Wheeler (Springfield News-Leader) revisits 2006 Bears snub

by **ValleyFAN** » July 13th, 2023, 8:26 am

Thought fans of the MVC would be interested. Wyatt Wheeler of the Springfield News Leader has been doing a series of pieces this past week on the Missouro State 2006 season when they were left out of the bracket despite having an rpi of 21. Wheeler has been releasing one article each day for the past handful of days. It’s an interesting look back at the old MVC in a year that saw the Valley get 4 teams into the tourney, even with the Bears snub.

Also, you can find the whole 2006 CBS Selection Show on YouTube which was both fun and painful to watch for a Bears fan like myself.

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by **BCPanther** » July 13th, 2023, 8:42 am

I think the result is pretty simple on that one, unfortunately.

They weren't taking 5 Valley teams and UNI beat (then) SMS on Friday in St Louis. That game was a de facto play in game to get the last at large. I don't think we even get that 4th team if Bradley hadn't gotten to Sunday.

Our 4 teams had 8, 10, 9 and 9 losses on selection Sunday. Wouldn't even get a sniff now. Just absolute P6 bullshit garbage nonsense.

by **Bluejay09Bear06** » July 13th, 2023, 8:58 am

BCPanther wrote:I think the result is pretty simple on that one, unfortunately.

They weren't taking 5 Valley teams and UNI beat (then) SMS on Friday in St Louis. That game was a de facto play in game to get the last at large. I don't think we even get that 4th team if Bradley hadn't gotten to Sunday.

Our 4 teams had 8, 10, 9 and 9 losses on selection Sunday. Wouldn't even get a sniff now. Just absolute P6 bullshit garbage nonsense.

I agree that UNI-MSU (that season was the Bears' first after the name change in Aug 05) quarterfinal was a de facto play-in game. On paper it doesn't surprise me that the Committee, even back then, took the easy way out and placed the four Valley semifinalists in the Tournament and probably didn't think twice about it. What has always bothered me is how soft the bubble was that year and placing a team like Air Force, which was winless against the Top 50 and had an RPI in the 50s, into the field as an at-large. It just seemed malicious.

I also agree that in today's world, a Valley season like 2006 would produce maybe 2 bids for the league. That's how much life as a mid-major has declined on Selection Sunday since then.

by **MissouriValleyUnite** » July 13th, 2023, 9:47 am

The Valley had 60% (!!!) of its league in the top-40 RPI on Selection Sunday. The other 4 had OOC wins over Indiana, Purdue, Butler, & TCU. Missouri St's 21 RPI remains the highest RPI/NET snubbed from the NCAA Tournament in MBB history.

I think what it came down to is this:
(8) BIG EAST
(6) B1G, SEC
(4) ACC, XII, MVC, PAC

The committee just wasn't going to give the MVC more bids than 3 of the 6 BCS conferences. It was already enough of a firestorm that the MVC, despite being top-6 in RPI, was getting as many bids as the ACC, XII, & PAC. Billy Packer threw a massive tantrum on national television - only for the MVC to put 2 teams in the Sweet-16.

Coincidentally, I was cleaning out my house last week in preparation of a move. I found a Sports Illustrated magazine from February 2006 which had a 4 page special on the MVC beating out BCS conferences in RPI. I remember that article being what got me into the MVC. It was absolutely fascinating to rediscover. The MVC was one of the biggest stories in sports in January-March 2006.

by **TBS_20** » July 13th, 2023, 9:29 pm

2017 sucked enough for ISU. I couldn't even imagine what MSU felt in 2006.

by **VUGrad1314** » July 14th, 2023, 9:34 am

I remember being upset for Missouri State back then. They absolutely deserved an at large spot and the MVC deserved 5 bids. That year was what made me fall in love with the conference. Watching two teams from there make a run to the Sweet 16 was amazing to behold and gave me a lot of hope as a fan of a small school. (Grew up in Valpo as a Valpo fan before going there was also a fan of Gonzaga which is the city I was born in). As for Valpo's own tournament history 2016 still hurts and always will. I firmly believe that was a Sweet 16 caliber team minimum. I only wish we had paid it off by winning the NIT but I think the rumors of Bryce's eventual departure which were swirling at the time were too much. Speaking of P6 BS we never got our home and home or even one game with Vanderbilt since they bought their way out of that part of the contract. 2016 was what made me want the MVC even more than I did back when we were considered in 2013 (I was already a supporter of the move then but after that snub in 2016 I remember screaming "THAT'S IT! NEW CONFERENCE NOW!" Watching the team that beat us out (Syracuse) go to the Final 4 that year was painful. "That could've been us." Sorry we haven't held up our end since getting into the MVC but I think Powell will get us there eventually. I really like what he's building.

by **IllinoisState** » July 14th, 2023, 10:17 am

It's a nice reminder of the biggest snub in MVC history and possibly NCAA history in a long line of MVC snubs.

by **squirrel** » July 19th, 2023, 9:56 am

Bradley got a huge optics boost during championship week too. They were probably most definitely out due to a lackluster non-conference. But they beat De Paul (without Patrick O'Bryant and Will Franklin, who were suspended for basically the first third of the season) to open the sesaon.

While we were all in St. Louis, De Paul just utterly annihilated Syracuse by 40 points. Then Bradley made the championship game by beating Wichita (who was a lock), but got beat pretty handily by SIU. So the Braves were probably on the outside looking in again.

But then the following week Syracuse (as the league 9 seed) ended up winning the Big East Tournament.

So all of a sudden, that win by Bradley and end-of-season sequence of events gave the Braves a huge optics boost which I have always thought played a huge role in their inclusion, even though they didn't pass the eye test against SIU in the championship game.

by **unipanther99** » July 19th, 2023, 12:47 pm

That was peak MVC fandom for sure... Games in the UNI-Dome that last season were really rocking, and for a time fans were giving our AD hell for not planning to make the McLeod Center (opening the next fall) larger than it is.

They had to add an extra set of bleachers to the north concourse that haven't been used in years now.

by **Mikovio** » July 19th, 2023, 1:13 pm

I think it was Randall Falker who gave POB a big elbow to the head under the basket early in that SIU title game, after which POB played much more tentative. Of course he came out guns blazing in the NCAA.
That game was also the one where an SIU cheerleader suffered a terrible spill and made cheering motions while being carried out on a stretcher.