As our Blers are quarantining waiting for the COVID cloud to clear, other Valley teams are under way. Thought it'd be nice to have a thread to discuss.

Redbirds getting worked by Ohio State down 30+ in the 2nd half.

Drake up 3 late in the 2nd half against Kansas State. Wildcats definitely down this year, but this would be a big win for Drake and the MVC.

Bradley down 6 late in the 1st half vs Toledo. Ugly slugfest of a game. Bradley does not look good on offense.

I am excited for the WKU/UNI game at 3:30.

Disappointing loss for UNI. They shot 39 threes! WTF

_________________
MBB Scholarship Chart

Pop goes their bubble

UNI's defense really showed not having Isaiah Brown. They gave up 93 points in regulation? The most they allowed last year was 82 in OT against us and 80 in regulation against Marshall. Two years ago when they were a little better than a .500 team that got to the Arch Madness title game, the most they gave up was 83 in regulation at Drake.

On the other hand, tomorrow they have a game against St. Mary's, another one of their 5 non-cons against Top 100 teams. If they win tomorrow or Dec. 9th against Richmond, they're right back in the at large convo.

We really need to start scheduling as effectively as Northern Iowa. I don't know what they do to get such great schedules (UNC played in their building just 3 years ago, all 5 of their non-con games this year are against arguably top 100 teams, and last year they beat Colorado and South Carolina), but you'd think playing a team in (or from) Chicago that also has an NCAA National Championship and a recent Final Four would be more attractive than facing UNI-- not to mention flying to Cedar Falls, Iowa in November.

So let's root for UNI tomorrow and hope they knock off St. Mary's (8 pm Central on ESPN2), who has two games against the preseason #1 team. If WKU beats Memphis tomorrow, that would help.

Bradley plays Xavier tomorrow at 11 am-- the Braves got a win against Toledo (two former UWGB coaches facing each other) in crunch time.

Things that were amazing about Northern Iowa:

1) They shot 39 3’s - AND hit 20 of them for 51%
2) They scored 56 points in the second half
3) They put up 87 points and shot 46% from the field.

What I really want to see now is how Green (who played 38 minutes), Phyfe (who played 34 minutes), and Carter (who played a monster game and played 36 minutes) play tomorrow on less than a days’ rest. It looks like they played a 7-man rotation today. Their top three guys essentially played the whole game. UNI is going to live and die on Green’s shooting. If he struggles tomorrow - I’ll feel more confident in our chances to win the Valley with the new schedule format.

Good points, Toledo, but we especially need UNI to be good. If they're not as good as billed and happen to split with us, we'll only have one win against a Tier 2 team. If they pick up some good wins in preseason and we split with them, maybe we have a Tier 1 win.

I'm hoping that some other team (Drake beat Kansas State today, which is picked last in the Big 12 but is still a Big 12 team) can add to the MVC teams in the top 100. If we win the league with two other teams in the top 100, we'll get a 6 or 7 seed.

Drake looked good. UNI not so much. As JCT stated, they didn’t replace Isaiah Brown on defense and it showed. UNI will have their hands full with our outside shooters.

Went to check the discussion on the MVC board, and it’s a huge wall of text where a Valpo fan rants like a 4-year-old.

JCT, I don’t completely understand how the selection committee works (especially in COVID), but do you think we could actually get an at-large bid, assuming the only non con game we play is Chicago State, even if UNI wins out? With P5 schools playing less non-con games, I assume it only gives them the ability to avoid “bad losses” and gives them priority over mid majors, regardless of what UNI does.

I assume, in order to get an at large, we would have to beat someone of note in non con to have a chance. It doesn’t seem like we are going to get that chance this year. At this point I just figured we would have to finish the season with only 2 or 3 losses (against anyone in conference) to be considered. Thoughts?

My point is that UNI could be our Tier 1 win(s) if we don't have any.really bad losses. If Drake and Bradley are also near or above the top 100 mark, sweeps over them would help our NET rating.

There will probably be more eye test consideration and efficiency numbers involved in a year like this, too.

UNI and Bradley both get really good games today....and by the end of the weekend it looks like most of the Valley will have gotten in 2 or 3 games. by the time we get around to playing teams, they are going to be way ahead of us....I think it is a factor.