2014-15 Schedules?

[rlh04d]

Right now, our average RPI is about a 206, up from the 255 from last season.

So if Loyola can avoid absolutely terrible games to finish the season, they'll slightly improve from a terrible schedule.

That's an awful schedule

[Rambler63]

Right now, our average RPI is about a 206, up from the 255 from last season.

So if Loyola can avoid absolutely terrible games to finish the season, they'll slightly improve from a terrible schedule.

That's an awful schedule

I'm not one to defend Porter Moser, but when we first scheduled UIC, they were coming off a 170ish RPI with an incoming Purdue transfer who was supposed to be very good. We've scheduled Michigan State again (who we led at halftime at MSU in 2012-13, ended up losing by 10). Texas Tech is not that bad, and Tulane is going to be in the AAC this year, which should help their RPI.

Look, rlh04d, you've been all over our ass since we joined this conference. The other possible choices were UIC and Valpo, neither of whom have distinguished themselves in any way that could have sated your vociferous objections. Denver and Belmont both said "No" to the MVC. Are you saying that UMKC would have been better?

Tell me a better option, rlh04d... Is Kansas going to leave the Big 12? Could some totally awesome pitch by Doug Elgin convince Duke to move their campus to the Midwest? Do you think St. Louis contacts could have been hypnotised into joining the MVC?

If you think that a Denver or Belmont pitch wasn't strong enough, have you looked at it from their standpoint, which would probably mean a much tougher road to the tournament going through Wichita State? Why in the world would Belmont join a third league in three years only to run up against a Wichita State buzzsaw and miss the tournament almost certainly?

It's been a year and a half (almost) since Loyola was announced as a member of the MVC. In that time we've won a National Championship in Men's Volleyball, we finished last in only one sport in the MVC, we played in a conference title game, and in the one sport where we finished last we beat the 7th place team in the conference tournament. Get over it, already.

[Championz]

I don't know exactly what Men's Volleyball has to do with Men's Basketball other than the fact that both sports include athletes with penises, but the whole point is that Loyola has a sucky non-conference schedule. Why is that so hard to understand? A lot of Valley teams have that problem. Just admit it and move on to the next battle.

[Rambler63]

I don't know exactly what Men's Volleyball has to do with Men's Basketball other than the fact that both sports include athletes with penises, but the whole point is that Loyola has a sucky non-conference schedule. Why is that so hard to understand? A lot of Valley teams have that problem. Just admit it and move on to the next battle.

Please explain the "sucky non-conference schedule" comment. The only confirmed dates and opponents thus far for Loyola are Michigan State, UIC, Tulane (now in the AAC), Texas Tech, Kent State, and either Houston or Boise State on the other end of the Texas Tech game. Every one of those teams has been consistently around 180 or above in RPI over the past five years. Boise State was 81 last year, Houston was 138, Michigan State was 17, Texas Tech was 130. UIC unexpectedly dropped from 177 in 2012-13 to 306 in 2013-14. Tulane was 224, but should improve as a member of the AAC.

Wichita State played teams with RPIs of 129, 124, 298, 79, 157, 38, 29, 194, 37, 128, 99, and 131 last year.

Is that really enough of a difference for yet another senseless attack?

[Rambler63]

I don't know exactly what Men's Volleyball has to do with Men's Basketball other than the fact that both sports include athletes with penises, but the whole point is that Loyola has a sucky non-conference schedule. Why is that so hard to understand? A lot of Valley teams have that problem. Just admit it and move on to the next battle.

Zero in on most vulnerable aspect of a multi-point argument. Reinforce baseless stereotype. Claim victory.

[AndShock]

If you think that a Denver or Belmont pitch wasn't strong enough, have you looked at it from their standpoint, which would probably mean a much tougher road to the tournament going through Wichita State? Why in the world would Belmont join a third league in three years only to run up against a Wichita State buzzsaw and miss the tournament almost certainly?

I will put myself in their shoes for a moment. Why the hell would I want to join a conference where over half of the conference schedules like a bunch of pansies and have no interest in having a legitimate basketball team? This conference is a complete joke and Loyola isn't to blame for that, but they definitely aren't helping reverse that trend. I loved the Valley, absolutely loved it in the mid-2000s and now their 250+ SoSes makes me want to see WSU beat the snot out of them and have those joke squads never get out of their ****-filled abysses again. It's interesting that the only coach from the mid-to-late-2000s still at his team is one of the only coaches scheduling worth a damn. Barry is also still around but SWOMO turned him into a little win-padding *****.

[Wufan]

I will just say this about the MVC:

We all want this league to kick ass. 2014-15 and 15-16 look like years for a big upswing and we need everyone to take advantage to the fullest extent possible. The first step is recruiting, and I think that top to bottom the league has done an excellent job. The second step is scheduling and we look a little soft. The third step, and the only one that really matters, is just win. We need to win a lot of games over the next two years!

[glm38]

I will just say this about the MVC:

We all want this league to kick ass. 2014-15 and 15-16 look like years for a big upswing and we need everyone to take advantage to the fullest extent possible. The first step is recruiting, and I think that top to bottom the league has done an excellent job. The second step is scheduling and we look a little soft. The third step, and the only one that really matters, is just win. We need to win a lot of games over the next two years!

Well stated. I'll also say that if Valley teams schedule soft they deserve the heat they get from rlh and others. And I include MSU in that. It is a shame that with several teams trending way up our RPI's won't reflect that (except for WSU and possibly UNI). Probably the only path to the big dance outside of those two is to win St. Louis.

On the flip side I'm sure it's hard for Loyola fans to hear that they suck in comparison to who they replaced. Hopefully once the Ramblers are respectable in the Valley that talk will die down.

[rlh04d]

Right now, our average RPI is about a 206, up from the 255 from last season.

So if Loyola can avoid absolutely terrible games to finish the season, they'll slightly improve from a terrible schedule.

That's an awful schedule

I'm not one to defend Porter Moser, but when we first scheduled UIC, they were coming off a 170ish RPI with an incoming Purdue transfer who was supposed to be very good. We've scheduled Michigan State again (who we led at halftime at MSU in 2012-13, ended up losing by 10). Texas Tech is not that bad, and Tulane is going to be in the AAC this year, which should help their RPI.

Look, rlh04d, you've been all over our ass since we joined this conference. The other possible choices were UIC and Valpo, neither of whom have distinguished themselves in any way that could have sated your vociferous objections. Denver and Belmont both said "No" to the MVC. Are you saying that UMKC would have been better?

Tell me a better option, rlh04d... Is Kansas going to leave the Big 12? Could some totally awesome pitch by Doug Elgin convince Duke to move their campus to the Midwest? Do you think St. Louis contacts could have been hypnotised into joining the MVC?

If you think that a Denver or Belmont pitch wasn't strong enough, have you looked at it from their standpoint, which would probably mean a much tougher road to the tournament going through Wichita State? Why in the world would Belmont join a third league in three years only to run up against a Wichita State buzzsaw and miss the tournament almost certainly?

It's been a year and a half (almost) since Loyola was announced as a member of the MVC. In that time we've won a National Championship in Men's Volleyball, we finished last in only one sport in the MVC, we played in a conference title game, and in the one sport where we finished last we beat the 7th place team in the conference tournament. Get over it, already.

That's a pretty laughable overreaction to a legitimate complaint about your schedule.

This is what Loyola's schedule breaks down to:

Top 100: 1 (Maybe 2)
100-200: 1 (Maybe 2)
200-300: 3
300+: 4

I don't give a damn about you being in the MVC. Don't sit here and pretend like I should be happy with your team continuing to schedule like crap. You have three open slots that will almost certainly be filled with 200-300+ teams, and the best you can say is that you might have a slight improvement over last year's (awful) schedule.

Oh, and last year's scheduled was ranked #339 ... out of, what, 350 D1 basketball teams?

Yeah, I should get off your ass, because ... what? At least you're not ranked 350th?

Here's the better option: The team you cheer for stops scheduling like they just joined the SWAC. Or the Loyola fans here stop making excuses for scheduling like that and demands more. End of story. You can try to change the argument if you wanted, but I don't buy it. I don't like that your team joined the conference, but I have no problem accepting it if your team would actually act like they have any intention of ever stepping their game up. Loyola can be a great addition to the conference IF they step up. This schedule shows ZERO indication of any intention of stepping up, though.

And if you want to know my opinion about your Michigan State game, go read my opinion about Bradley's schedule. You're in the same boat. I don't care about you scheduling a game you can't win. I care about those 300+ teams you keep scheduling, when you could find better teams to schedule that you could have a legitimate shot at beating.

I'm not going to pat you on the head and pretend I'm happy with your team playing like a SWAC team in a conference that's consistently been top 10 for a while. And if you want me to "get off your ass," stop cheerleading a bottom 20 schedule and start asking your own school to improve faster so you can contribute to the overall success of this conference, instead of being the albatross around its neck that you have to honestly know it is.

I would GLADLY congratulate and cheerlead for your school if it was showing any evidence of not intending to hurt the school and conference I cheer for in perpetuity.

And I'm a LONG way from being the most negative person to Loyola here. I posted on your forums to welcome you to the league and I've defended Loyola's long term potential many times, on here and on ShockerNet. None of that changes the simple fact that your schedule is crap, it was crap last year, and it'll be crap next year.

[rlh04d]

Wichita State played teams with RPIs of 129, 124, 298, 79, 157, 38, 29, 194, 37, 128, 99, and 131 last year.

Is that really enough of a difference for yet another senseless attack?

You viewing this as a senseless attack rather than a legitimate concern with Loyola's long-term development is one of the major reasons that Loyola fans get little respect on this forum. If your stance on this issue was that you know it's a problem, you're begging for Loyola's administration to improve moving forward on this issue, etc., then no harm, no foul.

Throwing up a temper tantrum about it being a "senseless attack" that we don't like our newest member scheduling more 300+ teams than teams better than the 200th RPI just shows that Loyola's fans don't understand the problem and have no interest in pressuring the school to do better.