College Bball Thread

[Uspshoosier]

14 hours ago, RaceToTheTop said:

Can anyone explain exactly how the MWC has gotten so good (other than figuring out the NET system to their advantage in terms of out of conference scheduling)?

Good coaching and recruiting better players.  MVC has always been a good mid major conference but the good young coaches especially at Bradley and Drake have done well.  ISU entering the conversation this year.  Also I would guess COVID seniors is playing a part.   Xavier Johnson for SIU is in his 6th year I think and he is a stud

[Uspshoosier]

Just now, Uspshoosier said:

Good coaching and recruiting better players.  MVC has always been a good mid major conference but the good young coaches especially at Bradley and Drake have done well.  ISU entering the conversation this year.  Also I would guess COVID seniors is playing a part.   Xavier Johnson for SIU is in his 6th year I think and he is a stud

Never mind you meant MWC.  lol.  Same thing.    Good coaching and recruiting better players.    Having a team make it to the championship game is probably great for the whole conference 

[Uspshoosier]

Just now, Uspshoosier said:

Never mind you meant MWC.  lol.  Same thing.    Good coaching and recruiting better players.    Having a team make it to the championship game is probably great for the whole conference 

PAC 12 being down has opened the door for them to get better and the conference has taken advantage of that 

[JF87]

14 hours ago, RaceToTheTop said:

Can anyone explain exactly how the MWC has gotten so good (other than figuring out the NET system to their advantage in terms of out of conference scheduling)?

I haven't watched much MWC bball this year but did the last two years and it was very entertaining.  They are on equal footing with the Pac 12 at this point but they have a higher percentage of legitimate tournament teams.  

Maybe they don't concern themselves with the number of stars by a recruit's name.  Instead, they recruit guys that know how to play and fit into their systems. 

[LamarCheeks]

Rutger just hammered Bucky by 22 in lovely New Jersey. 

 

[Stuhoo]

Bucky Badger is Broken.

Just lost their fourth straight; blown out at Rugers.

[RaceToTheTop]

28 minutes ago, JF87 said:

Maybe they don't concern themselves with the number of stars by a recruit's name.  Instead, they recruit guys that know how to play and fit into their systems. 

But that wouldn't be anything new.  Mid majors don't typically bring in 4 or 5 star recruits...most would love to get 3 stars.  It's not like the Mountain West was getting highly ranked recruits before and changed their recruiting strategy to get fit over stars.....that isn' new.

The question is what has the Mountain West been able to do that other mid major conferences haven't been able to?  Why has the Mountain West succeeded while conferences like Atlantic 10 and Missouri Valley seem to have become one or two bid leagues and Conference USA and the American Athletic Conference haven't been able to stay stable?

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

12 minutes ago, RaceToTheTop said:

But that wouldn't be anything new.  Mid majors don't typically bring in 4 or 5 star recruits...most would love to get 3 stars.  It's not like the Mountain West was getting highly ranked recruits before and changed their recruiting strategy to get fit over stars.....that isn' new.

The question is what has the Mountain West been able to do that other mid major conferences haven't been able to?  Why has the Mountain West succeeded while conferences like Atlantic 10 and Missouri Valley seem to have become one or two bid leagues and Conference USA and the American Athletic Conference haven't been able to stay stable?

Because the MWC hasn't lost all or most of their top teams to conference realignment. A10 used to have Xavier. That was a massive loss. CUSA at one point 20 years ago had Louisville, Marque, Memphis etc. Missouri Valley had Creighton and Wichita State. AAC had Louisville, UConn, Houston. Conference realignment has ruined college sports. Plain and simple. It just never hit the MWC outside BYU leaving. But they kept SDSU, Nevada, Colorado State, Utah State, UNLV, New Mexico.

[OliviaPope40]

Stupid technical by Jayden Akins for saying something to the Illinois bench on a made shot.

[RaceToTheTop]

22 minutes ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

Because the MWC hasn't lost all or most of their top teams to conference realignment. A10 used to have Xavier. That was a massive loss. CUSA at one point 20 years ago had Louisville, Marque, Memphis etc. Missouri Valley had Creighton and Wichita State. AAC had Louisville, UConn, Houston. Conference realignment has ruined college sports. Plain and simple. It just never hit the MWC outside BYU leaving. But they kept SDSU, Nevada, Colorado State, Utah State, UNLV, New Mexico.

BYU wasn't the only loss.  In a span of one year, the MWC lost BYU, Utah, and TCU.  In terms of the cash cow of athletics in football, that what their top three (or three of four depending where Boise State lies in terms of intake) money makers went.

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

1 minute ago, RaceToTheTop said:

BYU wasn't the only loss.  In a span of one year, the MWC lost BYU, Utah, and TCU.  In terms of the cash cow of athletics in football, that what their top three (or three of four depending where Boise State lies in terms of intake) money makers went.

They lost them but in basketball it didn't hurt them as much as having Creighton and Wichita State leave or having Louisville and Marquette leave. As far as basketball goes, the conference realignment that has taken place the past 15 years has been detrimental to the sport.

[Uspshoosier]

7 hours ago, Uspshoosier said:

A lot of good games as usual for a Saturday but a special shout out to the Sun Belt and MAC for trying something cool.   They are doing a challenge today and it’s based on NET results.   So today we get Toledo/App St and Akron/James Madison.    Really good mid major teams playing with the winner getting a good non conference win and a little bump in the NET.   Sycamore fans should be hoping for a Toledo win over App at on the road to give them a boost since ISU beat Toledo in the non conference 

App at/Toledo currently in 2OT.  Can’t wait to watch the replay 

[johnsoniu]

38 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

App at/Toledo currently in 2OT.  Can’t wait to watch the replay 

Must see TV, it was fantastic.

meanwhile, Florida all over Auburn 28-11. C’mon Pearl, gotta do better than that if you want to coach the Hoosiers 

[Hovadipo]

Sycamores win a tough one at Missouri State. 

[LamarCheeks]

MSU and Illinois going back and forth on CBS. 

Sparty up 78-76 with 2 minutes to play. 

Pretty good game. 

[Stuhoo]

Illinois in complete meltdown down the stretch. Looks like MSU will win it.

[LamarCheeks]

Think I jinxed Illinois with my post. LOL

Was a decent game until then, but the Illini pooped their pants in the final couple minutes. 

MSU wins 88-80. 

[Hovadipo]

This point guard-less Illinois team smells like yet another first weekend loss waiting to happen. Domask and Shannon were awful in crunch time against experienced guards. 

[OliviaPope40]

Providence got screwed on a no call after a missed dunk to win it.

[str8baller]

MSU is going to get to 17-18 wins and get in on the strength of their efficiency ratings and name even though they’ve been pretty underwhelming.