2014-15 Games of Interest

[Cdizzle]

Back on topic....

Memphis hosts #21 SMU tonight. Doesn't seem likely, but you never know.
#13 Utah hosts Arizona St.
Hawaii hosts Long Beach

[pie n eye]

Back on topic....

Memphis hosts #21 SMU tonight. Doesn't seem likely, but you never know.
#13 Utah hosts Arizona St.
Hawaii hosts Long Beach

I think SMU is going down. Memphis seems to have pulled it's head out their ass gradually this season and I've never been that impressed by SMU.

[Dave Stalwart]

I think it's somewhat good for Utah to lose tonight (to the team that knocked of Arizona) and then go ahead and beat Arizona in that big game Saturday. I will root for Utah either way on Saturday, but if they win tonight, they may be a bigger risk of passing us again. Plus if they lose tonight it hurts the quality of the loss from Arizonas perspective if they get beat by Utah Saturday. It might be enough to help us gain ground on Arizona.

[shocks771]

The separation of the Top 8 (Kentucky, Virginia, Gonzaga, Duke, Villanova, Wisconsin, Arizona and Kansas) from the rest of the next group (Utah, Oklahoma, Maryland, Iowa State, Notre Dame, Louisville, Baylor, UNI, UNC, Arkansas & Wichita State) is so far with the exception of possibly KU. Really those 8 pretty much have the Top 8 seeds especially if KU keeps their Big 12 lead. The 3-5 seeds are where things are going to get interesting and where a lot of the movement can take place over the next few weeks.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

And yet, that is 2 teams, not one. Much higher percentage that either of the top 2 teams will grab at least a share every year than the exact same team every year. It's also for 9 years instead of 11. Really a pretty terrible comparison all the way around.

You have a point about 2 (ACC) vs 1 (Big 12), but I think the concept is still the same, just less extreme in regard to the ACC. The fact still holds that they have regularly been regarded as the cream of the crop in college basketball despite very little diversity at the top.

In terms of 9 vs 11 years, that's a pretty weak excuse on your part to try and add another bullet point to your argument. I'm pretty sure people have been using the "The Big 12 is overrated because KU wins it every year" argument on this site ever since the streak was at 7 or 8. I can guarantee the comments started by the time the streak hit 9.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

The separation of the Top 8 (Kentucky, Virginia, Gonzaga, Duke, Villanova, Wisconsin, Arizona and Kansas) from the rest of the next group (Utah, Oklahoma, Maryland, Iowa State, Notre Dame, Louisville, Baylor, UNI, UNC, Arkansas & Wichita State) is so far with the exception of possibly KU. Really those 8 pretty much have the Top 8 seeds especially if KU keeps their Big 12 lead. The 3-5 seeds are where things are going to get interesting and where a lot of the movement can take place over the next few weeks.

Gotta hope KU drops one more in the regular season and then doesn't go very far in the Big 12 Tourney. In that case, the Shox would have a shot at passing them should WSU win their next 4 games.

[Dave Stalwart]

Here's a dilemma. If Evansville gets a road win at UNI, their RPI probably cracks the top 100 again. They are about 110ish.

The rankings are already out for the week so the whole 10 vs 11 matchup is locked in. Two losses this week shouldnt drop them further than about #20.

Assuming the Shockers do win out for the next 5 games, isn't it better for Evansville to also go on a little tear of their own so we will have more top 100 wins for seeding time?

I think it's in our best interest for us and UNI to win out except when we play each other and we win. I think we will get more respect nationally with a UNI without any slip ups than thinking Evansville getting an RPI bump to 80ish would mean anything for us.

Well, interestingly enough, Evansville improved to 102 with their two losses to WSU and UNI. I guess you can have your cake and eat it too. If they get a win Friday in St Louis, they may crack the top 100 anyway.

[Cdizzle]

Memphis hanging tough with #21 SMU. Would be a nice one if they pulled this out.

[fansince80s]

Gotta hope KU drops one more in the regular season and then doesn't go very far in the Big 12 Tourney. In that case, the Shox would have a shot at passing them should WSU win their next 4 games.

Lol. Ku can lose rest of their games and will still be #2 seed.

[Cdizzle]

Nevermind. Memphis caved.

[ShockerFever]

Memphis sucks. What else is new?

[Dan]

KU is a basketball school in football conference. They invest all of their energy in basketball and it shows in bball and football. The other 11 schools do the reverse. As a result there is more parity and diversity of champions in football. It is a more competitive sport with more competitive results year to year.

Iowa State hasn't figured out what they are. They might be pretty good at rasslin'.

[1972Shocker]

Clearly the focus on the final day of the Valley regular season is on WSU vs UNI for the big enchilada.

I looked at the Valley standings and schedule to see if their were any other games of interest.

Looks like the play-in group is established. Drake and Loyola could tie if Drake wins and Loyola loses but Loyola looks like it has the tiebreaker.
So it looks like Drake will be the #7 seed, MSU will be the #8 seed and the only question mark is the final seeding between SIU and Bradley for the #9 and #10 seeds.

Looks like Loyola will be the #6 seed.

Indiana State, Illinois State and Evansville will have to sort out the #3, #4 and #5 seeds. Illinois State is playing at Evansville. Indiana State is at Bradley.

At this point my interest outside of the Big Game is primarily on how these games impact the Pick 'Em Contest.

[1972Shocker]

Actually, I think I would like to see Indiana State win. If they lose they will be a Top 5 Valley team with an overall record of 14-16.

Not much better if they win obviously but just the psychology of a Top 5 team at 15-15 seems a lot better than a sub-.500 record.

[Dave Stalwart]

Actually, I think I would like to see Indiana State win. If they lose they will be a Top 5 Valley team with an overall record of 14-16.

Not much better if they win obviously but just the psychology of a Top 5 team at 15-15 seems a lot better than a sub-.500 record.

I think I'd just like to see it sort out in such a way that we get the best possible strength of matchup. If Illinois St turns out to be the highest RPI, that's who I want to face. Until tomorrow plays out, we won't know if WE are the 1 or 2 seed, but depending on that, I'd like to see the best RPI team be on the menu for St. Louis. Right now, that seems to be Missouri St, then Illinois St, then UNI again. It seems that Drake and Evansville are also within striking distance if they both win. It's completely up in the air, but that's at least one way to root.