Conference play has arrived...

by **FearDaTrees** » December 26th, 2011, 11:21 am

The MVC enters conference play with the 8th best RPI. Not too shabby but it definitely can get better if the top 4 or 5 teams don't lose to SIU or any of the lower tier teams. If the top 4 or 5 can beat up on each other that wouldnt be a bad thing at all, especially if each teams just takes care of business at home. We are aready ahead of the Pac-12, as they are complete garbage this year so that isn't really saying too much, but they usually get 4-5 bids each year and the isn't going to happen this year. Opening the door for the MVC to get 3-4 bids. With all of my rambling said here are my predictions for the rest of the season.

Creighton- (15-3) (26-4)
Wichita St- (13-5) (23-7)
Indiana St- (13-5) (23-7)
N. Iowa- (12-6) (23-8)
Missouri St-(10-8) (18-13)
Illinois St-(8-10) (16-14)
Drake-(7-11) (14-16)
Evansville-(5-13) (10-19)
Bradley-(5-13) (10-21)
S. Illinois-(2-16) (5-24)- WOW

POY- D. McDermott
Conference Tournament Winner- Wichita St.
NCAA Bids- 3 (Creighton-At large, Wichita St-Auto Bid, Indiana St- At large)
I wanted to put N. Iowa in because I think they are a capable team but they don't really have a key win this year. They need to beat the top 3 all once to have a shot. 4 bids would be awesome but I'll stick with 3 as my prediction.

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by **Drakey** » December 26th, 2011, 12:33 pm

Only problem with getting multiple bids is that the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West are both ahead of us in RPI. Both are conferences also trying to get multiple bids, and I think the media prefers them both to the Valley.

by **ACECARD** » December 26th, 2011, 2:48 pm

FearDaTrees wrote:The MVC enters conference play with the 8th best RPI. Not too shabby but it definitely can get better if the top 4 or 5 teams don't lose to SIU or any of the lower tier teams. If the top 4 or 5 can beat up on each other that wouldnt be a bad thing at all, especially if each teams just takes care of business at home. We are aready ahead of the Pac-12, as they are complete garbage this year so that isn't really saying too much, but they usually get 4-5 bids each year and the isn't going to happen this year. Opening the door for the MVC to get 3-4 bids. With all of my rambling said here are my predictions for the rest of the season.

Creighton- (15-3) (26-4)
Wichita St- (13-5) (23-7)
Indiana St- (13-5) (23-7)
N. Iowa- (12-6) (23-8)
Missouri St-(10-8) (18-13)
Illinois St-(8-10) (16-14)
Drake-(7-11) (14-16)
Evansville-(5-13) (10-19)
Bradley-(5-13) (10-21)
S. Illinois-(2-16) (5-24)- WOW

POY- D. McDermott
Conference Tournament Winner- Wichita St.
NCAA Bids- 3 (Creighton-At large, Wichita St-Auto Bid, Indiana St- At large)
I wanted to put N. Iowa in because I think they are a capable team but they don't really have a key win this year. They need to beat the top 3 all once to have a shot. 4 bids would be awesome but I'll stick with 3 as my prediction.

I can't disagree with this very much. I'm not going to give up on the Aces not being a play in team just yet, but if we can't beat SIU at home this week, then they would surely be a play in team. It really depends on what our freshmen can do in the paint, and they are improving, but how much is yet to be seen.

by **Jet915** » December 26th, 2011, 3:59 pm

I'd probably put CU at 14-4 or 13-5. Winning on the road in the valley is too tough...

by **2livewu** » December 26th, 2011, 7:30 pm

CU 17-1. Yeah they're that good (sigh)
UNI 12-6
MSU 12-6
Indiana Sate 12-6
WSU-12-6
Illinois State 7-11
Bradley 6-12
Drake 5-13
Evansville 5-13
SIU 2-16

The non BCS bubble in March is going to be very, very full.

by **Ali** » December 27th, 2011, 9:32 am

FearDaTrees wrote:I wanted to put N. Iowa in because I think they are a capable team but they don't really have a key win this year. They need to beat the top 3 all once to have a shot. 4 bids would be awesome but I'll stick with 3 as my prediction.

That's my concern too. Our RPI is great but there's not much meat on the bone. We probably need to get 3 out of 4 against CU and WSU.

by **Jet915** » December 27th, 2011, 10:46 am

Ali wrote:
FearDaTrees wrote:I wanted to put N. Iowa in because I think they are a capable team but they don't really have a key win this year. They need to beat the top 3 all once to have a shot. 4 bids would be awesome but I'll stick with 3 as my prediction.

That's my concern too. Our RPI is great but there's not much meat on the bone. We probably need to get 3 out of 4 against CU and WSU.

Bracketbuster will be huge for UNI

by **2livewu** » December 27th, 2011, 12:03 pm

Ali wrote:That's my concern too. Our RPI is great but there's not much meat on the bone. We probably need to get 3 out of 4 against CU and WSU.

Yeah, well, that ain't happening. Anyone that thinks they're getting CU plays those scratcher lotto tickets way too often.

Yes, it can happen, but in a short term sample it's highly unlikely, and if it does happen it's going to be pure luck.

I also think 13-5 is a highly ambitious number for our Shocks. Not as good or (Valley) experienced as last season and the league is a LOT better than last year......I'd take 1 game worse than last year and run right now.

by **bluejayfan00** » December 27th, 2011, 12:51 pm

As a Jays fan, I can only see one team who is capable of just beating us by being better, and that's Wichita. Every top team in the Valley every year drops a game no one thought they would or shouldn't have. That will probably happen to CU this year, but we are different then most years. We don't fold on the road anymore, we have players who better or just as good as any other teams players at every position. It won't happen, but if we only lost one game I wouldn't be surprised. I will say the Jays lose 2. Wichita goes 14-4 and UNI and ISUB behind them at 12-6.

by **CaliJay** » December 27th, 2011, 2:19 pm

If we only lose one game (or two for that matter), I will be absolutely shocked. Trust me, I think we are really good but the it is really hard to not lose at least 3 road games in the Valley. I think we lose at most one home game. I'd say 14-4 is more realistic.

If we do somehow go 17-1, I predict everyone will HATE the Jays fans down in STL this year. (if they don't already)