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With more writing on the wall of a WSU departure, it got me to thinking about what this season meant for the future of the conference. And while I don't like the RPI, it's visibility and continued use by the NCAA means I'll use it for the sake of this discussion.
The desire is to be a perennial top-10 league. To get back toward that goal, we needed 2-3 more teams to finish in the RPI top-100 or at least close. In November that was a reasonable expectation. WSU and ISU were a given. The problem was that SIU, UNI and MSU (145, 160, 207, respectively) under-performed and really let the league down.
SIU - They've lost some good players recently (Caroline, Olanyan) and graduate their guard tandem of Rodriguez and Vincent. O'Brien, Fletcher, Bol and Lloyd return, so there's hope for next year. I have no idea what recruits they have coming in, and little confidence Hinson can improve on this year's results. Two years from now? Better hope Fletcher and Lloyd can lead them.
UNI - In spite of the legendary coaching acumen of Ben Jacobsen, I'm really down on this program. They lose two of their top three scorers in Morgan and Ashton. Halderman was a nice surprise, but McCloud was a disappointment. The Panthers get one more year of Koch, Carlson and Lohaus. Whatever magic wand Jacobsen seemed to be weilding in Frostbite Falls seems to be going limp. Two years from now? Bennie boy better do a bang-up job on his recruiting.
MSU - Huge, huge, huge waste of talent in Springfield. I think Mike Cohen could have coached these guys to a solid 3rd league finish with an RPI better than 125. The only impact player loss is Miller, which could be addition-by-subtraction given his awful BBIQ (according to their fans, at least). They have to be better next year. If not, Lusk will be gone. It's clear MSU can attract talent. They need a program leader to reach their potential.
Loyola and Bradley should each take steps forward next year. The Ramblers have more talent coming in and Bradley is continuing to improve.
Along with ISU, I expect these five teams to really battle for the 2-7 spots next year. As for InSU, UE and DU? Yawn. League doormats for the foreseeable future.
What I take away from all of this is that when comparing the MVC now, with the mid-2000s MVC, is that sans WSU and CU there is a notable dropoff in coaching and player talent. Combine that with the institutional financial woes of the three key programs I mentioned above, I don't see a bright future for the MVC. WSU could keep the league in the national conciousness to a point, but I fear we'll eventually get pulled underwater with the rest of the conference.
The AAC is our Obi-Wan Kenobi. Join them, we must.
The desire is to be a perennial top-10 league. To get back toward that goal, we needed 2-3 more teams to finish in the RPI top-100 or at least close. In November that was a reasonable expectation. WSU and ISU were a given. The problem was that SIU, UNI and MSU (145, 160, 207, respectively) under-performed and really let the league down.
SIU - They've lost some good players recently (Caroline, Olanyan) and graduate their guard tandem of Rodriguez and Vincent. O'Brien, Fletcher, Bol and Lloyd return, so there's hope for next year. I have no idea what recruits they have coming in, and little confidence Hinson can improve on this year's results. Two years from now? Better hope Fletcher and Lloyd can lead them.
UNI - In spite of the legendary coaching acumen of Ben Jacobsen, I'm really down on this program. They lose two of their top three scorers in Morgan and Ashton. Halderman was a nice surprise, but McCloud was a disappointment. The Panthers get one more year of Koch, Carlson and Lohaus. Whatever magic wand Jacobsen seemed to be weilding in Frostbite Falls seems to be going limp. Two years from now? Bennie boy better do a bang-up job on his recruiting.
MSU - Huge, huge, huge waste of talent in Springfield. I think Mike Cohen could have coached these guys to a solid 3rd league finish with an RPI better than 125. The only impact player loss is Miller, which could be addition-by-subtraction given his awful BBIQ (according to their fans, at least). They have to be better next year. If not, Lusk will be gone. It's clear MSU can attract talent. They need a program leader to reach their potential.
Loyola and Bradley should each take steps forward next year. The Ramblers have more talent coming in and Bradley is continuing to improve.
Along with ISU, I expect these five teams to really battle for the 2-7 spots next year. As for InSU, UE and DU? Yawn. League doormats for the foreseeable future.
What I take away from all of this is that when comparing the MVC now, with the mid-2000s MVC, is that sans WSU and CU there is a notable dropoff in coaching and player talent. Combine that with the institutional financial woes of the three key programs I mentioned above, I don't see a bright future for the MVC. WSU could keep the league in the national conciousness to a point, but I fear we'll eventually get pulled underwater with the rest of the conference.
The AAC is our Obi-Wan Kenobi. Join them, we must.
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