A lot of surprises....

* SIU is pretty damn good.
* NIU is much worse than thought.
* I think we're a little better on defense than last year, but considerably worse on offense.
* MSU is a little better than advertised, Bradley is maybe a bit worse-- but they're doing good things to develop their young players.

Not surprising:

Wichita State and Evansville are pretty good. If Evansville had just scheduled better (only three games against top 100 teams, but SIX non-con games against teams with RPIs worse than 225, and half of those were against RPIs in the 300s-- the very worst), maybe they'd be an NCAA bubble team instead of an NIT-bound team.

Drake and WSU are the last two teams we have yet to see this year, and I'm assuming a win over Drake and a loss to WSU. If we won two of the three games we lost by two points or less after having second-half leads (ISUr, MSU, Bradley), I'd say we'd be in good shape for avoiding Thursday, but we've dug a hole too deep to hope much. I suppose it's POSSIBLE to avoid Thursday at 7-11 or worse, but it hasn't been done since 2003-04.

Careful. They get really upset if you refer to them incorrectly

_________________
Cigarboy sucks!

JCT is just trying to even up the score for all the times their fans refer to us as UL, U of L, and LOY.

Yeah, I should have done better on that. I had one eye on DC getting killed by the blizzard.

By the way, Northern Illinois is surprisingly good this year...

NOrthern Illinois played Eureka, Judson and Roosevelt........UINW, Florida INternational and then got hammered by Ohio State and U of Missouri. Have played well in the MAC who is currently ranked even with the MVC.....Seems we are low this year at 13.

If Wichita State leaves the conference The Valley may be ranked below the Horizon League. Wouldn't that be ironic?

The MVC is down recently, but there are teams that can and will lift it with or without Wichita. I still think you guys have potential, Bradley definitely does if they get the right man running the show. SIU can be much better. MSU should be, but seem to too often be limited by their coach and a willingness to pay. UNI is typically going to be solid, this year is an anomaly.

There's a lot of potential at many schools, but potential isn't always met. With or without Wichita there are a number of schools that can, and need to, raise their game/commitment.

_________________
The Roundhouse

Good Grief !! Here we go again ???????
Shocks leave ?? If so, make offer to Western Kentucky, St Louis Detroit Valpo Oral Roberts E Illinois or maybe NoDak St.---Pick one or add your choice.
The Valley might wish to add one or three---You think ???

I've long been a proponent of going to 12 before anyone departs. WKU and SLU aren't options. WKU has FBS football and SLU wants nothing to do with the MVC. The MVC has reached out to them numerous times.

I recently posted on Wheatshockers about this and found some numbers of the 20 or so most likely candidates to be considered. It's not flattering. I posted 10 years worth of RPI numbers, the average of those numbers, as well as their average attendance from last season. There are a couple that look like they could be worth considering but most, at least with this limited data, don't inspire many people.

The two favorites among Shocker fans seem to be Belmont and Murray State. But every school that could be considered have negatives/concerns that come with them. There is no homerun get outside of a Dayton and that would never happen.

_________________
The Roundhouse

Times do change from time to time--Billikins might just look up and see---
--Mediocre at best in A-10
--Huge travel budget
--Ramblers are now in the Valley

They just may ---well , if I were them I might just,,,