MVC Hoops: 2018-19

[VUGrad1314]

Actually no they say it's better than they've had in years (and it probably is). I'm just not sure if it's at large wprthy which is disappointing given where their program is now.

http://www.ramblermania.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2377&start=140

[FieldGoodie05]

And I would also 2nd the idea that we have more high-end competition on our schedule than Loyola in this particular year.  Their home games are sizably better but our neutral court / road games are a good deal tougher.

One thing I cannot help but consider is how does the "next generation" of Valpo fan gets hooked.  The way I see it there are only a couple sources of "next generation" fans:

A) Students / Alumni
B) Townies

In category (A) the home game slate (OOC) is important to getting them excited for the team but the MVC home games will do that alone.  So I would argue that the home OOC is not as important for category (A).  This category wants Thursday, Friday and Saturday night games exclusively.  Heck include me here too!

Now in category (B) I think the home (OOC) slate is of sizable importance.  And I am starting to come around to some POV of posters on this forum.  What other reasons should category (B) "next generation" fans have to come to Valpo home OCC games others other than quality competition with name brands they recognize?

And if I were to assign % of fans at home games, I would say category (A) is probably 35% and category (B) is closer 65% of ticket holders at most home games.  So to 65% of our fan base name brand OOC home games are paramount to engagement.

Note:  I am not including road team fans in these "highly scientific" numbers.

[VUGrad1314]

Yeah there's no way the gaudy attendance numbers for Florida State St Mary's Rhode Island  Butler and other big HL games in the past and  Loyola last year were student\alumni driven. The program NEEDS  the local community to be excited and engaged and that requires 1. A slate of goodwell-respected recognizable opponents and\or 2. A Valpo team in contention for a league title and\or an at-large bid. This schedule doesn't pack the gear not only in terms of opponents but the dates as well. People will come out mid-week for Utah State Belmont Rhode Island St Mary's or Florida State, but teams like we've got on our homes schedule this year need FRI-SUN dates to have a prayer of reaching 3000. If we stub our toe in one of these games or get off to a slow start in conference play, Heaven help us. We need 1-2 big non-con wins badly.

[VU2014]

I'd argue that the quality of the Home OOC is becoming increasingly important to category A. Students aren't dumb and they see who on schedule and non-d1 is a somewhat tough sell even though it's their team who playing them and they can get into the games for free. When you are trying to get the student body to develop a habit to attending games, you don't want to lead D3 school that nobody has ever heard of and is such a blowout (or at least should be) that it doesn't create much in game excitement.

The athletics department really should be aiming to make the attendance of the MBB games a habit by the time the Conference season comes around. For die-hard fans we will come support the team no matter what, but for potential new fans (students) the passion hasn't been built yet. There are so many entertainment options that both the students and surrounding community have access to these days.

[valpopal]

I'd argue that the quality of the Home OOC is becoming increasingly important to category A. Students aren't dumb and they see who on schedule and non-d1 is a somewhat tough sell even though it's their team who playing them and they can get into the games for free. When you are trying to get the student body to develop a habit to attending games, you don't want to lead D3 school that nobody has ever heard of and is such a blowout (or at least should be) that it doesn't create much in game excitement.

The athletics department really should be aiming to make the attendance of the MBB games a habit by the time the Conference season comes around. For die-hard fans we will come support the team no matter what, but for potential new fans (students) the passion hasn't been built yet. There are so many entertainment options that both the students and surrounding community have access to these days.

As I noted in a previous post, the only D-1 games on the nonconference schedule while students are in town don't occur until the end of the semester, Dec. 2 & Dec. 4, within a 3-day period during the busiest week when papers are due and just before final exams. Therefore, during the whole Fall semester, students have only a 3-day window to watch a D-1 nonconference game at the ARC. Difficult, and maybe impossible, to build momentum of fan support with this schedule.

[VU2014]

I'd argue that the quality of the Home OOC is becoming increasingly important to category A. Students aren't dumb and they see who on schedule and non-d1 is a somewhat tough sell even though it's their team who playing them and they can get into the games for free. When you are trying to get the student body to develop a habit to attending games, you don't want to lead D3 school that nobody has ever heard of and is such a blowout (or at least should be) that it doesn't create much in game excitement.

The athletics department really should be aiming to make the attendance of the MBB games a habit by the time the Conference season comes around. For die-hard fans we will come support the team no matter what, but for potential new fans (students) the passion hasn't been built yet. There are so many entertainment options that both the students and surrounding community have access to these days.

As I noted in a previous post, the only D-1 games on the nonconference schedule while students are in town don't occur until the end of the semester, Dec. 2 & Dec. 4, within a 3-day period during the busiest week when papers are due and just before final exams. Therefore, during the whole Fall semester, students have only a 3-day window to watch a D-1 nonconference game at the ARC. Difficult, and maybe impossible, to build momentum of fan support with this schedule.

THIS IS MIND BLOWING TO ME. 

It's literally setting ourselves up for failure/disappointment when it comes to student turnout. How does this athletics department expect to create the next generation of fans and passionate alumni when you serve them a crap home schedule? When these students who haven't seen a single quality opponent at the ARC during the Fall semester a come back from Winter Break the majority of them will be active in Fraternity/Sorority rushing that first month back.

[elephtheria47]

I'd say it would apply to the general surrounding area/ "townie" population as well. After the holidays, major conference teams start their conference schedule too. I'd venture to say the "average college basketball fan" would travel an hour to notre dame to see them play duke/unc or to Purdue to see them play Michigan state or Wisconsin before driving 30ish minutes to Valpo to see them play Illinois state/indiana state.

[IrishDawg]

Actually no they say it's better than they've had in years (and it probably is). I'm just not sure if it's at large wprthy which is disappointing given where their program is now.

http://www.ramblermania.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2377&start=140

Which is where, exactly?  They averaged 2400 fans at their home games last year, a year in which they were really good.  They averaged 1860 fans the year before.  They wouldn't have been an at-large team last year and hadn't made the tournament in 33 years before last season.  Even with the F4 run, things aren't going to change overnight.  They'll sell more tickets this year for sure, and may resonate with more recruits (doesn't mean they'll get them, but they'll at least have heard of them) but they aren't going to go from 2400 attendance to standing room only at every home game.  Their program got a ton of exposure, but they still play in a small (albeit nice) arena in a city that hasn't cared about college basketball in decades.  They aren't going to grab major conference opponents from one great run, and really if it weren't for the MVC/MWC challenge, they may not have even gotten a game with Nevada.

They can get there, but like I continue to say, it's going to take time and consistency in making the tournament and winning games in the tournament.  We'll see if they can get there.

[VUGrad1314]

Drake's non-con is out and it's not too bad for their rebuilding situation.

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

[VUGrad1314]

Another gut punch for the Redbirds.

https://twitter.com/Pg_Benson/status/1034968575574986754

[VUGrad1314]

Great interview with Porter Moser by Jon Rothstein

https://soundcloud.com/compass-media/college-hoops-today-with-jon-rothstein-loyola-chicagos-porter-moser

[VU2014]

Another gut punch for the Redbirds.

https://twitter.com/Pg_Benson/status/1034968575574986754

Not too much of a gut punch because most people thought he was going to be red-shirted. It's not like when the NCAA made an @$$ of themselves by not giving Keith Carter his 4th year. That was a real gut punch because there was quite a bit of optimism that he'd get a approval from the NCAA. Keith got a really raw deal.

[VUGrad1314]

I meant from the standpoint of their at-large hopes. This certainly won't help.

[VU2014]

I meant from the standpoint of their at-large hopes. This certainly won't help.

If they need to rely on freshman to push them over the top it probably wasn't going to happen anyways. But it probably would have been nice to have that extra depth. I've heard Matt Chastain (Loyola transfer to ISUr) is still not totally healthy, which could be a cause for concern. It really will come down to the Top 3 guys for them and getting the most out of the rest of the roster. I'll be curious how Taylor Bruninga looks this season. He flirted with Valpo and took a unofficial while AP was still here. We never ended up offering.

[VULB#62]

Drake's non-con is out and it's not too bad for their rebuilding situation.

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

Better than not bad.

[VUGrad1314]

What can the NCAA do about this? How are they going to address this? It's ridiculous.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/loyola-chicagos-non-con-schedule-is-lacking-because-other-coaches-were-wrongly-afraid-to-schedule-the-ramblers/

[FieldGoodie05]

What can the NCAA do about this? How are they going to address this? It's ridiculous.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/loyola-chicagos-non-con-schedule-is-lacking-because-other-coaches-were-wrongly-afraid-to-schedule-the-ramblers/

That's two years in a row a MVC coach put P6 on notice for scheduling like whimps (Illinois State last year).  Both years the national media gave us a platform.

TBD if national media coverage changes hearts and minds but it's good we are getting the coverage I suppose.

Problem is where is the voting stock?  It's in the puppet NCAA's hands run by P6 and it's a monopoly.  It would take a miracle or poor NCAA March Madness revenues for a change to occur.  It would seem no number of media "hit pieces" can dent the P5 resolve to maintain revenue control.

Sadly I think this is woe-is-me that won't be heard.  If MVC keeps slamming scheduling then they will get a bad name for what few games we can schedule that remain.

P6 steal our grad transfers and especially our coaches and you'd think we'd infiltrate their ranks to where coaches would schedule the mid majors where they cut their teeth.  But it's clear that a combination of P6 conference commissioners / ADs and their new found elite position wipe out any good will.

Let's settle in for neutral site / tournaments as our only P6 games for years to come.

[VU2014]

Unsurprisingly Valpo is flying under the radar going into this season.

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1035890026226298880

[VUGrad1314]

That's just fine. Our time will come. I'm actually really rooting for those three to tear it up this year and establish the conference on solid footing going into our expected contention window. If we can avoid being a Thursday team this year I'll be very happy. Anything in the top 8 and I'm not upset. This conference is tough and we need to understand respect and be prepared for that fact.Expectations can shift wildly year to year though.

[VU2014]

That's just fine. Our time will come. I'm actually really rooting for those three to tear it up this year and establish the conference on solid footing going into our expected contention window. If we can avoid being a Thursday team this year I'll be very happy. Anything in the top 8 and I'm not upset. This conference is tough and we need to understand respect and be prepared for that fact.Expectations can shift wildly year to year though.

I'm hoping and expecting we finish no lower than 6th in the conference.

[VUGrad1314]

Illinois State claims the #66 ranking in the Top 144 Projected NIT team.

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16556

[bbtds]

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.

In the past Loyola only had about 5 posters on their board during their time in the HL. I assume that has changed or another board has sprung up as the board with the most traffic. I haven't checked in a long, long time.

EDIT: same Ramblermania message board with swellafelon posting the most but now he has been joined by a large group of other posters. I wonder how many are brand new............ hmmmmmm?

[VU2014]

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.

In the past Loyola only had about 5 posters on their board during their time in the HL. I assume that has changed or another board has sprung up as the board with the most traffic. I haven't checked in a long, long time.

EDIT: same Ramblermania message board with swellafelon posting the most but now he has been joined by a large group of other posters. I wonder how many are brand new............ hmmmmmm?

It appears a lot of them are new but have been lurking around for a while. I know we have quite a few people who have accounts that login in to read the board but never comment. Would love to hear everyones thoughts & opinions about the team! No need to be shy. We value everyones opinions around here.

[wh]

SIU enrollment continues in free fall

https://thesouthern.com/news/local/siu/despite-biggest-enrollment-dip-yet-siuc-chancellor-predicts-rebound/article_42dcccf9-f1a4-531b-9e12-10ae15b0ec5f.html#comments

Clearly, there is an over abundance of traditional universities in the United States. If SIU were a for-profit business, they would have closed their doors by now. The same for Chicago State. Instead, IL taxpayers continue to be forced to fund what has become an irreversible boondoggle. The day is coming when tax rates will reach the tipping point, the public will say no more, banks will stop loaning, bonds won't be purchased, and everything will come crashing down.

[EddieCabot]

What can the NCAA do about this? How are they going to address this? It's ridiculous.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/loyola-chicagos-non-con-schedule-is-lacking-because-other-coaches-were-wrongly-afraid-to-schedule-the-ramblers/

CBS podcast addresses the Loyola scheduling situation this week (along with other stuff).  Available on iTunes and wherever else you may get your podcasts.  I usually listen here https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/cbssportscom-eye-on-college-basketball-podcast/e/56113490?autoplay=true