Shocker Women receive a vote in Top 25 Poll

[KBShocker]

Congratulations! Go Shocks!

[Shocker-maniac]

That is great, but I think they deserve a lot more than one vote!

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

That is great, but I think they deserve a lot more than one vote!

Sweep the rest of the Valley and we'll be ranked.

[Shocker-maniac]

In this bracketology WSU is at the top of the next 4 out. Drake with auto bid and 14-seed.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology

[RoyalShock]

In this bracketology WSU is at the top of the next 4 out. Drake with auto bid and 14-seed.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-ba...l/bracketology

Is Valley really that bad and/or poorly thought of?

WSU has the head-scratching blemish against EWU and overall their SOS isn't great (196th by RPI). So I guess I can understand if they don't win the auto-bid and get left out. After how the ladies did against Ohio State and Tennessee, they deserve better than to have to play 16+ games against teams the 20th-ranked RPI league not named Drake. Bradley, Loyola and Illinois State are embarrassments.

It's not just men's hoops that would benefit from a better league.

[Shocker-maniac]

Unfortunately I'm afraid the Valley is that bad. If you look at the bracketology CUSA has two in. Why would a successful coach want to stay at a school in a conference that can only get the auto bid in the dance because of the rpi drag from the rest of the conference? It is really sad but it appears either Drake or WSU won't be dancing. Or worse yet, both teams could be left out.

[Shocker-maniac]

Per warrennolan.com the MVC rpi rank is 19th. The Patriot league is 18th

[1972Shocker]

Is Valley really that bad and/or poorly thought of?

WSU has the head-scratching blemish against EWU and overall their SOS isn't great (196th by RPI). So I guess I can understand if they don't win the auto-bid and get left out. After how the ladies did against Ohio State and Tennessee, they deserve better than to have to play 16+ games against teams the 20th-ranked RPI league not named Drake. Bradley, Loyola and Illinois State are embarrassments.

It's not just men's hoops that would benefit from a better league.

The Valley finished the non-conference portion of the season at 43-65 and it wasn't because their SOS was great. The Shocks were around 29th the RPI at the end of the non-con and are now at 53. Our RPI gets worse every time we play ILS, BU and LUC regardless of the margin of victory and whether it was a home or road game.

The Shocks finished with their best record in school history last year at 26-6, were Valley co-champs and Valley Tournament champs and they received a 14 seed.

In the previous year (2012-13) the Shocks were 24-9, won their Valley co-champs with Creighton and Valley Tournament champs and they received a 14 seed. Creighton received an at-large bid and were a 10 seed and beat 7th seeded Syracuse in the 1st round before bowing out in the 2nd round.

Needless to say it is tough to advance in the NCAA Tournament when your top team is getting a 14-seed.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

The Valley finished the non-conference portion of the season at 43-65 and it wasn't because their SOS was great. The Shocks were around 29th the RPI at the end of the non-con and are now at 53. Our RPI gets worse every time we play ILS, BU and LUC regardless of the margin of victory and whether it was a home or road game.

The Shocks finished with their best record in school history last year at 26-6, were Valley co-champs and Valley Tournament champs and they received a 14 seed.

In the previous year (2012-13) the Shocks were 24-9, won their Valley co-champs with Creighton and Valley Tournament champs and they received a 14 seed. Creighton received an at-large bid and were a 10 seed and beat 7th seeded Syracuse in the 1st round before bowing out in the 2nd round.

Needless to say it is tough to advance in the NCAA Tournament when your top team is getting a 14-seed.

If my old memory is working, we received votes last year and broke the top 25 in the USA coaches poll. We then lost 4 out of 5 in the Valley, 3 in row and dropped out of sight. If we were to win our remaining games through the Valley tourney, I would think we'd receive a higher seed than a terrible 14. We are capable of doing so, I just hope Jody takes a page from Gregg and backs off the pedal down the stretch and rest our tired legs.

[1972Shocker]

If my old memory is working, we received votes last year and broke the top 25 in the USA coaches poll. We then lost 4 out of 5 in the Valley, 3 in row and dropped out of sight. If we were to win our remaining games through the Valley tourney, I would think we'd receive a higher seed than a terrible 14. We are capable of doing so, I just hope Jody takes a page from Gregg and backs off the pedal down the stretch and rest our tired legs.

We could go 8-1 through the Valley Tournament, finish at 28-5, and still not even make the NCAA Tournament if that 1 loss is in the Championship game of the Valley Tournament. Our RPI is currently at 55. It was around 29 prior to starting conference play and has almost doubled even though we are 11-1. It is almost guaranteed to go higher after we play Illinois State this Friday even with a win. Not sure what a loss or two would do but right now everyone we play has an RPI that is worse than ours. At best we are probably on the wrong side of the bubble if that. Looks like a one-bid league to me.

Where we would be seeded if we do run the table is hard to say. Maybe a 12 at best.

In any case, the Shocks have a challenging road in front of them. They still have SIU, Drake and UNI remaining on the regular season schedule among their 6 remaining games. Drake, SIU, UNI and MSU are all probably capable of knocking them off in the Valley Tournament.

Let's hope they have enough left in the tank to get the job done. They looked very good against Bradley last Sunday, but that was Bradley.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

We could go 8-1 through the Valley Tournament, finish at 28-5, and still not even make the NCAA Tournament if that 1 loss is in the Championship game of the Valley Tournament. Our RPI is currently at 55. It was around 29 prior to starting conference play and has almost doubled even though we are 11-1. It is almost guaranteed to go higher after we play Illinois State this Friday even with a win. Not sure what a loss or two would do but right now everyone we play has an RPI that is worse than ours. At best we are probably on the wrong side of the bubble if that. Looks like a one-bid league to me.

Where we would be seeded if we do run the table is hard to say. Maybe a 12 at best.

In any case, the Shocks have a challenging road in front of them. They still have SIU, Drake and UNI remaining on the regular season schedule among their 6 remaining games. Drake, SIU, UNI and MSU are all probably capable of knocking them off in the Valley Tournament.

Let's hope they have enough left in the tank to get the job done. They looked very good against Bradley last Sunday, but that was Bradley.

They are certainly tired, but capable of pulling off a run of the table. We demonstrated against Tennessee we can hang with the big dogs and Tennessee crushed Stanford. Of course we have to be clicking on all cylinders, shooting a good percentage, rebounding, playing great D etc. A big challenge, but a challenge I'd take any day over being a cellar dweller. Nice report, 1972.