First, I don't believe that. There are often several tournaments with TBAs listed, and there are many teams that get new coaches or might have funding issues that cause them to back out.

Second, even if #1 is true, and NOTHING CHANGES FOR TWO YEARS after a team signs up for an MTE, we would have been the #1 or #2 team in that tournament by every conceivable measure in 2016-- conference strength, RPI average over the past two-three years, budget, etc. There is NO EXCUSE for us to be in that grouping, even if we regressed from 2016.

Third, the next time someone suggests that "we shouldn't be worried/concerned about scheduling right now"..... I'm going to link to this really pathetic/embarrassing revelation of the weak teams we're stuck with playing in the only real opportunity to get one or more Q1 or Q2 opportunities.

We can't convincingly claim that we can't find good teams to schedule when we voluntarily sign up for an all-important MTE where no other team is from a conference ranked better than 11th (Pepperdine, from the WCC), and no other team had a previous year RPI better than 143.

I know nobody everybody hates "that guy" who finds things to complain about after we've just had a massive, miraculous achievement like going to the Final Four, but this is a FAIL.

So Valpo is in the Myrtle Beach tnmt...here are the teams involved....looks a little more intense
The inaugural early-season tournament will feature Cal State Fullerton, Saint Joseph’s, UCF, Valparaiso, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Western Kentucky with an eighth team to be announced at a later date. Several teams saw postseason success this season, with Cal State Fullerton and West Virginia playing the NCAA Men’s Tournament, where the Mountaineers advanced to the Sweet 16, and Western Kentucky appearing in the NIT Semifinals.
Looks like they still needed a team.....coulda been us no??????

My guess is the MVC would discourage two conference teams in the same tournament

6 games (publicly) locked in. 4 R/N (Bahamas, UIC) that won’t move any needle for an at-large.

Filling the remaining 2 road slots with buy games is a must at this point. Otherwise, there might not be a Q1/Q2 opportunity outside of Nevada.

Would be an monumental failure if our only non-conf Q1/Q2 opportunity came from game that was assigned to us (i.e. we did nothing to improve our non-conf schedule coming off a Final 4 run with an extremely talented, at-large quality team).

If this is still possible... what a fantastic idea and opportunity...

A great idea but they haven't played us all these years when they literally had nothing to lose...why play us now?

_________________
Cigarboy sucks!

Do not know if this will have an effect or not....but NU has DePaul scheduled for 12/8 and I think Chicago State already........but you can always hope.

Watch, they'll slap us in the face by scheduling UIC.

_________________
Cigarboy sucks!

DePaul has played UIC each of the past 4 years alternating between home and road. In the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, they played Northwestern, UIC, and Chicago St. Last year they didn't play Chicago St. Either they had a 4 year contract and won't renew because UIC is getting better, or they'll schedule every team but us. Northwestern hasn't played UIC since 2014, so I don't think that'll happen.