The Rise & Fall of the Valley

[Stickboy46]

100% Agree with Barry. Also, he did try to get better games. It says that in the article.

I read that .. I just don't actually believe that ...

[Mini-troll]

I read that .. I just don't actually believe that ...

Ok. Last year he got 3 top 100 RPI teams in the menu. WSU had 4.
Top 30? SIU had 3. WSU had 2.

I would say that pretty fair distance to the #1 in the then league.

[ShockTalk]

Per College Sports Madness' Top 144, here's the top 3 teams in the Valley and their rankings

1. Loyola - 100
2. MSU - 120
3. UNI - 134

I think MSU will win it, but Moser can outcoach Lusk. Let that soak in just a minute.

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/...p-144-previews

But..but...but, I thought Ill St was going to be a 9 seed this coming season? There was one of those sports analyst types that said so. They must be better than #142, right?

Some quotes from Barry about his schedule:

http://thesouthern.com/sports/college/salukimania/hinson-more-interested-in-preparation-than-basketball-metrics/article_6826f2ba-ee3e-585c-a358-b4663a297d98.html



So he's given up on trying ...

I believe it is getting harder for mid majors to schedule well and will continue to get worse. With power conferences now talking about or doing a second conference challenge each season, it gives them another road trip every other year and keep the wins and losses "in the family".

[pogo]

This is exactly why the move to the American was so important for WSU. The power conference schools have over the last few years made scheduling them much more difficult. WSU would have found itself on the wrong side of the power curve. And this aviation term is appropriate to use here.

[Aargh]

Marshall and Bardo have saved us from an eternity in hell by getting us out of the Misery Valley Conference.

[wsushockerdude]

Some quotes from Barry about his schedule:

http://thesouthern.com/sports/college/salukimania/hinson-more-interested-in-preparation-than-basketball-metrics/article_6826f2ba-ee3e-585c-a358-b4663a297d98.html



So he's given up on trying ...

Holy hell that's depressing. Obviously the days of the MVC getting four teams in the dance are long gone, but wasn't it just two years ago that UNI and WSU were both in the top ten come late February? What does Mark Adams have to say about this?

[WuShock16]

Marshall and Bardo have saved us from an eternity in hell by getting us out of the Misery Valley Conference.

I always said that if we ever slipped back to third or fourth place in the Valley and won 15-20 games a year for an extended period, we would never get back to national relevance. This conference move was vitally important.

[ShockerPhi]

Some quotes from Barry about his schedule:

http://thesouthern.com/sports/college/salukimania/hinson-more-interested-in-preparation-than-basketball-metrics/article_6826f2ba-ee3e-585c-a358-b4663a297d98.html

"We won't get one at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. You ask anybody. There will be zero at-large bids (for mid-majors)," Hinson said. "In order to go to the postseason, you're going to have to win the Valley tournament. The ways of getting an at-large bid are over. If Wichita State hadn't won the Valley tournament they would have been out. That's crazy."


So he's given up on trying ...

I mean Barry isn't wrong on the whole "zero at-large bids for mid-majors". Just last year, I believe the only "mid-major" to get an at-large was St. Mary's. And if you look at our 10 seed, it really is very possible that we could have been left out if we didn't win our tournament either. It's a dark time for mid-majors these days.

[1972Shocker]

Dan Muller raids Steve Forbes' ETSU staff to fill one of his assistant coaching positions that recently opened up.

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/illinois-state/isu-tabs-east-tennessee-state-s-collins-as-assistant-coach/article_70986472-50e8-5be9-bcc4-fd72334fabb7.html

[wusphlash]

Even a blind squirrel...........

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2017/08/12/top-100-recruit-commits-to-northern-iowa/

[Aargh]

Even a blind squirrel...........

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.c...northern-iowa/

From the referenced article:

Coach (Jacobson) has told me that he feels like we can go to the Final Four, so hopefully, we can accomplish that.”

[1972Shocker]

Even a blind squirrel...........

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.c...northern-iowa/

Kudos to Coach Jacobson and good for UNI. The have had some decent players at Norhern Iowa over the years. Coach Jacobson does good job with the resources he has.

[Shocktoberfest]

Still surprises me how many people don't know how to correctly spell the name of our fine city.

[AndShock]

Article didn't mention that his dad is an assistant at UNI. Still a solid get. Maybe he can be the program changer that Dougie could have been.

[WSUwatcher]

Still surprises me how many people don't know how to correctly spell the name of our fine city.

Flyover country to the guys from NBC Sports; what do you expect?

Good luck to Green on his aspirations, but he and Coach Jake had better plan to win in St. Louis if they want to embark on that Road to the Final Four. There won't be many at large teams coming out of the Valley anytime soon if last year's Jailbirds couldn't do it.