2020 Crossover Classic (formerly Battle 4 Atlantis)

[Ted Lasso's Neighbor]

I think we need to get some games under our belt one way or the other. It'd be hard to turn down some guaranteed games next week. Not the ideal place to play given their Covid numbers, but hopefully there will be strict protocols in place and the guys aren't hanging out a bars at night.

FYI - in case anyone is interested, you can find the agreements WSU had with their original non-con schedule for this season at https://openrecords.wichita.edu/view...log/entry/792/ It's interesting to read the agreements if you've never seen one, and the agreement for the original version of the tournament is in there as well.

[shock]

Time to abandon this mid major train wreck. Absolutely zero to gain here now.

And with the coaching change, another extra week of practice couldn’t hurt.

That might actually work in our favor.

[Stickboy46]

Who? Which ones are looking for games?

This is the third time you have said there are better opponents just waiting for WSU to call for games, but you continue to not tell use who they are.



I disagree. If WSU is any good, they will get quality opponents because they will win. If they are not any good, then it doesn't matter who they lose too - they won't be going to the tournament anyway.

I have no idea who has open dates at the moment as that's literally changing by the day. Teams that don't have openings today will by next week. You can look at the P5/big east teams in the states surrounding us to get an idea of who I'm referring to.

[wichshock65]

Who on this board would not have signed up to play Utah State, Creighton and West Virginia our first three games? I'm very happy with that schedule. Give up a shot at Creighton for another week of practice and a game against Bumfuk U? Come on now!

[shockerfan34]

Teams I mentioned
UNI: Anyone that bets on UNI making the tourney is not going to have a good day.
SDSU: They normally make the tourney as a really high (low? depending on how you look at it) seed. They also dont have Daum there anymore
Utah State: Lost their only really good player in Merrill ... they might be good but more likely will not be an at-large quality team
St Marys: Lost their top 3 scorers and their best returning scorer is 6 points.

Yes we aren't world beaters but unless we are just writing off this year as a non-tourney year (i'm not) then this is a VERY little reward scenario and those 4 teams are more likely to be Q3 games by the end of the year than anything else IMO.

Utah St is going to be a tough game. They will be down from last year, but they had players outside of Merril. Queta has NBA potential. Id guess if he's fully healthy this year, he will be the best player on the floor in our match-up. Coach Smith will have another decent year in Logan.

If we manage to win that game given all the new faces, plus our coaching turmoil over the past month, then we likely get a Creighton team in which we will be a heavy underdog.

I don't see how this tournament isn't exactly what the team needs right now, some challenging games. The worst team in the field is probably SDSU? That's a solid mid-major program with NCAA experience. I don't want to join this crowd in using our conference affiliation to look down on playing quality teams from smaller leagues.

[pie n eye]

Things are so fluid now but there are a bunch of power schools within driving distance that I'm sure they can work a one off with.

And it's not being half-empty .. it's being honest about the risk/reward for this tournament now. Dont get me wrong .. i want them on the court ASAP but the reward is very quickly leaking out of this tournament.

So we should just drop guaranteed games on the hope that you’re sure there are power schools within driving distance who will agree to play us on less than a weeks notice?

I don’t think so.

It’s definitely being half empty because you’re overstating the negative or at least conflating the unknown with negative without acknowledging the potential positive.

Is it possible a loss to Utah State is considered a “bad loss”? Sure, but I wouldn’t say it’s likely considering their average KP over the last five years is 96 and it’s been 41, 38 the last two years. They are likely Q2 with a chance of being Q1 or Q3.

SDSU is average KP of 110 in the past five years. Not as good obviously but isn’t that the the type of team we should expect to beat? I will take a win all day even if it is Q3. The rest of our schedule is good enough that we will have opportunity to get resume building wins. A game against SDSU, essentially replacing one of our normal buy games, wouldn’t be terrible.

Again, considering the rest of our non-con and our conference we will have chances to get resume wins. There are chances to get them in this tourney if we win.

[Stickboy46]

So we should just drop guaranteed games on the hope that you’re sure there are power schools within driving distance who will agree to play us on less than a weeks notice?

I don’t think so.

It’s definitely being half empty because you’re overstating the negative or at least conflating the unknown with negative without acknowledging the potential positive.

Is it possible a loss to Utah State is considered a “bad loss”? Sure, but I wouldn’t say it’s likely considering their average KP over the last five years is 96 and it’s been 41, 38 the last two years. They are likely Q2 with a chance of being Q1 or Q3.

SDSU is average KP of 110 in the past five years. Not as good obviously but isn’t that the the type of team we should expect to beat? I will take a win all day even if it is Q3. The rest of our schedule is good enough that we will have opportunity to get resume building wins. A game against SDSU, essentially replacing one of our normal buy games, wouldn’t be terrible.

Again, considering the rest of our non-con and our conference we will have chances to get resume wins. There are chances to get them in this tourney if we win.

Never once have I suggested to cancel them without having replacements ready to go. They absolutely can get them lined up before if they want.

Also it's idiotic to assume I can just name replacements as I have zero access to know who does and doesn't have availability or interested in playing. That's what our athletic department is for. Just seems really dumb to travel to the COVID capital of the US to play a bunch of mid major teams with very minimal upside.

[wichshock65]

Never once have I suggested to cancel them without having replacements ready to go. They absolutely can get them lined up before if they want.

Also it's idiotic to assume I can just name replacements as I have zero access to know who does and doesn't have availability or interested in playing. That's what our athletic department is for. Just seems really dumb to travel to the COVID capital of the US to play a bunch of mid major teams with very minimal upside.

Stick, you've lost your mind. A bunch of mid majors? Truth be know, the rest of the field is probably saying the same thing about us at this point.

[Stickboy46]

Stick, you've lost your mind. A bunch of mid majors? Truth be know, the rest of the field is probably saying the same thing about us at this point.

Are UNI, Utah State, SDSU, and St mary's no longer mid majors ? Last I checked they were.

[pie n eye]

Never once have I suggested to cancel them without having replacements ready to go. They absolutely can get them lined up before if they want.

Also it's idiotic to assume I can just name replacements as I have zero access to know who does and doesn't have availability or interested in playing. That's what our athletic department is for. Just seems really dumb to travel to the COVID capital of the US to play a bunch of mid major teams with very minimal upside.

No, but you seem to be suggesting that it should be a simple matter to find replacements at this late hour without any substantial reason for that belief.

If we beat Utah St (not a guarantee), we will play Creighton. Are they mid-major?

If we beat CU we will potentially play WVU or Memphis. Are they mid-major? Or, if St. Mary’s makes it to the championship game, meaning they beat Memphis and probably WVU, are they likely to be a “bad loss” or “unhelpful win”?

There are many ways the tourney could go. Some would be very good for our resume. Others, like if we lose all three games, would be bad. And still others fall somewhere in the middle.

These three games are unlikely to make or break our season either way and we need games.

As far as the COVID stuff goes I would imagine, although I could be wrong, that every precaution will be taken by WSU and those running the tournament to ensure necessary safety protocols are in place and followed. It isn’t like our guys are going to be out touring the night clubs and restaurants shaking hands and having lengthy conversations with the citizens of South Dakota.

[SB Shock]

I have no idea who has open dates at the moment as that's literally changing by the day.

Okay. Got it. I will say this alternative is probably not likely to give WSU any better games.

[wichshock65]

Are UNI, Utah State, SDSU, and St mary's no longer mid majors ? Last I checked they were.

Yes, but the path if we win is far from mid major.

[Stickboy46]

As far as the COVID stuff goes I would imagine, although I could be wrong, that every precaution will be taken by WSU and those running the tournament to ensure necessary safety protocols are in place and followed. It isn’t like our guys are going to be out touring the night clubs and restaurants shaking hands and having lengthy conversations with the citizens of South Dakota.

Yes but can you say the same thing about this mid-major teams with shoestring budgets? I doubt they can afford the same level of testing that is required by the AAC.

Our team will be in constant contact with them.

[Stickboy46]

I'll bow out .. it's obvious others don't agree that we are taking a HUGE risk now for very little reward. I guess I just haven't written this year off like many seem to have.

[pie n eye]

Yes but can you say the same thing about this mid-major teams with shoestring budgets? I doubt they can afford the same level of testing that is required by the AAC.

Our team will be in constant contact with them.

Constant? They will be on court with three of them for two hours max.

You are really going off the deep end with this mid-major thing. I am confident that all teams in this tournament are willing and able to comply with whatever safety measures are required by the tournament or NCAA.