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Conference Schedule
https://www.ramblermania.net:443/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=214		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  ahunte1 [ Wed Sep 04, 2013 1:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Conference Schedule
Posted here.

2013-14 Loyola Men's Basketball MVC Schedule
Jan. 1 - at Indiana State
Jan. 5 - Missouri State
Jan. 8 - Southern Illinois
Jan. 11 - at Illinois State
Jan. 15 - Drake
Jan. 18 - at Evansville
Jan. 22 - Indiana State
Jan. 25 - Northern Iowa
Jan. 28 - at Wichita State
Feb. 1 - at Southern Illinois
Feb. 6 - Bradley
Feb. 9 - Illinois State
Feb. 12 - at Northern Iowa
Feb. 15 - at Drake
Feb. 19 - Wichita State
Feb. 22 - at Bradley
Feb. 25 - at Missouri State
March 1 - Evansville
March 6-9 - at MVC Tournament (St. Louis, Mo.)
Author:  ahunte1 [ Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Conference Schedule
All I will add in terms of commentary is that with home games against MO State, Drake, and SIU in the first two weeks of the season, we will know early on if we are going to finish last. A couple losses among those games and we are toast.
Author:  GoRamblers [ Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Conference Schedule
I've circled a few games

Jan 15 - Drake (since I went to Drake for a year and a half, I've wanted to see this match-up for quite some time.)
Feb 9 - ISUr (There are some folks that went to ISUr that have followed LU for years. Good grudge match)
Feb 19 - WSU ('Nuff said)
March 1 - Evansville (It'll be great to renew our rivalry with these guys)
Author:  brot4britu [ Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Conference Schedule
No disrespect, Ahun,but I shall look at it the other way--that is,, a couple of wins here , and we shall be thj peanut butter on he toast. !!
Author:  ahunte1 [ Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Conference Schedule
brot4britu wrote:
No disrespect, Ahun,but I shall look at it the other way--that is,, a couple of wins here , and we shall be thj peanut butter on he toast. !!


I agree! I think we should win all three of those and get off to a nice start before the tougher part of the schedule begins.
Author:  GoRamblers [ Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Conference Schedule
I appreciate the fact that the MVC gave us our old rivals to close the season. Just like when we used to close against UIC.

I'm excited!
Author:  SubGod22 [ Thu Sep 05, 2013 8:39 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Conference Schedule
Don't overlook MSU this year. Yes, they sucked last year but were one of the youngest in the country and were playing better at the end with mostly FR and SOs. I'm not sure how good they may be, but with the return of Gulley, they could potentially finish as high as 4th or 5th this year. But they may take another year to get there and nobody knows if Lusk is a good coach or not yet.

Drake has some young talent, I think, but shouldn't be much this season. SIU has no post depth and lack talent elsewhere. I do agree though that those games will give you an idea of where you stack up with the bottom/mid of the conference. I could see you and MSU battling for the 5th or 6th place spots this season. So that one could be interesting.

I haven't looked at what days each game is on, but I know a number of WSU fans have said they were disappointed that our trip to Chicago wasn't on a Saturday. Perhaps next season our fans will have that chance to make the trip from the ICT and catch a game at Loyola. I'm sure we'll still have a few that'll make it and I know we have some alumni up there looking forward to seeing the Shox play in person.
Author:  Robbie Aces [ Thu Sep 05, 2013 11:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Conference Schedule
I also wasn't very pleased when I saw the days in which most of our conference games fall on. Three of our first four conference games fall on Wednesday. I can't imagine that is going to help our attendance numbers! There is one reason that this may help us though... I find that the number of students on campus over the weekends at Loyola is actually smaller, so will this schedule produce a larger student attendance? I'd love to see our students get more involved! What is your guys' opinion on this?
Author:  Rambleon8390 [ Thu Sep 05, 2013 12:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Conference Schedule
I think the upgraded schedule associated with the move to the MVC will increase student attendance and attendance in general. I would also expect to see many ISU, Bradley, and SIU alums in attendance given the large numbers in the Chicagoland area. We need Rambler fans to step up on ticket purchases and make sure those games remain "home games". Go Ramblers!
Author:  Rambler63 [ Thu Sep 05, 2013 12:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Conference Schedule
One of the first ways I like to break down the conference schedule is to figure out where we are going to get road wins. Drake and Southern Illinois look like they might be our best chances at road victories-- the Salukis were 5-4 in conference at home last year, (although they did shock the Shockers), and Drake was 4-5 at home (although they did beat Creighton). Drake has a new coach, and Southern has the aforementioned glaring weakness in their post play.

Another good possibility is Illinois State, whose entire roster seems to have turned over. They could be unexpectedly good if their highly-touted recruits come together under Coach Mueller, but most people around here think next year is reserved for a complete retooling of the ISU program. I'm not sure what the reception will be for Porter Moser making his return to Redbird Arena-- it seems like there is some residual good will for Moser, and if the Redbirds get off to a bad start, the home partisans might be neutralized a good bit.

Missouri State tends to play really well at home.... despite their poor record last year, they were 6-3 at home, and played Wichita State and UNI pretty close in their home losses. They draw 5500-7k for their conference games, even in a rebuilding year.

Evansville lost their top scorer and top rebounder, so they might be a little vulnerable. They don't draw nearly as well as they did back in their MCC days, but they were still 8-1 last year in conference, losing only to Creighton by three points.

Loyola has played pretty well at Bradley recently, winning at Carver Arena in 2011-12 and 2010-11. But most people are picking Bradley to step up to 4th place in the league this year, and conference games are a lot different from non-con and Bracket Buster games.

One thing is for certain-- Loyola will not be playing any road conference games in mausoleums like we often did in the Horizon. There will be 25-piece live bands, 4500-13,000 spectators, rowdy students, knowledgeable fans, and perhaps twice as much media at every stop. Right off the bat in January, we've got nine grueling conference games in a four week span, with never more than four days in between games.

I would be OK with it if we could go 6-3 at home and 2-7 on the road. Anything more would be gravy, and given the big distance expected between the top three and the rest of the league, that might be enough to get us to squeak into 5th (maybe even 4th?) place, depending on tiebreakers.

PS: Welcome to the board, Robbie Aces. Yes, Loyola has always had a lot of trouble drawing on weekends and especially during semester breaks. So far, even with early fall sports, the students seem to be a lot more psyched about the new conference and the step up in competition.
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