Rambler63 wrote:rlh04d wrote:lusuperfan wrote: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.