UNI struggles

[valleychamp]

The conference obviously is not as good as it was in 2006. But its not as bad as you make it out to be either. The national media has thrown around plenty of praise for the Valley this year. It is very good at the top, and has some pretty good teams in the middle. I believe that whomever can finish with a very good record in the MVC this year, will be rewarded. And in UNI's case, IMO some of the difference between how good the league was in '06 compared to now is offset somewhat by how difficult UNI's non-conf schedule was.

I'm not putting a ton of stock into the BB game either but the fact remains a) it is going to be a somewhat decent team, and b) it is a chance to pad another W to your win total.

I don't understand the point you are trying to make regarding my VCU comparison. They didn't have a shiny resume, but still got in--that was my whole point. They picked up a couple good wins in conf play (like a team like UNI has a chance to do), and they had only a couple decent wins out of conference, like Wichita (not a top 50 team) and UCLA (barely a top 50 team)--which is similar to what UNI has done against a more difficult schedule.

[DoubleJayAlum]

At this point, Indiana State has way better of a chance to get an at-large bid out of the Valley, and even with them, it's a long shot.

If selecting teams right now, InSU has a better RPI and better quality wins. Their one bad loss is overshadowed by the good wins.

UNI's entire resume consists on one thing and one thing only -- no bad losses. Lose a single game to a conference opponent with an RPI over 100 and even this positive goes out the window.

[DoubleJayAlum]

I don't understand the point you are trying to make regarding my VCU comparison. They didn't have a shiny resume, but still got in--that was my whole point. They picked up a couple good wins in conf play (like a team like UNI has a chance to do), and they had only a couple decent wins out of conference, like Wichita (not a top 50 team) and UCLA (barely a top 50 team)--which is similar to what UNI has done against a more difficult schedule.

Wichita's RPi was 35 and UCLA's was 38. http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2011/ ... mmonwealth

UNI doesn't have anything close to that in the noncon. Your best win is George MAson at 45, with the next closest being St MAry's at 89.

[valleychamp]

RPI is difficult to judge/project yet to this point in the season--but with that in mind, looking at the RPI as it stands right now UNI has a whopping EIGHT games against RPI top 50 teams remaining on their schedule, and that does not count the extra bracketbuster game or whatever game(s) they get in STL.

UNI has 20 regular season games left, +Arch Madness. Even going something like 14-6 in that stretch puts UNI at 21 wins that likely include many top 50 and top 100 wins, with a chance to make a run in STL after that. Like I said, UNI will have to go on a huge run in conference to make it happen, but the fact is that they still have every opportunity to do so.

[valleychamp]

I don't understand the point you are trying to make regarding my VCU comparison. They didn't have a shiny resume, but still got in--that was my whole point. They picked up a couple good wins in conf play (like a team like UNI has a chance to do), and they had only a couple decent wins out of conference, like Wichita (not a top 50 team) and UCLA (barely a top 50 team)--which is similar to what UNI has done against a more difficult schedule.

Wichita's RPi was 35 and UCLA's was 38. http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2011/ ... mmonwealth

UNI doesn't have anything close to that in the noncon. Your best win is George MAson at 45, with the next closest being St MAry's at 89.

Well, I guess it depends on what rankings you use. I was looking at the archived RPI rankings from bbstate.com, which is a pretty reputable site. I don't know what or where the "official" RPI rankings are.

None the less, this argument is pretty semantic. The situations/resumes have a chance to be pretty similar.

[Khan4Cats]

RPI is difficult to judge/project yet to this point in the season--but with that in mind, looking at the RPI as it stands right now UNI has a whopping EIGHT games against RPI top 50 teams remaining on their schedule, and that does not count the extra bracketbuster game or whatever game(s) they get in STL.

UNI has 20 regular season games left, +Arch Madness. Even going something like 14-6 in that stretch puts UNI at 21 wins that likely include many top 50 and top 100 wins, with a chance to make a run in STL after that. Like I said, UNI will have to go on a huge run in conference to make it happen, but the fact is that they still have every opportunity to do so.

Champ, Look at that 14-6 closely. If any of those 6 losses are to the bottom 5 teams (with RPI's currently at 160 or higher) that would be a BAD loss for the resume. Now, what about 2 losses to them? UNI is out with that. Okay, say we don't lose to any of the lower RPI teams and only good ones. That means we go 2-6 against the top 4 schools. Also not earth-shattering and we still don't have a 'whopping' number of quality wins to go with all those good losses. If we go 4-4 against the top 4 and lose bracketbusters and first round in STL, it is also likely on the wrong side of the bubble as the BB won't be a great win and that first round loss will be to a team with a 150 RPI most likely.

The window isn't completely closed for a UNI at-large but the screen is in place and the shutters have been closed. It is a very narrow path in front of the Panthers.

Win the whole damn conference and not worry about it. That's a good path.

[Jet915]

RPI is difficult to judge/project yet to this point in the season--but with that in mind, looking at the RPI as it stands right now UNI has a whopping EIGHT games against RPI top 50 teams remaining on their schedule, and that does not count the extra bracketbuster game or whatever game(s) they get in STL.

UNI has 20 regular season games left, +Arch Madness. Even going something like 14-6 in that stretch puts UNI at 21 wins that likely include many top 50 and top 100 wins, with a chance to make a run in STL after that. Like I said, UNI will have to go on a huge run in conference to make it happen, but the fact is that they still have every opportunity to do so.

Champ, Look at that 14-6 closely. If any of those 6 losses are to the bottom 5 teams (with RPI's currently at 160 or higher) that would be a BAD loss for the resume. Now, what about 2 losses to them? UNI is out with that. Okay, say we don't lose to any of the lower RPI teams and only good ones. That means we go 2-6 against the top 4 schools. Also not earth-shattering and we still don't have a 'whopping' number of quality wins to go with all those good losses. If we go 4-4 against the top 4 and lose bracketbusters and first round in STL, it is also likely on the wrong side of the bubble as the BB won't be a great win and that first round loss will be to a team with a 150 RPI most likely.

The window isn't completely closed for a UNI at-large but the screen is in place and the shutters have been closed. It is a very narrow path in front of the Panthers.

Win the whole damn conference and not worry about it. That's a good path.

Someone thinking logically.

[Snaggletooth]

RPI is difficult to judge/project yet to this point in the season--

Never heard of rpiforecast.com? They do all the work and what you will find is UNI had 9 losses to give to be on the bubble and they have already give up 5 a third of the way through the season.

[valleychamp]

RPI is difficult to judge/project yet to this point in the season--

Never heard of rpiforecast.com? They do all the work and what you will find is UNI had 9 losses to give to be on the bubble and they have already give up 5 a third of the way through the season.

Lol, ok.


Maybe they should just seed the tournament now off of that surely fail-safe tool.

[Snaggletooth]

RPI is difficult to judge/project yet to this point in the season--

Never heard of rpiforecast.com? They do all the work and what you will find is UNI had 9 losses to give to be on the bubble and they have already give up 5 a third of the way through the season.

Lol, ok.


Maybe they should just seed the tournament now off of that surely fail-safe tool.

I believe they already have for UNI in the CIT