BEARZ77 wrote:Conferences don't get bids [ except for the auto bid for the Conference Tourney Champ] teams do. As I noted before, the formula is there and it's simple to understand, just hard to do. Yes the opportunities are limited for mid major teams and the Bigs have built in advantage because of their access to top 50-100 wins via their conference schedule and conference tourneys. The AAC is trying to promote themselves as the P-6
[ understandable because of their football playing members, but laughable if viewed in terms of BB if compared to the Big East], yet they only got two bids last year, less than the A-10, the same as the West Coast, and the same # as the MVC has in many recent years. Why, because they only had two teams that did enough with their INDIVIDUAL SCHEDULES. We all know that ISUr was a Tourney caliber team last year, and while a stronger Valley may have helped their cause, still they just didn't go out and schedule the type of possible wins in the non con needed to make the cut.
Does it weaken the Valley for teams like Creighton and WSU to have left; of course. But individually the path to the NCAA Tourney is no different than before. You can schedule the way most teams have recently and you have one shot, win the Conference Tourney. Or you can go out , take some risks in the non con by scheduling tough[ top 50-100/most likely road games] limit the bad loss opportunities in your schedule, and roll the dice. Guess what, win a few[3-5] of those games, avoid the bad losses, and finish in the top 2 of your conference and you have a chance no matter what the letters in your conference name say. And if you get blown out the water in the non con, guess what, you still have the same opportunity all the schedule safe teams do by winning the conference tourney.
We have a winner.
UNI, and WSU, are the only two teams in the MVC that have been putting together schedules that would allow for an at-large bid. I would, and do, argue that UNI over schedules and costs themselves their chance at an at-large before the season starts. Look at last years schedule, given what was being lost
Tire Pros Invite (played Arizona State, Oklahoma and Xavier). That's actually a really good MTE.
@ Xavier (played them twice in a row, 6 days apart, by a scheduling coincidence). First year of a H/H.
George Mason
@Wyoming (MWC/MVC challenge)
South Dakota State (Summit auto bid)
UND (Big Sky regular season and post season champ)
Iowa (Big Four Classic - rotate Iowa/Iowa State
@ North Carolina
This year the schedule is
Xavier
@ North Carolina
Home in the MWC/MVC challenge
Supposedly home vs UNLV
Iowa State
MTE (Battle for Atlantis - teams are Nova, Zona, Purdue, SMU, NC State, Tennessee and WKu)
So, defending national champs, an Elite 8 team, Iowa State is always a top 20 team, and the B4A is 6 top 20 teams.
It's great to go - Man, we get to play the big guys all OOC. It's also probably a bit too much.
There needs to be a happy medium. If the entire conference can work on finding that medium the conference will be just fine - and a head - of where it is now.