NCAA College Basketball Talk

[VUGrad1314]

Here's another interesting table of data: Best mids since '08:

Butler Creighton St Mary's and UNI are all on this list multiple times. Last year's Loyola team is on there at #20 I believe and the 2016 Crusaders check in at 31.

I'm interested to see the methodology behind these rankings and how he defines the term "true mid."

https://twitter.com/totally_t_bomb/status/1027953002181742592

[VUGrad1314]

What a slap in the face of the MVC by this Creighton fan.

https://twitter.com/Lets_Go_Jays/status/1027956604736397313

So CUSA is a major  on par with the A10 and MWC

The Ivy League CAA and MAC are mid majors

But the MVC is neither.

Yeah... Okay...

[valpotx]

His selection of the Ivy League getting 2 bids, demonstrates how much his opinion should matter.

Even more interesting in that chart is that the 2016 St. Mary's team is ranked 10 spots above us.

[VUGrad1314]

I didn't notice it was the same St Mary's team we spanked when they came to the ARC. Thought it was a different one. Either that was a massive upset or his metrics are flawed. Either way it underscores just how good that 15-16 team was. I firmly believe that it was that team that most likely clinched our spot in the MVC. Of course following that year up with 24 wins a conference co-championship and an at-large bid to the NIT despite a coaching transition, multiple  injuries, and  undue heavyhandedness by the NCAA didn't hurt either.

[IrishDawg]

I didn't notice it was the same St Mary's team we spanked when they came to the ARC. Thought it was a different one. Either that was a massive upset or his metrics are flawed. Either way it underscores just how good that 15-16 team was. I firmly believe that it was that team that most likely clinched our spot in the MVC. Of course following that year up with 24 wins a conference co-championship and an at-large bid to the NIT despite a coaching transition, multiple  injuries, and  undue heavyhandedness by the NCAA didn't hurt either.

It's an efficiency ranking, so it takes into account the results of the entire season, not just one game.  Even though the 2016 Saint Mary's team is ranked 10 spots ahead in this ranking and was about 10 spots ahead of them overall in 2016, Valpo having the game at home would at the very least favor a close game, if not an outright win by the Crusaders.  Now the margin by which Valpo won the contest wasn't the expected result, however, a one game sample size is way too small to judge the merits or value of a particular team over the course of an entire season.  Otherwise, one could then say that the 2016 Valpo team wasn't that good because they got "spanked" by a George Washington (at a neutral site) team that going into the game was ranked 20 spots lower than them in these same type of analytical ratings.

[FieldGoodie05]

I didn't notice it was the same St Mary's team we spanked when they came to the ARC. Thought it was a different one. Either that was a massive upset or his metrics are flawed. Either way it underscores just how good that 15-16 team was. I firmly believe that it was that team that most likely clinched our spot in the MVC. Of course following that year up with 24 wins a conference co-championship and an at-large bid to the NIT despite a coaching transition, multiple  injuries, and  undue heavyhandedness by the NCAA didn't hurt either.

It's an efficiency ranking, so it takes into account the results of the entire season, not just one game.  Even though the 2016 Saint Mary's team is ranked 10 spots ahead in this ranking and was about 10 spots ahead of them overall in 2016, Valpo having the game at home would at the very least favor a close game, if not an outright win by the Crusaders.  Now the margin by which Valpo won the contest wasn't the expected result, however, a one game sample size is way too small to judge the merits or value of a particular team over the course of an entire season.  Otherwise, one could then say that the 2016 Valpo team wasn't that good because they got "spanked" by a George Washington (at a neutral site) team that going into the game was ranked 20 spots lower than them in these same type of analytical ratings.

Bingo was his name-ooo.  Concur Dr Irish

[VUGrad1314]

Here's Craig's conclusion of "The Cinderella Code" I really hope people with decision-making power at VU read this portion and see the potential economic impacts if we could have  a run like this. Interestingly the three teams Craig points out as having the potential to become the next Cinderella are: Grand Canyon, Penn, and Lipscomb, two of whom are schools the MVC could theoretically have if they wanted not that I'm necessarily advocating for either one.

https://www.midmajormadness.com/2018/8/14/17688380/the-cinderella-code-part-6-who-will-be-next-mid-major-to-make-the-final-four-grand-canyon-penn

[VULB#62]

The nunber$ across the board blow your mind.

[VUGrad1314]

Karl Benson to step down as Sun Belt commissioner.

https://twitter.com/EnthusiAdams/status/1029856527165923333

https://twitter.com/SunBelt/status/1030152207986053120

[VU2014]

Interesting.

I've been wondering what impact legalized gambling might have on college basketball. A 1% "integrity tax" just sounds like a way for the universities to get a piece of the pie. The part where they said it would be used to educate student-athletes on unscrupulous behavior gave me a chuckle.

https://twitter.com/collegead/status/1031512476779798528?s=20

[ValpoDad89]

2014, I chuckled too at that. I was thinking more than the players, they should use that money to teach coaches about unscrupulous behavior. In the last few years you've had Pitino, Pearl, Tim Floyd, Larry Eustachy, Jim Harrick, Sampson and probably the dirtiest that lands on his feet all the time, Calipari, doing some really shady stuff. I'm sure I'm missing some too.

When I look at that, it makes me glad I root for a school like Valpo.

[IrishDawg]

2014, I chuckled too at that. I was thinking more than the players, they should use that money to teach coaches about unscrupulous behavior. In the last few years you've had Pitino, Pearl, Tim Floyd, Larry Eustachy, Jim Harrick, Sampson and probably the dirtiest that lands on his feet all the time, Calipari, doing some really shady stuff. I'm sure I'm missing some too.

When I look at that, it makes me glad I root for a school like Valpo.

How is Pitino less dirty than Calipari?  Calipari has paid players and had someone take high school exams for them so they could qualify for college.  Pitino hooked up with an assistant coach's wife in the bathroom of a restaurant, paid recruits to come there and had hookers on recruiting trips for both current players and recruits on visits.

You should be glad to root for Valpo, but Pitino takes the cake for sure in my opinion.

[ValpoDad89]

Point taken Irish Dawg. His transgressions and moral fiber are tainted for sure but Pitino will not be coaching anytime soon IMO. Not sure any network will take a chance on hiring him either. Calipari stays gainfully employed while leaving two programs, UMass and Memphis in the dust and had to face sanctions as a result of his actions as he moved on elsewhere. I don't deny any complicity on the part of either institution and feel no sorrow for what they went through but I have a hard time with the fact that the guy is guilty and pays nothing for any damage he caused. Pitino at least is finally paying a price as well as he should.

[historyman]

Pitino hooked up with an assistant coach's wife in the bathroom of a restaurant, paid recruits to come there and had hookers on recruiting trips for both current players and recruits on visits.

Well, aren't we all glad Rick Pitino didn't leave himself out of the "rewards." 

[IrishDawg]

https://twitter.com/marchmadness/status/1032282424888242177

[VU2014]

Well said.

https://twitter.com/EnthusiAdams/status/1032410259757969408

[VUGrad1314]

NIT looking to expand by eight teams by 2020. This could\should be good news for teams in leagues like the MVC. Have a decent year against a tough schedule and you can at least land in the NIT.

https://thesouthern.com/sports/college/salukimania/college-basketball-mvc-commissioner-says-nit-looking-at-expanding-in/article_e263a13e-333b-506f-9bf7-cb54bbea2e08.html

[VU2014]

I've been wondering if the new NCAA recruiting rule will hurt programs like Valpo. There is potentially some good and some bad. It may drive to coaches to scout and recruit at High Schools more than just relying so heavily on the AAU period to evaluate/scout player. The problem for mid-majors on very tight budgets is that those giant AAU gatherings allow coaches to scout in a very cost-effective way. Maybe more kids fall through the cracks and become diamonds in the rough at the Mid-Major level? No matter what, if kids can play they will be found by someone and get an opportunity.

It could be a interesting article idea for the NWI Times or Post-Trib, depending if the coaches would be completely candid on the record with their thoughts on the recruiting rule change and if it will impact our recruiting.

https://twitter.com/MattNorlander/status/1034067564710780928

[VUGrad1314]

Look at this home schedule:

https://nmstatesports.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball

[VUGrad1314]

Talk about the ultimate "what if?"

https://www.midmajormadness.com/2018/9/7/17831902/george-mason-patriots-caa-grant-hill-duke-recruiting-tommy-amaker

[VU2014]

Look at this home schedule:

https://nmstatesports.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball

How did they get St. Mary's to play a true road game against another mid-major? Maybe St. Mary's is learning from their past mistakes.

[VUGrad1314]

Coming within an inch of losing your conference's flagship program will make other programs reevaluate their PRACTICES and do things they aren't used to. That said it's time to bring them to the ARC.

[VULB#62]

It is a mystery to me, an admitted D-I dunce, why top level mid majors don't conspire annually to prolifically schedule each other in OOC games instead of lamenting (sniff, sniff) that the P-5 won't play fair. Hell, the P5 is consistantly conspiring against mid-majors. Organize, conspire, back atcha P5.

[valpo64]

Isn't it ironic that  the Mid-Majors complain about being hurt by the "big boys" who schedule "cupcake" pre-season games but shy away from decent mid-major programs like VU but then the mid-majors schedule the Chicago States, Concordia/Ill, Purdue NW, etc., etc.  Like it or not the mid-majors like the cupcake games too apparently.  Talk about the M-Ms scheduling "money" games,  Purdue FW(formerly IPFW) is traveling all the way to the West Coast to play UCLA! 

[VUGrad1314]

As hard as I've been on the P5 and they deserve every ounce of vitriol they get,That should have been the response by mids but it's much easier to cry foul. To be fair success in the mid major world is more fleeting and the field is more volatile but you do what you have to do.