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Entering league play two teams have put themselves in a position for an at large. Three teams require monumental effort to be in position at the end of the year. Five teams have basically eliminated themselves from at large contention. That doesn't mean that those teams or fans should roll over and die, but it means that for the good of the league that they need to lose to the other five as much as possible. Therefore, I will root against those teams whenever they play a top level team.

Those teams can still improve and build towards next year, and I hope they do! I just hope they don't impact wins/losses of the top two or three teams in the process.

Wufan wrote:Entering league play two teams have put themselves in a position for an at large. Three teams require monumental effort to be in position at the end of the year. Five teams have basically eliminated themselves from at large contention. That doesn't mean that those teams or fans should roll over and die, but it means that for the good of the league that they need to lose to the other five as much as possible. Therefore, I will root against those teams whenever they play a top level team.

You mean for the good of the league the top five need to win their games against the bottom five. Why is the ultimatum always on the bottom teams to lose? If the top five are that good, then they shouldn't have a problem winning against the miserable bottom five. As I said about Bradley before, if any Valley team loses to Bradley, then that team probably doesn't deserve whatever that Bradley loss may have cost them. I guess the same can be said about losing a home game against Indiana State!

BradleyFan71 wrote:

Wufan wrote:Entering league play two teams have put themselves in a position for an at large. Three teams require monumental effort to be in position at the end of the year. Five teams have basically eliminated themselves from at large contention. That doesn't mean that those teams or fans should roll over and die, but it means that for the good of the league that they need to lose to the other five as much as possible. Therefore, I will root against those teams whenever they play a top level team.

You mean for the good of the league the top five need to win their games against the bottom five. Why is the ultimatum always on the bottom teams to lose? If the top five are that good, then they shouldn't have a problem winning against the miserable bottom five. As I said about Bradley before, if any Valley team loses to Bradley, then that team probably doesn't deserve whatever that Bradley loss may have cost them. I guess the same can be said about losing a home game against Indiana State!

I think the problem comes with the feeling that many Valley teams just don't seem to care in the nonconference schedule, and then begin playing harder in conference games.

Or, like I expect Bradley to this year, get their act together later in the season.

This is a constant theme with this conference and one that routinely cripples it. Obviously the impetus is on the top teams to win. It should also be on the bottom teams to do better out of conference in the first place. Going into the conference with 40% of the conference with worse than a 260 RPI is absolutely pathetic.

rlh04d wrote:

BradleyFan71 wrote:

Wufan wrote:Entering league play two teams have put themselves in a position for an at large. Three teams require monumental effort to be in position at the end of the year. Five teams have basically eliminated themselves from at large contention. That doesn't mean that those teams or fans should roll over and die, but it means that for the good of the league that they need to lose to the other five as much as possible. Therefore, I will root against those teams whenever they play a top level team.

You mean for the good of the league the top five need to win their games against the bottom five. Why is the ultimatum always on the bottom teams to lose? If the top five are that good, then they shouldn't have a problem winning against the miserable bottom five. As I said about Bradley before, if any Valley team loses to Bradley, then that team probably doesn't deserve whatever that Bradley loss may have cost them. I guess the same can be said about losing a home game against Indiana State!

I think the problem comes with the feeling that many Valley teams just don't seem to care in the nonconference schedule, and then begin playing harder in conference games.

Or, like I expect Bradley to this year, get their act together later in the season.

This is a constant theme with this conference and one that routinely cripples it. Obviously the impetus is on the top teams to win. It should also be on the bottom teams to do better out of conference in the first place. Going into the conference with 40% of the conference with worse than a 260 RPI is absolutely pathetic.

Bradley has yet to play a game with all players healthy. When that includes your starting point guard and your leading scorer not on the floor together during the entire non conference season, I have a hard time expecting outstanding results from a team expected to finish at the bottom of the conference.

rlh04d wrote:

BradleyFan71 wrote:

Wufan wrote:Entering league play two teams have put themselves in a position for an at large. Three teams require monumental effort to be in position at the end of the year. Five teams have basically eliminated themselves from at large contention. That doesn't mean that those teams or fans should roll over and die, but it means that for the good of the league that they need to lose to the other five as much as possible. Therefore, I will root against those teams whenever they play a top level team.

You mean for the good of the league the top five need to win their games against the bottom five. Why is the ultimatum always on the bottom teams to lose? If the top five are that good, then they shouldn't have a problem winning against the miserable bottom five. As I said about Bradley before, if any Valley team loses to Bradley, then that team probably doesn't deserve whatever that Bradley loss may have cost them. I guess the same can be said about losing a home game against Indiana State!

I think the problem comes with the feeling that many Valley teams just don't seem to care in the nonconference schedule, and then begin playing harder in conference games.

Or, like I expect Bradley to this year, get their act together later in the season.

This is a constant theme with this conference and one that routinely cripples it. Obviously the impetus is on the top teams to win. It should also be on the bottom teams to do better out of conference in the first place. Going into the conference with 40% of the conference with worse than a 260 RPI is absolutely pathetic.

It's about rooting interest in the top teams and non-con disappointment in the bottom teams. If the lower level team beats a higher level team, I'm disappointed in both teams. The top team for losing when they shouldn't and the bottom team for losing in the non-con. Why would I root for Indiana State to be good now?

BradleyFan71 wrote:Bradley has yet to play a game with all players healthy. When that includes your starting point guard and your leading scorer not on the floor together during the entire non conference season, I have a hard time expecting outstanding results from a team expected to finish at the bottom of the conference.

My point was that I expected Bradley to be better in the conference season. I wasn't really singling them out, except to remove them from the group of teams that I thought just weren't trying as hard in the noncon.

Indiana State should probably be taken out of that, too. They're doing more or less what I expected -- lot of inexperience lead to a bad noncon and now they're coming back into being a decent team, just in time to screw the conference.

MVCfans wrote:It was a tough decision, but I made a move at the top this week. I feel like the Shockers are still the favorite in the MVC, but Panthers are probably playing better at the moment.

link: MVC Power Rankings - December 28

25.

MVCfans wrote:It was a tough decision, but I made a move at the top this week. I feel like the Shockers are still the favorite in the MVC, but Panthers are probably playing better at the moment.

link: MVC Power Rankings - December 28

Maybe ISUb this week.

26.

ISUr is now 2-2 and has endorsements from other Valley coaches as the best talent in the league. They're probably a good pick for the top spot this week.

27.

Cdizzle wrote:

MVCfans wrote:It was a tough decision, but I made a move at the top this week. I feel like the Shockers are still the favorite in the MVC, but Panthers are probably playing better at the moment.

link: MVC Power Rankings - December 28

Maybe ISUb this week.

Nevermind. Road games are hard.

29.