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Post by wh on Jan 11, 2011 15:24:41 GMT -5
Is the bracketbuster mandatory in the HL? I suppose the national title game rematch drew more attention to the conference than any bracketbuster game could have done. Playing Duke in lieu of participating in the Bracket Buster has no corporate value. It sends a message that Butler is above the stature of the Horizon League. It's all self-serving.
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Post by dylanrocks on Jan 11, 2011 15:31:08 GMT -5
Take Butler completely out of the equation for a moment.
Did UIC really get "screwed" out of a home-and-home series with Stony Brook or Portland State?
Sure hope the UIC loyalists can recover from not seeing their team play against Marist.
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Post by wh on Jan 11, 2011 15:38:33 GMT -5
Take Butler completely out of the equation for a moment. Did UIC really get "screwed" out of a home-and-home series with Stony Brook or Portland State? Sure hope the UIC loyalists can recover from not seeing their team play against Marist. Does that make it ok because it happened to be UIC? Take UIC out of the equation for a moment. What if it was Milwaukee? Would you have been ok with that? What if it was any of our top tier teams that would have been screwed out of a chance to improve their standing and RPI - and the league's standing and RPI?
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Post by dylanrocks on Jan 11, 2011 15:53:44 GMT -5
Here's my suggestion:
After the release of the preseason polls, cherry-pick the top two or three projected teams from each of the 10 leagues considered to be "mid-major" and have them play meaningful late-season games in the current BracketBuster format.
Remove all but a handful of the best low-majors from the field and put ALL the games on the ESPN family of networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU).
This would give the games magnitude and help deserving programs get quality games against high-caliber mid-majors. In this manner, no league members will be saddled with worthless home-and-homes against Eastern Washington, Tennessee Tech and SEMO.
I'd be fine if Milwaukee is excluded from the proposed event until it can legitimately re-emerge as a program perennially projected to finish in the top two or three of its league.
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Post by agibson on Jan 19, 2011 4:46:27 GMT -5
A couple of weeks and a lot of games to go before they announce the pairings, but at the moment, with an RPI of 47, we're 4th among the home teams. Which puts us opposite George Mason.
I could get behind a Bracketbuster and a return game with a team from the Colonial.
The MAC (if we fall a bit, Kent State and Miami-Ohio are possibilities) and Valley (preferably Missouri, not Ohio) also seem like possibilities.
Again, there are a couple of weeks to go - but we and Cleveland State both look to have good shots at a TV game.
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Post by vuweathernerd on Jan 19, 2011 12:13:59 GMT -5
i had the fortune of taking in the vcu-northeastern game in richmond last saturday, and if that was typical colonial action, it would be an interesting game. both teams were pretty physical and the officials let them play for the most part (which was actually quite refreshing). i would have no problems bringing in a caa team if it meant a game like that.
(btw, vcu's siegel center arena is a very nice facility. oh, and they christened in by beating louisville in 1999.)
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Post by jbowker on Jan 28, 2011 17:57:11 GMT -5
sorry, I posted this on the Bracketology topic string... this is a repeat... ================================================
Bracketbuster Match-ups should be announced around Tuesday... using the ratings listed today:
Valpo is the 6th highest rated HOME time on the Sagarin Poll (Rating #82)... behind St. Marys, Wichita State, Old Dominion, Drexel and James Madison (the last three all from the Colonial Athletic Conf)... the top Visiting teams in the pool ...again Sagarin ratings... Utah State, George Mason, Cleveland State, Missouri State, Virginia Commonwealth... and Iona (Rating 97)...(Kent State is #7, Vermont is #8)
OK... don't like Sagarin? RPI ratings have us at #5 of the home teams with a rating of 59; behind ODU, St. Mary's; Wichita State and Drexel...then Valpo, Northern Iowa and James Madison... On the Visiting side, RPI says George Mason, Utah State, Cleveland State, Missouri State... and we match up against Virginia Commonwealth with a rating of 57 (Kent State is #6, Vermont is #7)
OK, prefer the MidMajor Poll? Valpo's 22 ranking in the poll is the 7th best Home Team in the bbuster pool... matching up with ... Hofstra, ranked 23rd this week is the 7th best Visiting Team in the poll in the pool.
SO, no matter how you slice it... we should be in contention for a home TV game on the weekend of 2/19... NOW, let's beat the Dawgs on Saturday and CSU on Thursday and watch our power ratings climb...
Butler and UIC are not in the Bracket Buster Pool this year due to the BU-Duke Game on the day Butler would have played UIC... so that HL game was moved to the 2/19 open weekend date for both schools.
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Post by agibson on Jan 30, 2011 10:34:06 GMT -5
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Post by vufan75 on Jan 30, 2011 10:40:01 GMT -5
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Post by valpofan56 on Jan 30, 2011 10:50:26 GMT -5
I want a Colonial team. George Mason would be great, but I think they may be a little too high of an RPI for us to get them. VCU is more realistic and would also be a great matchup.
Both of those schools would be good for exposure on the east coast as they are both located in/around large cities (Washington DC and Richmond, VA) and have really good followings (as far as mid majors go).
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Post by agibson on Jan 30, 2011 11:16:15 GMT -5
Sorry agibson for my post. I see we must of been working on our posts at close to the same time this morning. No problem I'd missed the 6:30 PM announcement time - so good you also posted. Does it just go up on the web page? Or is there some sort of a feature on ESPNU?
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Post by ValpoHoops on Jan 30, 2011 12:32:22 GMT -5
It's on ESPNU. Half-hour show.
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valpo95
Bench Warmer
Crusader Fund Contributor
Posts: 160
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Post by valpo95 on Jan 30, 2011 13:22:33 GMT -5
Not entirely surprising that ESPNU would turn the brackebuster selection into show. As someone observed, ESPN really should change their name to HYPE...though I suppose Valpo benefits from this as a bracketbuster participant.
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Post by valpo84 on Jan 31, 2011 0:45:32 GMT -5
VCU or Missouri State is an excellent match up not just for this year but for the return game. Missouri State would be a nice return down memory lane to the AMCU-8 years when it was Southwest Missouri State and Coach Charlie Spoonhour. The Bears were among the best AMCU-8 teams and had a few excellent seasons 1987-1990 before bolting to the Missouri Valley and were a tough out in the tourney. I remember Winston Garland being one of the better players of that era. Coach during that time, Charlie Spoonhour, really put them on the map for D1 and was an entertaining character and coach. Cuonzo Martin is the current head coach and a former Purdue player. And Steve Alford spent some time there. All-time Valpo is 3-14 against them, and 3-13 during the AMCU-8 years. Last time we played them was 1989-90 season. Coach Drew is 1-4 against them. The only other time we played according to the Media Guide was 1966-67 season (Coach Bartow) when we lost in the NCAA Quarterfinals. We have only played VCU once (loss) and not in "modern VU hoops" history (post 1988).
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Post by agibson on Jan 31, 2011 7:06:04 GMT -5
Remembering a bit better how the announcements go... I guess we'll get the TV pairings and times announced tonight? And then the non-TV pairings and times will leak out in the following days on individual athletic pages. So, I guess we'll know tonight.
I hadn't noticed that this was in the middle of the Wisconsin road trip! Wednesday @ Milwaukee, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday Brackestbuster at home, and then Monday @ Green Bay. Not the best timing.
Looks like I might be flying into Valpo on the Saturday of the Bracketbuster. We'll see if it makes any sense to catch the game... With my luck I'll be in transit.
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