2018 MVC - Week 6

[Kyle@MOState]

The biggest win in Peoria in over a decade.

Really? What about beating #19 UNI on Feb 13, 2010?

Less than five years ago, a lot of Bradley people thought that adding Loyola to the league was a catastrophic mistake. Just last Spring, a roundtable of eight MVC beat writers had a consensus more or less that adding Loyola was a failed experiment, an unfortunate mistake, or the best of some bad options.

Now it's the biggest win in Peoria in over a decade? Or as Dave Reynolds, PJS Bradley beat writer and firm Loyola skeptic wrote this morning, "one of their biggest regular-season wins in, oh, a decade or two."

I'd like to see just ONE of the newspaper columnists who used a barrel of ink to denigrate Loyola for a couple of years write a ONE SENTENCE mea culpa. It won't make up for how crappy they made Loyola fans feel for several years, but it would be a nice peace-making gesture.

I don't think that the beat writers were necessarily beating up Loyola the basketball team, since they have come in the league they have been competitive. I think it was more the program that was the target. They don't have a dedicated beat writer, they don't have any radio coverage, they are surrounded by a huge city with many decorated programs, they seem like an afterthought to many in Chicago. (I am aware that Loyola Chicago is the only team in Illinois to win a championship) They don't bring a ton of coverage or fans to the MVC tournament. After losing Creighton who brought all of those things at a higher level than the rest of the Valley schools at the time, it just seemed like a major step back. I am glad to see Loyola fans be more vocal, even when the team was down they were always super dangerous. I remember a few years ago they almost knocked Wichita State out in the MVC tourney on a Friday. The team is the team to beat in the Valley this year, enjoy the good times. I am not a beat writer, but sorry they made you feel bad.

[chitown fanatic]

Last night was the biggest in a decade for exactly what majik stated...where it puts us in the standings this late in the season. To see hacksaw's projections finally having a better chance of NOT playing Thursday for the first time in 8 years will cause any BU fan to be a little exuberant. I fully expect Loyola to close this out...I just want to get in the night session as the 2 or 3. Either way, the Valley tourney could be the best its ever been this year as I think this year theres a real chance an 8-9 could knock off whoever ends up on top.

[ptownbraves]

The biggest win in Peoria in over a decade.

Really? What about beating #19 UNI on Feb 13, 2010?

Less than five years ago, a lot of Bradley people thought that adding Loyola to the league was a catastrophic mistake. Just last Spring, a roundtable of eight MVC beat writers had a consensus more or less that adding Loyola was a failed experiment, an unfortunate mistake, or the best of some bad options.

Now it's the biggest win in Peoria in over a decade? Or as Dave Reynolds, PJS Bradley beat writer and firm Loyola skeptic wrote this morning, "one of their biggest regular-season wins in, oh, a decade or two."

I'd like to see just ONE of the newspaper columnists who used a barrel of ink to denigrate Loyola for a couple of years write a ONE SENTENCE mea culpa. It won't make up for how crappy they made Loyola fans feel for several years, but it would be a nice peace-making gesture.

It may seem like one meaningless game to Loyola fans, but you’re missing the context behind the Bradley program of the last 20 years.

10k + fans at Carver Arena was not an unusual thing in the 90s/2000s. Jim Molinari coached Bradley and did pretty well, but was never able to consistently get over the hump. 1996 was the last time they won the conference and fans eventually grew tired of Coach Mo’s grinding defense and slow tempo style.

So they brought in former Bradley player Jim Les, who had almost no coaching experience but did make it to the NBA as a player. Les could recruit and had a few good years, even getting the team to a Sweet 16 in 2006, but never managed to get his team higher than a 4th place conference finish, even with an NBA lottery pick on the roster.

With fans demanding better, the Bradley administration brought in Geno Ford, a former MAC coach of the year at Kent State and paid him a boat load of cash. Surely this would finally right the ship and get Bradley over the mediocrity hump they’d been battling with all these years? Instead, the ship sank deeper and a 6 year slide into the Valley abyss awaited. Attendance plummeted to half of what it used to be. Drake vs. Bradley on Thursday night in St. Louis became a thing.

So then the BU administration that hired Geno gets canned, and the new administration cleans house, including bringing in a new AD and Brian Wardle as the coach, another young coach with seemingly good credentials from a mid-major school. Fans were anxious to say the least. Years 1 and 2 were about what you’d expect for a complete rebuild. And here we are in year 3 of Wardle’s tenure. Fans are slowly starting to gain interest again. Bradley is doing something they haven’t done in a long time: consistently winning.

It has little to do with who they played last night and more to do with the fact that they just beat a team that is probably more talented and fans knowing it’s not a fluke. It’s a collective sigh of relief in Peoria that we seem to have a coach that will be able to recruit guys that will allow the team to consistently compete for conference championships and NCAA tournaments in the not too distant future.

[BradleyFan71]

As previously stated, last night was more about a late January game and Bradley's place in the standings than it was about the opponent. Sure, the opponent being the #1 team in the conference made it the biggest, but I feel it would have been one of the biggest games in a decade no matter the opponent.

That's more of a sad statement on the last decade of Bradley basketball than anything. Put it this way.....the last time Bradley played a February home game within a game of first place was when Jim Molinari was coaching the team.

[VUGrad1314]

The biggest win in Peoria in over a decade.

Really? What about beating #19 UNI on Feb 13, 2010?

Less than five years ago, a lot of Bradley people thought that adding Loyola to the league was a catastrophic mistake. Just last Spring, a roundtable of eight MVC beat writers had a consensus more or less that adding Loyola was a failed experiment, an unfortunate mistake, or the best of some bad options.

Now it's the biggest win in Peoria in over a decade? Or as Dave Reynolds, PJS Bradley beat writer and firm Loyola skeptic wrote this morning, "one of their biggest regular-season wins in, oh, a decade or two."

I'd like to see just ONE of the newspaper columnists who used a barrel of ink to denigrate Loyola for a couple of years write a ONE SENTENCE mea culpa. It won't make up for how crappy they made Loyola fans feel for several years, but it would be a nice peace-making gesture.

For whatever it's worth, which is probably nothing, here's one from a Valpo fan: when Loyola was chosen over Valpo to replace Creighton in 2013, I was absolutely livid. I couldn't believe that the MVC had taken what I perceived as a consistently noncompetitive program with no discernible commitment to basketball for what seemed like nothing more than market; while Valpo, which had consistently beaten Loyola; and was at the time fresh off two consecutive HL titles and one berth each in the Tournament and the NIT, was left on the outside looking in. Then, Loyola won the CBI, and I began to take notice. I could see the talent coming in and knew that their commitment was clearly up from where it was in the HL. Their record also became steadily better overall. Still, this year was the" prove it" year that I needed in order to be fully convinced. Then they beat Florida on the road for what might have been the conference's best nonconference win this year, and I knew the hype was real and that Loyola had turned the corner as a program. The standings speak volumes: Loyola can compete in the MVC, and the relative youth of most of their best and most promising players suggest that they've got staying power. If that's not a creditable add, I don't know what one is. The only knock on them right now is low attendance at home games, but I'm sure a couple more successful competitive years will help with that. Hopefully, Valpo follows suit and gets competitive in the MVC soon.

[Mikovio]

Pretty sure Bradley wasn't trying to keep Loyola out. If anything we were one of Loyola's biggest proponents in the expansion. The biggest detractor has since left the conference and is happily losing to Temple. I was one of the few on here arguing for them. Glad we did that instead of Oral Bob to make the Shockers happy. Loyola's deep pockets and locale make it a sleeping giant, and it'll be interesting to see how hard they fight to keep Moser if they make the Dance and the big fish come calling. I'm hopeful they'll put together a big contract in that case. Edit: I'll add, being able to keep coaches is even more important in light of the proposed NCAA rule to allow transfers without penalties if the coach leaves.

Huge win, let's do it again March 4th. Hopefully we get a huge crowd Saturday for Drake.

[BirdsEyeView]

Gotta love the optimism of the Bradley faithful back on this board again.

I am excited to watch the ISUr @ Bradley game on Feb 14th. For the first time in years, the game could potentially have meaning again!

[Majik45]

Gotta love the optimism of the Bradley faithful back on this board again.

I am excited to watch the ISUr @ Bradley game on Feb 14th. For the first time in years, the game could potentially have meaning again!

And maybe we could get replicate 2001, Bradley vs. ISU in the #2 vs. #3 game on Saturday, winner gets to play for the NCAA's the next day.

[BirdsEyeView]

Gotta love the optimism of the Bradley faithful back on this board again.

I am excited to watch the ISUr @ Bradley game on Feb 14th. For the first time in years, the game could potentially have meaning again!

And maybe we could get replicate 2001, Bradley vs. ISU in the #2 vs. #3 game on Saturday, winner gets to play for the NCAA's the next day.

Why not just play each other on Sunday? Aim higher!

[bufan42]

Gotta love the optimism of the Bradley faithful back on this board again.

I am excited to watch the ISUr @ Bradley game on Feb 14th. For the first time in years, the game could potentially have meaning again!

And maybe we could get replicate 2001, Bradley vs. ISU in the #2 vs. #3 game on Saturday, winner gets to play for the NCAA's the next day.

Why not just play each other on Sunday? Aim higher!

Because in All probability BU is getting 2nd and ISU is getting 3rd so that would lead to a semi final matchup.

(But if we end up tied the RPI will be neck and neck and ISU could get the 2 seed)