Tiebreaker ?

[Steeleshocker]

Disagree WSUwatcher,

I remember it from our game last year against Creighton, they mentioned that only one time since the MVC tourney was expanded to all 10 teams had a play-in team beaten the team on rest.

Statistically, that tells me we want to be the 2 seed.

[WSUwatcher]

Nope

I don't believe your statistics tell you as much as you think they do, Steele. Is the reason play-in teams almost never win because they have a short turnaround, or is it because they're bad and the teams they're playing are good?

Remember, a play-in team is always seeded from 7-10, which in most years indicates that they're pretty bad. And in their Friday game, a play-in team always faces either #1 or #2, who are invariably pretty good. It doesn't surprise me that the play-in teams almost always lose; there's a reason they're seeded where they are, as is true of the teams they're facing.

As for the tired opponent factor, which is the only advantage #2 has over #3 in the Valley format unless there's a big discrepancy in quality between #6 and #7, which this year is not the case -- we already know that #6 will be 9-9 in the league and #7 will be 8-10, whoever they turn out to be, and all of them will be over .500 on the season except for Drake -- it just doesn't ring true. In fact, I've heard coaches whose team had a bye lament that their opponent has had a chance to get a game under their belts. Now maybe that's just coachspeak -- certainly a possibility -- but we're talking here about players who often practice hard for several days in a row for much longer than they play in a game. They're going to be worn out by playing the day before? Sorry; not buying.

I'll give you this much: I might go for it if Indiana State winds up #7 and goes on to beat Evansville, because INSt is about to run out of players. They might be a little worn down already. But even there, the only situation in which I think the Shocks are better off seeded #2 rather than #3, it's as much because I think WSU matches up better with INSt than with some of the alternatives (e.g., Missouri State) as because of the fatigue factor.

[RoyalShock]

UNI isn't that good, ISU is likely to win that game. Expect a 3 seed.

Help me understand this comment.

UNI won the MVC championship with 3 games left.

How is ISU better?

UNI won at ISU by 15.

ILSU positives:

- On a 6-game win streak

- Odiakosa keeps becoming more of a beast with each game, it seems.

- Eldridge is starting to play better.


UNI positives:

- It's senior day

- ILSU isn't a good road team

- The Ogre is back

- Want to get the bad taste of Aces out of their mouth


The unknown factor is that both teams have some pressure (ILSU to get the 2-seed), UNI to keep from hurting their NCAA resume any more than they already have.

I don't think it's a no-brainer that UNI will win, but I wouldn't bet against them.

[Shox21]

What I'm getting from these posts is that no matter what the Shockers do, if Ill State wins at NIU tomorrow night, Ill State is 2nd with the Shocks 3rd. Just heard Mike Kennedy on Channel 12 news say that with a win Saturday against SIU, the Shocks clinch 2nd place. What am I not understanding?

[newshock1234]

What I'm getting from these posts is that no matter what the Shockers do, if Ill State wins at NIU tomorrow night, Ill State is 2nd with the Shocks 3rd. Just heard Mike Kennedy on Channel 12 news say that with a win Saturday against SIU, the Shocks clinch 2nd place. What am I not understanding?

well we technical clinch a tie for 2nd place, but seeding proposes for the MVC tourney we would still be a 3 seed, if ISU wins.

[ShockerFever]

What I'm getting from these posts is that no matter what the Shockers do, if Ill State wins at NIU tomorrow night, Ill State is 2nd with the Shocks 3rd. Just heard Mike Kennedy on Channel 12 news say that with a win Saturday against SIU, the Shocks clinch 2nd place. What am I not understanding?

What you are not understanding is that while MK is technically right, a win on Saturday will clinch WSU a 2nd place TIE with Illinois State. If ILSU wins, they have more tiebreaker points to break the TIE to get the No.2 seed.

So really, as it's been mentioned numerous times, it's all out of our hands now and Illinois State controls their own destiny (and ours).

[WstateU]

What I'm getting from these posts is that no matter what the Shockers do, if Ill State wins at NIU tomorrow night, Ill State is 2nd with the Shocks 3rd. Just heard Mike Kennedy on Channel 12 news say that with a win Saturday against SIU, the Shocks clinch 2nd place. What am I not understanding?

Correction... it was 'The Bruce', not Kennedy.

[Shox21]

What I'm getting from these posts is that no matter what the Shockers do, if Ill State wins at NIU tomorrow night, Ill State is 2nd with the Shocks 3rd. Just heard Mike Kennedy on Channel 12 news say that with a win Saturday against SIU, the Shocks clinch 2nd place. What am I not understanding?

well we technical clinch a tie for 2nd place, but seeding proposes for the MVC tourney we would still be a 3 seed, if ISU wins.

Even though I do understand the difference between "standing" in a league and "seeding" in the tournament, just hadn't connected the dots with what MK said. Thanks for the clarification.