conference games.  Valpo was the marquee program and they did nothing to help them, and with the move to MCM, actually prevented them from getting to the NCAA tournament.  Time to move on.

[EddieCabot]

Let's be ecstatic to be part of an MVC/MWC challenge.

While good there are some drawbacks to this setup. Most road teams go half way across the country for one Saturday game. So you get an additional home game with a reasonably equal opponent every other year. If this is about strengthening schedules and RPI boost seems like a Friday, Sunday 2 game MVC/MWC challenge swing could be the better option. Yes it is a long way from Boise to San Diego and VU to Missouri St but I have to wonder if this approach has been studied?

That is a lot of travel for one game ... I wonder if the MVC helps to fund the travel for teams playing road games?

[vu72]

We're not even officially in the Valley yet, and they've already landed us one more quality non-conference home game than the HL ever did. I'm gonna love Valpo being in this league. 

Agreed.  The Horizon definitely dropped the ball in helping teams like Valpo get better non-conference games.  Valpo was the marquee program and they did nothing to help them, and with the move to MCM, actually prevented them from getting to the NCAA tournament.  Time to move on.

Just wondering, Does the Big East help pay for Butler's Women's Tennis team playing a match at Providence?

[a3uge]

How are these matchups determined? Obviously not by last year's performance as Valpo finished with a higher RPI, record, KPOM, etc than all but one remaining Valley member. Southern Illinois finished third in the conference and plays San Jose State, who finished 9th.

On the flip side, I'd be pretty annoyed if I were the MWC - only TWO current MVC members finished above .500 vs D1 opponents last year.

I'm also curious about who covers the travel costs. I'm just not sure who benefits from Drake using a charter to play a game in Wyoming. Or Air Force traveling to Terre Haute for a single game.

[justducky]

How are these matchups determined? Obviously not by last year's performance as Valpo finished with a higher RPI, record, KPOM, etc than all but one remaining Valley member. Southern Illinois finished third in the conference and plays San Jose State, who finished 9th.

Good questions but I will withhold comment until an answer is provided.

I'm just not sure who benefits from Drake using a charter to play a game in Wyoming. Or Air Force traveling to Terre Haute for a single game.

This only can work if the projected MVC best are matched with their like matched MWC equivalents. Also Drake swinging from Wyoming to Boise or Air Force swinging from Terra Haute to VU would be a much better use of already scarce weekend opportunities.

[covufan]

as far as mid major conference goes I would much rather see a mvc/A-10 or MVC/American

I would add the MAC to this list as well. 

[Dave_2010]

as far as mid major conference goes I would much rather see a mvc/A-10 or MVC/American

I would add the MAC to this list as well.

The problem is that the Valley currently sits in an undefined space. It is neither a perennial multi-bid league (like the A10, American, or MWC), nor is it a perennial single-bid like (HL, MAC, OVC, Summit). To schedule a conference challenge will require either a marked step up or down. My preference is always for the step up.


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[agibson]

How are these matchups determined? Obviously not by last year's performance as Valpo finished with a higher RPI, record, KPOM, etc than all but one remaining Valley member. Southern Illinois finished third in the conference and plays San Jose State, who finished 9th.

On the flip side, I'd be pretty annoyed if I were the MWC - only TWO current MVC members finished above .500 vs D1 opponents last year.

I'm also curious about who covers the travel costs. I'm just not sure who benefits from Drake using a charter to play a game in Wyoming. Or Air Force traveling to Terre Haute for a single game.

Yeah, I'm curious too. Is it a joint committee, or what? I wonder to what extent they put top teams against each other, or consider other factors.

I wonder how much of our match up was designed for "us" and how much might have been designed for Wichita State, or left over after the returning conference teams got their needs or wishes taken care of.

[bigmosmithfan1]

We should have no illusions that they were going to hand the best matchup to the newest member of the league. Illinois State earned the best matchup with their MVC season last year.

The great thing about the MW-MVC Challenge is that the games are played in early December, so you get the RPI quality benefits of a good non-conference opponent without the "at-large elimination game" mentality that ended up souring everyone on the old BracketBuster games in late February.

[a3uge]

We should have no illusions that they were going to hand the best matchup to the newest member of the league. Illinois State earned the best matchup with their MVC season last year.

The great thing about the MW-MVC Challenge is that the games are played in early December, so you get the RPI quality benefits of a good non-conference opponent without the "at-large elimination game" mentality that ended up souring everyone on the old BracketBuster games in late February.

It's not that we didn't get the best matchup, it's that we got a below .500 team last year. UNLV or Colorado State would have been fun.

[talksalot]

Kinda fun reading the history of results of this challenge...

http://www.mvc-sports.com/mbasketball/news/2015-16/8509/mountain-west-mvc-challenge-series/#.WRs1_usrInQ


Too bad Hawaii is only a football-affiliate to the Valley...

[underdawg]

That's an interesting question--of which I as a Saluki fan have no definitive answer--it appears some anonymous bureaucrats in both leagues take a little bit of this (what the team did last year) and a little bit of that (what kind of team "experts" think a squad will be in 2017-18) and somehow come up with match-ups. I'll look into it and see what the real process is

Nice article that says about what I said --but who are the guys that do it---are the match-ups agreed up by vote?