State of the Conference

[Cdizzle]

They aren't bad based on where Loyola is coming from, but if you're looking for at-large consideration, I agree those losses don't cut it. .

I think this is important. I think it's OK to say Loyola is off to a pretty good start this year while also being realistic that at-large bid is not in the cards.

This .. While they wont get an At-large, I'm extremely happy and impressed with Loyola this year. That is a good trend in the right direction. They even received a vote in the AP Top 25 today. Who would have saw that coming at the beginning of the year?

To be fair, it's also a horrible T25 vote.

[Stickboy46]

I think this is important. I think it's OK to say Loyola is off to a pretty good start this year while also being realistic that at-large bid is not in the cards.

This .. While they wont get an At-large, I'm extremely happy and impressed with Loyola this year. That is a good trend in the right direction. They even received a vote in the AP Top 25 today. Who would have saw that coming at the beginning of the year?

To be fair, it's also a horrible T25 vote.

Its not unreasonable to think they are top 40. 20-40 is a crapshoot at this part of the year anyways. A lot of teams have no defining wins due to horrible OOC so its hard to judge.

[Cdizzle]

This .. While they wont get an At-large, I'm extremely happy and impressed with Loyola this year. That is a good trend in the right direction. They even received a vote in the AP Top 25 today. Who would have saw that coming at the beginning of the year?

To be fair, it's also a horrible T25 vote.

Its not unreasonable to think they are top 40. 20-40 is a crapshoot at this part of the year anyways. A lot of teams have no defining wins due to horrible OOC so its hard to judge.

I don't have the time, but I doubt it would be difficult to find a lot of more deserving 2-loss teams. Still, good for them. The numbers for Loyola are still very, very pedestrian.

[Stickboy46]

To be fair, it's also a horrible T25 vote.

Its not unreasonable to think they are top 40. 20-40 is a crapshoot at this part of the year anyways. A lot of teams have no defining wins due to horrible OOC so its hard to judge.

I don't have the time, but I doubt it would be difficult to find a lot of more deserving 2-loss teams. Still, good for them. The numbers for Loyola are still very, very pedestrian.

Either way, its a good problem to be having a conversation about whether a Valley team not named WSU or UNI deserves a vote they got rather than wonder if anyone else ever will.

[squirrel]

--Bradley's slowly moving toward the right direction.... they'll get their as long as people stay patient with Wardle

Sadly, some already have their pitchforks in hand.

[Blers]

Its not unreasonable to think they are top 40. 20-40 is a crapshoot at this part of the year anyways. A lot of teams have no defining wins due to horrible OOC so its hard to judge.

I don't have the time, but I doubt it would be difficult to find a lot of more deserving 2-loss teams. Still, good for them. The numbers for Loyola are still very, very pedestrian.

Either way, its a good problem to be having a conversation about whether a Valley team not named WSU or UNI deserves a vote they got rather than wonder if anyone else ever will.

Agreed Stick. Regardless of whether you agree or not (and I'm honestly shocked we got a vote); it's good publicity for the conference; and someone out there is paying attention to LU.

Coming in to this season a lot of Rambler fans had picked us in the 4-5 range in conference; I think they've exceeded a lot of our expectations with their non-con play... and certainly with how they've played missing Ingram. Conference play may be a different beast; it always seems to be for the Valley, but I'll be happy with this for now and hope the momentum keeps pushing this program further ahead.

[Blers]

--Bradley's slowly moving toward the right direction.... they'll get their as long as people stay patient with Wardle

Sadly, some already have their pitchforks in hand.

Seriously!?!? What a shame. I'm a big believer in Wardle; give him some freakin' time!

[alap3]

They aren't bad based on where Loyola is coming from, but if you're looking for at-large consideration, I agree those losses don't cut it. But nobody on this board expected Loyola to schedule up for at-large consideration this year. That's the reason it's not going to happen. It's a decent schedule, and we had chances for a couple nice wins (got one of them), but we've also lost two of the three best games on the schedule.

Having said all that, I have a new favorite AP writer! Thanks for the vote, whoever you are.

Well said ahunte. Being a Loyola fan 0% of me was expecting to get an at-large this year. I still feel the same way based on the level of competition but I'm still pleased with the progress being made. My hope is for a boost in the quality of the schedule next year due to the majority of players returning.

[Blers]

They aren't bad based on where Loyola is coming from, but if you're looking for at-large consideration, I agree those losses don't cut it. But nobody on this board expected Loyola to schedule up for at-large consideration this year. That's the reason it's not going to happen. It's a decent schedule, and we had chances for a couple nice wins (got one of them), but we've also lost two of the three best games on the schedule.

Having said all that, I have a new favorite AP writer! Thanks for the vote, whoever you are.

Well said ahunte. Being a Loyola fan 0% of me was expecting to get an at-large this year. I still feel the same way based on the level of competition but I'm still pleased with the progress being made. My hope is for a boost in the quality of the schedule next year due to the majority of players returning.

Agreed. We lose Doyle which is a big lose but gain the redshirt transfer Townes (who'll be a stud and should step in fairly well for Doyle based on what fans have seen in open practices), plus the two freshmen bigs in Krutwig and Negron. And potentially one other JUCO big if Kirby decides to graduate as some expect.

Next year could be huge for determining Loyola's long term direction as a program(and i believe it's also the last year on Porters contract, unless it was already privately extended).

[Cdizzle]

These Loyola fans all need to get the hell out of here with the reasonable opinions. It's not the mvcfans way.