MVC college hoops

OTR is right, Wisconsin would crush Indiana State (so would Ohio State), and I have a source who is pretty close to that program.

But right now, and I stress right now, Indiana State would be an either-or proposition against Michigan, Indiana (Indiana needed a late 3-pointer to put Indiana State away in the final seconds at Bloomington in November when Indiana State wasn't playing nearly as well), Michigan State (bad as they are right now) or Illinois. And they'd be outright favored against Iowa, Penn State, Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue (who they beat by 19).

Play the game at Terre Haute? I wouldn't take my chances with any Big Ten team save Ohio State or Wisconsin.

And that is true for almost every school in the league. That's the Valley's key, it is stronger than any league top-to-bottom, lending credence to A_F's betting ban. I wouldn't want to bet on games in this league either, it's too deep. Even usually dreckish Drake has some good wins. And for all of the (admittedly funny) beatdowns its taking here, Evansville should be a lot better than they are.

I have to say, an Ohio State-Missouri State would intrigue the hell out of me. Missouri State is damn good this year.

 

That's somewhat true in the eastern half of the conference, but the Valley's true BCS nemesis is the Big 12. I think most Valley fans harbor much more resentment towards that league (especially given that the Valley's marquee programs of the moment are all in Big 12 territory) than the Big Ten, because frankly, the Valley has outperformed the Big 12 the last two-plus seasons.

This is really the only year a case could be made that the Valley was on par with the Big Ten, and who knows if that will last? Don't get me wrong, Valley schools in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa love beating Big Ten teams, but I think there's respect for the Big Ten that is lacking for the Big 12.

 

Is Memphis too far to be a viable MVC school? Because that would be a win-win (MVC gets major conference rub with top-25 regular Memphis in tow, and Memphis gets a better level of competition than Crappy USA). That assumes Memphis would be interested, and with the football team needing a place to play, I guess that doesn't make as much sense as I thought 30 seconds ago, so screw it.

 

You answered your own question before I could! A lot of logical Valley additions (Memphis, Tulsa, almost all of C-USA) are I-A football programs. That's another advantage some Valley schools have over the other conferences, no one has I-A football, so men's basketball is the number one priority for investment.

The team that would make the most sense for the Valley is Saint Louis, but they'd rather compete with schools three states away (and those are the closest schools to SLU) in the Atlantic 10.

 

University of Evansville basketball: You know you want it, bitch.

 

Most teams do want it. And then most teams want another.

 

Gotta love the lucky souls in the Valley who get two turns per year.

Which makes UE's utter dismantling of Illinois State last month all the more puzzling.

 

Well, most teams want Illinois State too, bitch.

 

The Aces apparently have a new starting forward. He's gonna shake things up.



Ok, so I searched Evansville Aces for the stupid mascot, and this is what came up.

 

I'll give ya that it's a pretty decent league, but the RPI is a joke. It's got to be the worst ranking system ever invented.

 

Bubbler is worshiping his Jack Sikma idol.

 

Not Sikma, Marty Conlon. He's the ultimate symbol of the white boy Hall of Fame the Bucks had going in the early 90s.