Evansville Aces under the radar

[Wufan]

Since some Valley people want to talk about the schedule and the past. This is a coaches poll and RPI takes schedule into account. Even Tom Crean could coach when he had talent. This team has talent and is well coached. Reserve judgement until you have seen them play. I was sick of Kentucky fans saying Wichita State had no chance because of their schedule, and now they are saying that about Evansville. Let's take three from Valley and be happy together.

Update: December 1st, 2014


RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1. Wichita State (25) 4-0 769 1 Missouri Valley
2. Gonzaga (6) 6-0 748 2 West Coast
3. Northern Iowa 7-0 706 4 Missouri Valley
4. Saint Mary's 5-0 632 6 West Coast
5. Harvard 4-1 629 5 Ivy League
6. Belmont 6-1 599 8 Ohio Valley
7. Green Bay 4-1 579 9 Horizon
8. BYU 5-2 545 3 West Coast
9. Akron 4-2 481 7 Mid-American
10. Stephen F. Austin 3-3 423 11 Southland
11. Georgia State 5-2 411 13 Sun Belt
12. Iona 4-2 399 12 Metro Atlantic
13. UC Irvine 3-2 361 18 Big West
14. Valparaiso 7-1 355 NR Horizon
15. Evansville 4-1 315 15 Missouri Valley
16. Florida Gulf Coast 6-1 314 16 Atlantic Sun
17. Western Michigan 5-2 213 17 Mid-American
18. Eastern Washington 6-1 193 NR Big Sky
19. Wofford 5-2 175 19 Southern
20. Eastern Michigan 6-0 162 NR Mid-American
21. Toledo 2-4 146 10 Mid-American
22. Cleveland State 3-3 111 21 Horizon
23. Northeastern 5-1 108 22 Colonial
24. Holy Cross 3-1 106 23 Patriot
25. Yale 6-2 87 25 Ivy League


OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: William & Mary 48, Bowling Green 36, Long Beach State 33, Buffalo 32, Murray State 32, Army 31, Portland State 29, UC Santa Barbara 28, Eastern Kentucky 27, Central Michigan 24, Missouri State 23, Louisiana Lafayette 18, New Mexico State 14, UC Davis 14, Hofstra 11, Incarnate Word 11, Towson 11, Portland 10, Stony Brook 10, Columbia 8, Denver 8, North Dakota State 8, Hawaii 7, Illimois State 7, Charleston Southern 5, Georgia Southern 5, San Francisco 5, Quininipiac 4, UALR 4, Radford 2, Chattanooga 1, Gardner Webb 1, Western Carolina 1.


VOTING PANEL: Milan Brown (Holy Cross), Will Brown (Albany), Jim Les (UC Davis), Jamion Christian (Mount St. Mary's), Billy Donlon (Wright State), James Fox (Appalachian State), Tyler Geving (Portland State), Derrin Hansen (Nebraska-Omaha), Steve Hawkins (Western Michigan), Willie Hayes (Alabama A&M), B.J. Hill (Northern Colorado), Jason Hooten (Sam Houston State), Dick Hunsaker (Utah Valley), James Jones (Yale), Mike Jones (Radford), Robert Jones (Norfolk State), Greg Kampe (Oakland), Danny Kaspar (Texas State), Tod Kowalczyk (Toledo), Greg Lansing (Indiana State), Gregg Marshall (Wichita State), Bob Marlin (UL-Lafayette), Tom Moore (Quinnipiac), Jeff Neubauer (Eastern Kentucky), Rob O'Driscoll (James Madison), Jimmy Patsos (Siena), Ron Verlin (Pacific), Will Wade (Chattanooga).


* Western Michigan head coach Steve Hawkins is the chairman of the Top 25 voting panel for the 2014-15 season.


NOTE: The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, Western Athletic.


The CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 is now in its sixteenth season of existence.

Last year, when the nation was talking about WSU's week schedule, they were speaking about it in regards to being #2 in the nation. This shows that Evansville is #15 amongst the field when almost 100 teams are removed from qualification. Not exactly the same thing. No worries. Keep winning.

[Atlanta Ace]

I agree with Wufan here Catfish. It's not the same. You've posted a Top 25 Mid Major Poll and eliminated all P5 schools.

As a fellow Aces fan, I enjoy reading anything that portrays the Aces basketball program and university in a good light. Our schedule isn't doing us any favors. It's weak. A shot at the NCAA Tournament looks very remote.

Several programs in the MVC have experienced much more success than we have. At least the program is moving in that direction even though it has taken much longer than most Aces fans have wanted. Enjoy the ride for what it is and enjoy what positives this season brings. We still have a long way to go. Go Aces!

[rlh04d]

Since some Valley people want to talk about the schedule and the past. This is a coaches poll and RPI takes schedule into account. Even Tom Crean could coach when he had talent. This team has talent and is well coached. Reserve judgement until you have seen them play. I was sick of Kentucky fans saying Wichita State had no chance because of their schedule, and now they are saying that about Evansville. Let's take three from Valley and be happy together.

Your reading comprehension is severely lacking. I didn't say anything close to Evansville not having a chance because of their weak schedule. I said that Evansville's schedule to this point has been terrible and I'm going to reserve judgment until I see them play better competition. At this point, I'm happy with their performance, but there's not much to take away from their opponents yet. They'll get into the Valley soon and we'll know for sure.

As for schedule strength, last year Wichita State's nonconference schedule was ranked #28. Currently, Evansville's is #259: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... /sort/ncss

Again, Evansville's schedule is absolutely atrocious. WSU's schedule was judged because it lacked name brands for the average, uneducated college basketball fan and they were forced to play MVC teams. Evansville's schedule is just flat out terrible, and it's terrible by choice.

[Cdizzle]

Since some Valley people want to talk about the schedule and the past. This is a coaches poll and RPI takes schedule into account. Even Tom Crean could coach when he had talent. This team has talent and is well coached. Reserve judgement until you have seen them play. I was sick of Kentucky fans saying Wichita State had no chance because of their schedule, and now they are saying that about Evansville. Let's take three from Valley and be happy together.

Your reading comprehension is severely lacking. I didn't say anything close to Evansville not having a chance because of their weak schedule. I said that Evansville's schedule to this point has been terrible and I'm going to reserve judgment until I see them play better competition. At this point, I'm happy with their performance, but there's not much to take away from their opponents yet. They'll get into the Valley soon and we'll know for sure.

As for schedule strength, last year Wichita State's nonconference schedule was ranked #28. Currently, Evansville's is #259: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... /sort/ncss

Again, Evansville's schedule is absolutely atrocious. WSU's schedule was judged because it lacked name brands for the average, uneducated college basketball fan and they were forced to play MVC teams. Evansville's schedule is just flat out terrible, and it's terrible by choice.

I will also add that we went through this same thing last year. Evansville started 5-0 against a horrid schedule and everyone in Evansville land was convinced they were going to contend and the rest of us just needed to see the team.

I'm pulling for Evansville. I hope they keep it rolling. But that schedule is disgusting. When you account for the schedule, and past performance, you get a lot of people taking a wait-and-see approach.

Keep winning. The schedule isn't good, but I'm glad Evansville is winning against that schedule instead of losing.

[Ace75]

Long time reader first time poster.
I have been a season ticket holder for 20 years and have followed my Aces for the past 30 years. I have not been happy with the state of our basketball team for the last 15 years. I was not happy with the offense going through one guy. I feel like we finally have a balanced team now. I am not one of the people who thinks that because we are 6-1 we are going dancing. We as a program have a lot to prove. I do think we have improved in every way so far this year. I for one like many in the Evansville area want our program to get back to where it was. Hopefully this year we can take a big step in that direction.
GO ACES!!
GO VALLEY!!

[Wufan]

Long time reader first time poster.
I have been a season ticket holder for 20 years and have followed my Aces for the past 30 years. I have not been happy with the state of our basketball team for the last 15 years. I was not happy with the offense going through one guy. I feel like we finally have a balanced team now. I am not one of the people who thinks that because we are 6-1 we are going dancing. We as a program have a lot to prove. I do think we have improved in every way so far this year. I for one like many in the Evansville area want our program to get back to where it was. Hopefully this year we can take a big step in that direction.
GO ACES!!
GO VALLEY!!

Fantastic first post!

[isumvc1]

I think the Aces easily will be top 4 this year, in fact, if any of WSU, UNI, UE, or ILS do not finish in the top 4 it will be very surprising, the rest of the league INS, MSU, SIU, Bradley, Loyola, and Drake are just plain awful.

It will be one HECK of a battle amongst those 6 teams for those 7-10 spots.

[Wufan]

I think the Aces easily will be top 4 this year, in fact, if any of WSU, UNI, UE, or ILS do not finish in the top 4 it will be very surprising, the rest of the league INS, MSU, SIU, Bradley, Loyola, and Drake are just plain awful.

It will be one HECK of a battle amongst those 6 teams for those 7-10 spots.

While I agree with your separation of the top of the Valley with the bottom, the bottom need additional separation. Here's my separation:

Tier 1: WSU and UNI
Yes, I'm including UNI since they will be top 25 tomorrow.

Tier 2: UE and Illinois St
These two teams should make the NIT and maybe better. They have the potential to beat the tier 1 teams and a legit shot in St Louis. Both teams might be a year away.

Tier 3: Loyola, MSU, SIU
Some potential to improve, but have lots of work to do. All three are definitely building towards the future.

Tier 4: BU, Drake, Indiana St
These teams are not good! Bradley might improve, but this is a lost year for all three and part of a rebuilding process.

[sixth ace]

First 17 days of 2015 will give an idea.

[purple&orange]

I'm cautiously optimistic about this group this season. The Aces lost by 2 on a neutral floor to the best team they've played thus far. Getting GB would have been a big win, both after what they did at Miami this weekend but also because of the talk about GB being a team to watch out for out of the Horizon. These next 3 games are the "meat" of the schedule in the non-conference, at Belmont, Murray, and Ohio U.

Right now there's a lot of talk about the starting five but adding Mislav and the emergence of Jaylon Brown off the bench have given the Aces a depth they've severely lacked over the last decade or so. To me that's the biggest difference is that the first guys off the bench not only can contribute but add a different element to the game. Brown's athleticism and speed while Mislav has really good vision and can impact the game as a scorer or via his passing ability.

NCAA talk at this point is overblown, especially when the various rating systems can be so far off so early in the season. Nobody, not even Kentucky in a weak SEC has an at large birth wrapped up yet. Trying to get inside the thought process of a committee is dangerous, just ask a TCU fan today. I can remember hearing that WSU didn't schedule for a 1 seed last year, that the mentality is to get into the tournament and this non-conference schedule isn't designed to get an at large birth as constituted. I know they want home games and trying to build a schedule with home games is easier said than done in trying to build an at large resume. Really wish that Butler was still a home-home, holding out hope that whatever ends up happening there it can come back, but that's probably a little bit of a pipe dream.

The Aces have struggled mightily and it sucks being kicked when you're down. Can they sustain the victories and go on the road in conference play and get enough wins to take a leap into the top 3-4 remains to be seen, however I do believe they've got the pieces in place this season to have a better chance than in years past. In the end, I think this group can finish 3rd, challenge UNI and WSU in their matchups, especially at home and when Arch Madness rolls around, be a team that's above .500 in league play, with 10-12 victories and 20-23 at the end of the year.

It starts Tuesday on the road at Belmont. The road has been a horror for the Aces, until that changes, the direction of the program cannot.