MVC Individual Team Non-Conference SOS

[SB Shock]

in the standing over MVCfans this information on the conference teams Strength of Schedule:

1. Illinois St. - 332
2. Drake - 281
3. Bradley - 279
4. SIU - 233
5. CU - 219
6. MSU - 199

7. UNI - 170
8. Evansville - 158
9. ISU (B) - 138

10. WSU - 59

In otherwords, no team other than WSU really even tried to schedule to have a chance at a at-large bid. They decided they didn't want to compete on national scale and would put all their eggs in the STL basket - that is at least how I see it.

[Shocker Rocker]

So does anyone know any of the specific reasons behind the decision by Elgin to drop the scheduling requirement? I'm sure this has been discussed on other threads in the distant past, but might be worth revisiting. I would think that one reason would be that it may be tougher to find coaches to replace those who move when they know they're going to have a more difficult time padding their win-loss record.

What are the other reasons? We've found out that it's difficult to get people to play us, but we're well within the top 150. I think scheduling good teams would be a bit easier for other teams in the Valley that aren't quite as strong as we are currently.

[InWuWeTrust]

i believe that it was cut after the sweet sixteen year, as there was a great deal of pressure from coaches, new and returning to drop it as a means to rebuild programs or keep jobs.

[kochHead]

i believe that it was cut after the sweet sixteen year, as there was a great deal of pressure from coaches, new and returning to drop it as a means to rebuild programs or keep jobs.

This is why it is unfair to blame Doug. I guess one could argue that he should have stood his ground, but it would have been at the risk of losing his job.

[Capitol Shock]

Disappointing numbers for sure....Jank has the worst strength of schedule and still can't produce. I can't imagine that helps you keep your job.

Is it too late to join Tulsa's conference?

[Capitol Shock]

The Mountain West only has nine teams...that would be an upgrade.

[electricmayhem]

I asked Elgin about this a few years ago in an article I did for my other site -- the article is dated 10/13/09, and I don't know that anything has changed since then.

Here's the excerpt:

3. Since the league has received no at-large bids to the Men's Tournament in the last two seasons, is it possible that the non-conference scheduling mandate will reappear? Or has it become too difficult for MVC teams to schedule top-level schools because of the Valley's success against them?

I think we have to analyze how we are scheduling our non-conference games every spring, and I wouldn’t rule out any possible approach to improving our overall schedule strength. It is important that our head coaches and athletic directors understand the linkage between strong schedules and overall conference success in placing multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament. It isn’t easy to schedule power teams in non-conference play, especially when you’ve had some success. We know that from experience. None of our teams should stake their hopes of playing in the NCAA Tournament on winning the State Farm MVC Tournament and the automatic bid. Those teams who intend to contend for a conference championship need to “schedule up.” Strategic schedule planning has to be an ongoing 2- to 3-year cycle – getting into early-season tournaments with strong fields is critical. And our coaches and ADs need to be creative in getting strong and balanced non-conference schedules.

[Metalkatz]

The Mountain West only has nine teams...that would be an upgrade.

I will get right on that! I think that would benefit us greatly also, however I do not know the intricacies of how this would work in real life. I will ask the AD about this pronto! =)
IF you ever want to hang out with a lot of powerful people, you should swing your clubs at Flint Hills National ;) :posterwu:

[NCAABound]

I don't know where those #'s come from, but they much different than the Pomeroy non-con strenth of schedules:

Illinois St - 340
CU - 291
WSU - 277
Drake - 259
Bradley - 240
SIU - 215
MSU - 195
Evansville - 165
UNI - 132
Indiana St - 71

Pretty pathetic.

[SB Shock]

I don't know where those #'s come from, but they much different than the Pomeroy non-con strenth of schedules:

Those numbers I posted were a "snapshot" of the RPI SOS taken from rpiforecast.com. They were initially posted on MVCfans on a thread listing tiebreakers for the MVC (MVC uses RPI Non-Conf SOS this year).

Pomeroy numbers are not anyway related to RPI (he got out of posting his RPI calculations a couple of years ago because of plenty of others do it now). Pomeroy ratings are his own invention (and are probably more valid than rpi but that is another discussion).

[60Shock]

The latest Sagarin Strength of Schedule ratings have us at 198 out of 345 Div 1 teams. At one point, not too many games back, our schedule was rated in the 240 range. Anyway you look at it, this is pretty pathetic and allows us little to no room for error.

This is what four buy out games and a weak conference got us this year. Certainly appears that without any change in scheduling strategies, that we can likely expect the same for next year and for several years to follow.

[shox1989]

Re: MVC Individual Team Non-Conference SOS

in the standing over MVCfans this information on the conference teams Strength of Schedule:

1. Illinois St. - 332
2. Drake - 281
3. Bradley - 279
4. SIU - 233
5. CU - 219
6. MSU - 199

7. UNI - 170
8. Evansville - 158
9. ISU (B) - 138

10. WSU - 59

In otherwords, no team other than WSU really even tried to schedule to have a chance at a at-large bid. They decided they didn't want to compete on national scale and would put all their eggs in the STL basket - that is at least how I see it.

It is obvious from that breakdown why the rule disappeared. Only 2 teams would qualify today. That means 8 coaches probably didn't like the rule.

[kcshocker11]

I don't know where those #'s come from, but they much different than the Pomeroy non-con strenth of schedules:

Illinois St - 340
CU - 291
WSU - 277
Drake - 259
Bradley - 240
SIU - 215
MSU - 195
Evansville - 165
UNI - 132
Indiana St - 71

Pretty pathetic.

hey give Indy St a break! :D :posterwsu: 8)

[Kung Wu]

The latest Sagarin Strength of Schedule ratings have us at 198 out of 345 Div 1 teams. At one point, not too many games back, our schedule was rated in the 240 range. Anyway you look at it, this is pretty pathetic and allows us little to no room for error.

This is what four buy out games and a weak conference got us this year. Certainly appears that without any change in scheduling strategies, that we can likely expect the same for next year and for several years to follow.

We already have an improved schedule next year. And _if_ we have any success at all getting into the NCAA tourney and more national exposure the year after that should be better, still.