MVC Hoops: 2018-19

[VUGrad1314]

SIU checks in at #76 in the Top 144 rankings.

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16530

[underdawg]

Salukis have just now released schedule: We play KENTUCKY on November 9 (Friday)--gulp! also play Buffalo twice and perhaps top ten Nevada--but some SIu fans will still b#tch, I'm afraid

[VUGrad1314]

SIU's schedule will be solid if their opponents play to their potential.

[ValpoDad89]

Here's the rub 13-14, IF they play to their potential. The same thing befalls Valpo, we need our OOC to hold serve to what we expect or do better. The new metric assumes close losses on the road equate to points gained. We have to make a good showing and we definitely need to beat Ball St. at home. Basically at worst we need to win all Home OOC games.

[VUGrad1314]

Loyola's run is being made into a documentary. It's simply amazing the amount of publicity a run like this can generate.

http://www.valleyhoopsinsider.com/four-sides-of-loyolas-run/

[VULB#62]

We got great exposure just making the Sweet 16 back in the day. Imagine if we had beaten URI and made the elite 8!  Loyola (and Butler) show us what would have happened if we had gone even farther. Congratulations Loyola. You deserve all this.

[VU2014]

A nice commitment for SIU. It was rumored that the Valpo Coaching Staff had some interest last year. He's a 2019 commit. The have 5 more scholarships available for that class. Both SIU and Valpo are recruiting Chris Payton, who is VU's priority recruit.

https://twitter.com/LanceBuckets/status/1033136452601880581

[VUGrad1314]

Article on Loyola's future.

http://www.valleyhoopsinsider.com/whats-next-for-loyola/

[underdawg]

Article on Loyola's future. http://www.valleyhoopsinsider.com/whats-next-for-loyola/

Good article--but just one caveat for all teams--never really know how you will play till you see how new guys mix with vets and how other teams improved--just remember in 2016-17 the same Custer and Loyola team lost three games in a row to SIU--a lot of that had to do with Bol guarding the rim-- I can't wait to see Krutwig vs Bol

[VUGrad1314]

I do think that the absence of Bol played a big role in our performance against Southern Illinois. I am interested to see how the games go with him healthy and in action. I suspect they will be much tougher.

[VUGrad1314]

Buffalo comes in at #74 in the rankings.

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16536

[VU2014]

Drake had a big recruit day. They landed 2 recruits today and now have 3 commits for the class of 2019.

http://verbalcommits.com/schools/drake

[VUGrad1314]

Glad to see Drake picking up the pieces and recruiting well.

[wh]

Glad to see Drake picking up the pieces and recruiting well.

They put out offers to 13 2-star players and 2 3-Star players. 1 of the 2 3-stars and 2 of the 13 2-stars have committed. I'm not sure how much we can glean from that.

[IrishDawg]

Drake had a big recruit day. They landed 2 recruits today and now have 3 commits for the class of 2019.

http://verbalcommits.com/schools/drake

Holy cow - 5'11, 215 lbs point guard (Joseph Yesufu)?  Kid is built like a tank.  Drake still has 2 spots open for the 2019 class, and this is starting to get into the time of year where a bunch of guys are going to start coming off the board.  Based on their ratings, not an abnormal haul for Drake, so we'll see what happens.

[VUGrad1314]

Glad to see Drake picking up the pieces and recruiting well.

They put out offers to 13 2-star players and 2 3-Star players. 1 of the 2 3-stars and 2 of the 13 2-stars have committed. I'm not sure how much we can glean from that.

Both players are top 20 in the state of Illinois apparently.

[VU2014]

Maybe some are sleeping on Illinois State in the national media, but nobody within the conference is sleeping on them. They will be a force in the MVC this season.

https://twitter.com/CBB_Central/status/1034091503348604928

[VUGrad1314]

Loyola will start a home and home with Ball State this year. At this point I think Ball State should just become an MVC member. They're the fourth MVC team they'll play this year I think.

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1034098885608841217

[VU2014]

Loyola will start a home and home with Ball State this year. At this point I think Ball State should just become an MVC member. They're the fourth MVC team they'll play this year I think.

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1034098885608841217

As long as it doesn't come at the expense of our series with them then good for them. Let's see if the LU and BSU coaches can manage to schedule those games when students are on campus...

[underdawg]

SIU may pick up late frontliner for 2018---6-8 230 pound Sekou Dembele of Birmingham, Alabama's Central Park Christian School is enrolled at SIU now--no official announcement yet--probably will take Jimmy Beane's 2018 scholie. Jimmy is enrolled on his own dime now and will get a 2019 scholie (Darius Beane, the SIU Assistant coaches' son is on the roster already--Jimmy is his cousin)

[VUGrad1314]

Loyola will start a home and home with Ball State this year. At this point I think Ball State should just become an MVC member. They're the fourth MVC team they'll play this year I think. https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1034098885608841217

As long as it doesn't come at the expense of our series with them then good for them. Let's see if the LU and BSU coaches can manage to schedule those games when students are on campus...

If it comes out that the Loyola and Valpo games are on the same trip then I see no good reason why we can't have St Joseph's who will be in Chicagoin 19-20 on our schedule. Teams like connecting games on road trips to make them worthwhile. Therefore every time Loyola gets an interesting series we should be on the phone gauging their interest in starting something with Valpo.

[VU2014]

Loyola will start a home and home with Ball State this year. At this point I think Ball State should just become an MVC member. They're the fourth MVC team they'll play this year I think. https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1034098885608841217

As long as it doesn't come at the expense of our series with them then good for them. Let's see if the LU and BSU coaches can manage to schedule those games when students are on campus...

If it comes out that the Loyola and Valpo games are on the same trip then I see no good reason why we can't have St Joseph's who will be in Chicagoin 19-20 on our schedule. Teams like connecting games on road trips to make them worthwhile. Therefore every time Loyola gets an interesting series we should be on the phone gauging their interest in starting something with Valpo.

That would be a good series. Having Nick Robinson on the active roster would make for a interesting storyline if they could make it work out.

[VUGrad1314]

Loyola's schedule is a lot like Valpo's. A pretty solid road\neutral slate with an underwhelming home slate outside of Nevada. To be honest, this schedule makes me feel much better about our own. They're going to need to win pretty much all of their big games to be in the at-large conversation.

https://loyolaramblers.com/news/2018/8/27/loyola-mens-basketball-reveals-challenging-2018-19-non-conference-schedule.aspx?path=mbball

[IrishDawg]

Loyola's schedule is a lot like Valpo's. A pretty solid road\neutral slate with an underwhelming home slate outside of Nevada. To be honest, this schedule makes me feel much better about our own. They're going to need to win pretty much all of their big games to be in the at-large conversation.

https://loyolaramblers.com/news/2018/8/27/loyola-mens-basketball-reveals-challenging-2018-19-non-conference-schedule.aspx?path=mbball

I don't think Loyola's is that similar to Valpo's.  Their hard games (at least using last year as a judgement) aren't nearly as difficult, especially given that they get Nevada at home.  Other than Nevada and possibly Maryland, there isn't an at-large team on their schedule.  Valpo's got West Virginia (possibly twice), WKU and Texas A&M either at a neutral site or on the road, and maybe even UCF depending on how the bracket falls.  Loyola's schedule is very similar to last year's when they had Boise State and Florida and they had to win the MVC tournament in order to get into the tournament.

[FieldGoodie05]

Loyola's schedule is a lot like Valpo's. A pretty solid road\neutral slate with an underwhelming home slate outside of Nevada. To be honest, this schedule makes me feel much better about our own. They're going to need to win pretty much all of their big games to be in the at-large conversation.

https://loyolaramblers.com/news/2018/8/27/loyola-mens-basketball-reveals-challenging-2018-19-non-conference-schedule.aspx?path=mbball

I don't think Loyola's is that similar to Valpo's.  Their hard games (at least using last year as a judgement) aren't nearly as difficult, especially given that they get Nevada at home.  Other than Nevada and possibly Maryland, there isn't an at-large team on their schedule.  Valpo's got West Virginia (possibly twice), WKU and Texas A&M either at a neutral site or on the road, and maybe even UCF depending on how the bracket falls.  Loyola's schedule is very similar to last year's when they had Boise State and Florida and they had to win the MVC tournament in order to get into the tournament.

I tried going through pre-season rankings and RPI and others and it's just a mess.  Suffice it to say that neither team is killing it with their scheduling.  Undoubtedly Loyola had some Home-and-Homes already scheduled pre-Final Four so they were locked into some of those contracts.  Has anyone been on the Loyola fan forums and heard their feelings about their schedule?  I am guessing there is a lot of gripping and complaining as this board does most years.