The Valparaiso Beacons Fan Zone Forum

Here are the sights that Valpo could play at for the NCAA tournament and their distance from VU by car:


March 19 and 21

Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida (Host: Jacksonville University)  1,029 miles

KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville) 264 miles

Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: Duquesne University) 421 miles

Moda Center, Portland, Oregon (Host: University of Oregon) 2,156 miles


March 20 and 22

Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte) 691 miles

Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio (Host: Ohio State University) 269 miles

CenturyLink Center Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska (Host: Creighton University) 504 miles

Key Arena, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington) 2,123 miles


Where do you want Valpo to play in the NCAA tournament?

Whichever is closest to DFW!  I haven't ever been able to attend an NCAA game, as when we were making the tourney while I was in school, I was always playing baseball.  I want to make my first trip this year!

Quote from: valpotx on March 11, 2015, 02:16:21 AMWhichever is closest to DFW!  I haven't ever been able to attend an NCAA game, as when we were making the tourney while I was in school, I was always playing baseball.  I want to make my first trip this year!

Omaha = 650 miles from DFW Airport

Louisville = 857 miles from DFW Airport

Omaha

I've added a poll to this thread for visibility. For those interested in the Valpo Fan Zone tourney pick'em that we run each year, which hosting site do people prefer? We have an existing group on CBS but I am open to whatever works for most.

I have no opinion... I'm in pools on both Yahoo and CBS.... and have managed to come in dead last in all of them!  (Gotta quit picking teams alphabetically!)

As for location, I'm selfishly voting for Jacksonville.  That's the only location where I could catch a game and drive up and down in less than 24 hours.

For selfish reasons... Omaha.

Would love Omaha (with Kansas, but, of course, not playing Kansas). However, Omaha won't happen because they will put Wisconsin there and and thus the math won't work for any 12 or 13 seed to be there.

Butler in Louisville. Its just going to happen.

I would like a matchup with Butler, but you would need Butler to be a 5 seed which would mean that they would have to get to the final of the Big East. They could even get to a 4 seed if they won the Big East, but that will be a tough tourney to get at least two wins. Then, you would probably need Valpo to reach a 12 seed which probably requires losses by SFA or La Tech. The probability of those events lining up seem pretty low, so I do not see a Butler matchup in a first round.

Quote from: vu84v2 on March 11, 2015, 09:27:02 AM
I would like a matchup with Butler, but you would need Butler to be a 5 seed which would mean that they would have to get to the final of the Big East. They could even get to a 4 seed if they won the Big East, but that will be a tough tourney to get at least two wins. Then, you would probably need Valpo to reach a 12 seed which probably requires losses by SFA or La Tech. The probability of those events lining up seem pretty low, so I do not see a Butler matchup in a first round.

They could easily flex both teams up or down geographicaly. Wofford, LA Tech, or SFA could easily be 13 seeds. Seeding isn't in direct order of RPI. It's close, but it's not. Teams are flexed up and down to make everything fit properly. Due to their geographic proximity and great storyline, its a good possibility, or at least, not any lower probability than other projected 4-6 seeds now.

Quote from: historyman on March 11, 2015, 02:02:04 AMHere are the sights that Valpo could play at

you are a site to behold

Quote from: a3uge on March 11, 2015, 09:43:41 AMThey could easily flex both teams up or down geographicaly. Wofford, LA Tech, or SFA could easily be 13 seeds. Seeding isn't in direct order of RPI. It's close, but it's not. Teams are flexed up and down to make everything fit properly.

It's clear geography's been a factor lately.  Do we know what the rules actually are?  I'm sure they're willing to move teams around within a seed for geographical convenience.  And, I can imagine they'll move teams up or down a spot if they would otherwise _break_ _rules_.  But, I assume "don't drive too far to get to the game" is not some kind of ironclad rule for all seeds.  Do they really move teams up or down a whole seed to put them at a nearer site?

Quote from: crusaderjoe on March 11, 2015, 08:47:32 AM
As for location, I'm selfishly voting for Jacksonville.  That's the only location where I could catch a game and drive up and down in less than 24 hours.

If we won a game, I'd be _really_  tempted to make it to a Saturday second round.  _Maybe_ if it was a late game on Friday for the first round.  In those circumstances I guess Columbus or Louisville would be the thing.

But, it's hard to imagine it working out given family and work commitments. Alas. 

The Michigan State was actually _during_ a lab I was teaching, even if the game was mostly decided by the time lab started.  We did broadcast it on the big projector during lab, at least...

We shouldn't have to worry about drawing a 3 seed and it'd be a pipe dream to think we'd be facing a 6 seed, but I definitely think that's the range of teams we should start scouting in the 4-13 or 5-12 match up.  According to Bracket Matrix here's the list of teams we have a chance of facing.

Chance of facing is on a -10 (Very Unlikely) to +10 (This will happen) scale.

Maryland
Best Player: Melo Trimble and Dez White
Potential Spread: +5 (32% chance of winning)
Chance of facing: -8
They make any noise in the B1G tourney and they could be a 2 seed. Very likely a 3 seen and would have to lose badly to fall to the 4 line

Iowa State
Best Player: Georges Niang
Potential Spread: +8 (22% chance of winning
Chance of facing: -4
This is a really good team who is slipping a little. Root for them to win a game or 2 in the Big 12 because you don't want to see them on the 4 line.

Oklahoma
Best Player: Buddy Hield
Potential Spread: +8 (22% chance of winning)
Chance of facing: -4
Again this is another Big 12 team I don't want to face. I'm hoping the previous two teams make the quarters in their conference and get low 3 or high 4 seeds and we don't face them.

Baylor
Best Player: Taurean Prince and Rico Gathers
Potential Spread: +8 (22% chance of winning)
Chance of facing: +3
While having brothers face each other could be fun, let's root for Baylor to also get 4 seed (with us at a 12) and get this as the second round match. We don't match up well against them.

Notre Dame
Best Player: Zach Auguste and Jerian Grant
Potential Spread: +9 (19% chance of winning)
Chance of facing: 0
There's the chance the committee gets cute and put this game in Seattle or something so you can have the Lutheran Miracle Part Duex. Despite the highest spread so far, I wouldn't mind this game.

Louisville
Best Player: I'm not thinking about Louisville
Potential Spread: We're not talking about it. (+9, 22%)
Chance of facing: Seriously stop. Louisville is a potential final 4 team and they won't do that to us two times in a row. This is a 4 seed but we won't get them.

Northern Iowa
Best Player: Seth Tuttle (KPom's #4 for PoY)
Potential Spread: +8 (22% chance of winning)
Chance of facing: -9
I'm going out on a limb and saying UNI is getting a 3 seed from winning the MVC.

North Carolina
Best Player: Their Starting 5.
Potential Spread: -9 (20% chance of winning)
Chance of facing: +5
The NCAA are bastards who love putting us up against all time great coaches. This wouldn't surprise me if we land in the 13 spot.

West Virginia
Best Player: Juwan Staten (currently injured, should be back for Big 12 tourney)
Potential Spread: +6 (28% chance of winning)
Chance of facing: +6
Is the Big 12 just one big 4 seed? This is one of the teams I can see us getting in a 12-5 match up and it would give us a chance to pull an upset.

Utah
Best Player: Delon Wright (5th in KPom's PoY)
Potential Spread: +9 (21% chance of winning)
Chance of facing: 0
I'm putting this at a 0 only because I think they make a run in the Pac 12 tourney which will move them up to a 3 or 4 seed. How many of those do I have now?

Wichita State
Best Player: Fred Van Vleet
Potential Spread: +7
Chance of facing: +6 (27% chance of winning)
Here's the only reason I think they won't give us the Shockers: We're both mid-majors. We're on the right trajectory to face each other, but I just don't see them putting us against a mid-major.

Georgetown
Best Player: D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera
Potential Spread: +6 (28% chance of winning)
Chance of facing: -5
I think they are going to fall on their face in the Big East tourney. I honestly believe the Hoyas will fall to a 6 seed. We'd have to get crazy lucky to get up to an 11 and if they are a 5 I think they will be the lowest 5 and face a play in winner.

Arkansas
Best Player: Bobby Portis
Potential Spread: +5 (31% chance of winning)
Chance of facing: -7
This is a 6 seed. Everything about their resume says 6 seed. If they win the SEC tourney, then they might move up to a 5, but c'mon, Kentucky isn't losing that crapfest. (KPom gives Kentucky a 76.4% chance to win the SEC)

Butler
Best Player: Kellen Dunham
Potential Spread: +8 (28% chance of winning)
Chance of facing:-10
We all want it too bad. It's not happening. Sorry Ron_Paul.gif (http://img.pandawhale.com/144360-Ron-Paul-its-happening-gif-img-BY8j.gif) but it's just not.

Southern Methodist
Best Player: Yanick Moreira
Potential Spread: +5 (32% chance of winning)
Chance of facing: -7
Again very unlikely as they are a 6 or 7 seed.

Providence
Best Player: Kris Dunn
Potential Spread:
Chance of facing:-5
There's a chance they win the Big East and face us? I see them reaching the finals, losing and getting a low 5.

Jerry Palm has us in Portland in the 12-5 game against Providence.... winner advancing to the West Virginia / UC Davis winner.
CBS's bracket has us in Jacksonville playing UNC in the 12-5 game... winner advancing to Baylor/LaTech winner

Love the comment about the Big 12 being on giant 4 seed. Incredibly deep conference, but no real outstanding teams. These teams have been beating the tar out of each other for two months (AFH really won the conference). One thought is that the Big 12 teams you list that lose tomorrow go to the 5 line and the ones that win tomorrow go to the 4. Iowa State or Oklahoma as conference tourney champ goes to a 3. Thus, there is a very good chance of drawing a Big 12 team.

West Virginia?  I can see your comment about them being more ripe for an upset, but their style of play could make it very difficult for Valpo to reach 50 points. Regardless, I hope that Scott and Baylor crush them tomorrow.

And I agree that Valpo does not want to get matched up with Louisville. The committee cannot do that to Valpo again.

Quote from: vu84v2 on March 11, 2015, 10:40:51 AM
Love the comment about the Big 12 being on giant 4 seed. Incredibly deep conference, but no real outstanding teams. These teams have been beating the tar out of each other for two months (AFH really won the conference). One thought is that the Big 12 teams you list that lose tomorrow go to the 5 line and the ones that win tomorrow go to the 4. Iowa State or Oklahoma as conference tourney champ goes to a 3. Thus, there is a very good chance of drawing a Big 12 team.

West Virginia?  I can see your comment about them being more ripe for an upset, but their style of play could make it very difficult for Valpo to reach 50 points. Regardless, I hope that Scott and Baylor crush them tomorrow.

And I agree that Valpo does not want to get matched up with Louisville. The committee cannot do that to Valpo again.

Kansas is realistically winning the Big 12 and locking down a 1 seed. If they don't get a 1 or the highest 2 then the committee is drunk. They are a dominant team.

I don't want to go into a full breakdown of West Virginia, but they only have a good defense because they turn teams over. We've shown that we can break a press and keep turnovers low. West Virginia has one of the worst FG% defenses (ranked 300 overall). They also commit a TON of fouls. If they get into a closely called game, their defensive strategy goes down the drain and we can capitalize on them. Offensively, they could struggle to get to 60 on us. What happens when a poor shooting team runs into a good FG% defense? Bad things for the offense.

Kansas is not a #1 seed. Virginia, Duke, Kentucky and Villanova should all be ahead of them, even if they lose in their conference tourney. I am a huge Kansas fan, but Kansas has a few weakenesses that teams have been able to exploit.

I've seen West Virginia give Kansas trouble twice (so far).

Kansas is the #2 team in RPI and has had the hardest SoS in the country. I agree with Wisconsin and Duke (if they win their conference tournament) and Kentucky is obviously the #1 overall seed, but Nova is unimpressive to me for a 1 seed. Their best road wins are against #23 Providence and #24 Butler where as Kansas beat #10 Baylor and #19 Georgetown. Kansas has had 6 true road games against KenPom top 25 teams where as Nova has had 2, both teams went .500 in those games. Kansas has had 14 games vs. KenPom top 25 teams while Nova had 4.

Forgot about Wisconsin. They are clearly ahead of Kansas as well and would be ahead of Villanova. Remember that Kansas, besides losing to K-State, also has the bad optics of huge losses to Kentucky and Temple. They will be a 2 seed and will be happy with it.

Comparing Us to those other Low Teen Seeds... looking at the Mid-Major poll

1. Gonzaga (31) 30-2 775 2 West Coast
2. Northern Iowa 30-3 744 4 Missouri Valley
3. Wichita State 28-4 714 1 Missouri Valley
4. Stephen F. Austin 27-4 684 5 Southland
5. Murray State 27-5 681 3 Ohio Valley
6. BYU 24-8 616 6 West Coast
7. Valparaiso 27-5 556 7 Horizon
8. Wofford 27-6 528 8 Southern
9. UC Davis 24-5 519 10 Big West
10. Green Bay 24-7 471 11 Horizon
11. Harvard 21-7 433 9 Ivy League
12. Yale 22-9 432 12 Ivy League
13. Iona 26-7 404 16 Metro Atlantic
14. Buffalo 21-9 333 21 Mid-American
15. Saint Mary's 21-9 328 13 West Coast
16. Sam Houston State 24-7 291 15 Southland
17. Albany 23-8 229 17 America East
18. Eastern Washington 23-8 201 20 Big Sky
19. North Florida 23-11 141 22 Atlantic Sun
20. Central Michigan 22-7 140 18 Mid-American
21. Sacramento State 19-10 126 14 Big Sky
22. North Carolina Central 24-6 86 23 Mid-Eastern
23. Belmont 22-10 77 NR Ohio Valley
24. Kent State 21-10 75 NR Mid-American
25. Georgia State 22-9 71 NR Sun Belt

and the Mid-MajorPower 15
Rank School Last Week
1. Gonzaga Bulldogs (30-2, 9 1st Place Votes) 1
2. Northern Iowa Panthers (30-3, 2 1st Place Votes) 3
3. Wichita State Shockers (28-4) 2
4. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (27-4) 6
5. Davidson Wildcats (23-6) 9
6. BYU Cougars (24-8) 7
7. Valparaiso Crusaders (27-5) 8
8. Old Dominion Monarchs (24-6) 15
9. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (24-7) 11
10. Iona Gaels (26-7) 12
11. Dayton Flyers (23-7) 5
12. Murray State Racers (27-5) 4
13. North Carolina Central Eagles (24-6) NR
14. Wofford Terriers (27-6) NR
15. UC Davis Aggies (24-5)  NR

Rank School Last Week
1. Gonzaga Bulldogs (30-2, 9 1st Place Votes) 1
2. Northern Iowa Panthers (30-3, 2 1st Place Votes) 3
3. Wichita State Shockers (28-4) 2
4. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (27-4) 6
5. Davidson Wildcats (23-6) 9
6. BYU Cougars (24-8) 7
7. Valparaiso Crusaders (27-5) 8
8. Old Dominion Monarchs (24-6) 15
9. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (24-7) 11
10. Iona Gaels (26-7) 12
11. Dayton Flyers (23-7) 5
12. Murray State Racers (27-5) 4
13. North Carolina Central Eagles (24-6) NR
14. Wofford Terriers (27-6) NR
15. UC Davis Aggies (24-5)
NR

Rank School Last Week  also posted March 9:
1. Gonzaga Bulldogs (30-2, 9 1st Place Votes) 1
2. Northern Iowa Panthers (30-3, 2 1st Place Votes) 3
3. Wichita State Shockers (28-4) 2
4. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (27-4) 6
5. Davidson Wildcats (23-6) 9
6. BYU Cougars (24-8) 7
7. Valparaiso Crusaders (27-5) 8
8. Old Dominion Monarchs (24-6) 15
9. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (24-7) 11
10. Iona Gaels (26-7) 12
11. Dayton Flyers (23-7) 5
12. Murray State Racers (27-5) 4
13. North Carolina Central Eagles (24-6) NR
14. Wofford Terriers (27-6) NR
15. UC Davis Aggies (24-5)  NR

Also Receiving Votes: Richmond, Harvard, VCU, Rhode Island, Green Bay, North Florida, New Mexico State, Illinois State, Buffalo, Albany, Georgia State

and the SB Nation site has this post...2pm March 9... a few from our dust...

he CIT field for this year's 32 team tournament is beginning to take shape

Confirmed Participants

NJIT Highlanders (Host 3/16)
Oakland Golden Grizzlies (Host)
St. Francis (PA) Red Flash (Host 3/17)
UT Martin Skyhawks
Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (Host 3/18)
Canisius Golden Griffins (Host 3/18)
Incarnate Word Cardinals
USC Upstate Spartans
Portland Pilots
Dartmouth Big Green
Eastern Kentucky Colonels
New Hampshire Wildcats
Eastern Illinois Panthers


Rumored Participants

Monmouth Hawks

Good for NJIT!  For any of those on here that like to view the standings on ESPN for all conferences from time-to-time, they are the only Independent in NCAA D-1 men's basketball, and just a few years ago were winning 2-3 games/season.  Also neat to see Incarnate Word (San Antonio) playing in the postseason so early in their D-1 tenure.

Can one of our knowledgeable RPI/bracket  experts tell us what the Detroit loss cost us in RPI and potential seeding?  Would we have been a solid 12, or even possibly an 11?

Quote from: wh on March 11, 2015, 04:07:55 PM
Can one of our knowledgeable RPI/bracket  experts tell us what the Detroit loss cost us in RPI and potential seeding?  Would we have been a solid 12, or even possibly an 11?

I don't know the RPI hit for the Detroit loss, but I think the Missouri loss was worse for us - RPI-wise.

Quote from: wh on March 11, 2015, 04:07:55 PM
Can one of our knowledgeable RPI/bracket  experts tell us what the Detroit loss cost us in RPI and potential seeding?  Would we have been a solid 12, or even possibly an 11?

5 RPI points. Not insanely critical since it was on the road. We also may have lost to CSU in a meaningless game anyways.

But Mighty Ducks, man, a quarter inch the other way, you would've missed completely! We were tied with Ball State (1 possession game) with 4 min left and down most of the game. Had we lost that, our RPI would be 72 and we'd be a projected 14 seed praying for a 13.

Quote from: Kyle321n on March 11, 2015, 10:20:41 AMMarylandBest Player: Melo Trimble and Dez WhitePotential Spread: +5 (32% chance of winning)Chance of facing: -8 They make any noise in the B1G tourney and they could be a 2 seed. Very likely a 3 seen and would have to lose badly to fall to the 4 line

It is odd that Maryland, who is projected by bracketmatrix to be a 3 seed, is one of the teams we would have the highest chances of winning against.

My vote/hope is for Georgetown in Omaha or Wichita State in Columbus.

Quote from: wh on March 11, 2015, 04:07:55 PM
Can one of our knowledgeable RPI/bracket  experts tell us what the Detroit loss cost us in RPI and potential seeding?  Would we have been a solid 12, or even possibly an 11?

Keep in mind when thinking about questions like this one: the RPI is based solely on winning percentages. It doesn't matter WHO you win or lose to, just HOW MANY you win or lose.

Our RPI would be EXACTLY the same had we won at Detroit but had lost at Youngstown State. So, had we won against Detroit but lost to CSU our RPI would only be a tiny bit different because we played Cleveland State a third time and their win would have factored in to our Opponents Record.


So, to do the math:

RPI uses 25% of your winning percentage (against D1 opponents):

25-5 = .8333 x .25 = .2083
26-4 = .8667 x .25 = .2167

A difference of .0084

Using CBS Sports RPI numbers, we would move from 53 to 46.

Note: There would also be a TINY negative into our Opponents' Winning Percentage (RPI uses 50% of this number) due to Detroit losing an extra game and having one fewer win, but I didn't figure that in

Thanks Hoops. Now, the second part of my question. If we were sitting with a 46 instead of a 53, might we be looking at a better seed or more favorable location or matchup? Just curious as to how that loss that we all kind of blew off as basically meaningless because we thereafter beat CSU might in fact have meaning now?  In my mind 7 RPI points is fairly significant when the differences between us and those we're competing against for seeding are very small.

Numerically, maybe it makes a slight difference.  Does improve our RPI, but doesn't give us any more quality wins.

Anecdotally - and granted, this is going down an opinion-driven wormhole - but if we beat Detroit, I don't think we win the league tournament.  Our performances the past couple weeks of the league slate hadn't been up to par, and I think our loss to Detroit really helped re-focus the team, especially on the defensive end of the court.  The kind of defense we played in the season finale at CSU and in the championship game hadn't been there the last few weeks, and there would be no impetus for that re-focus if we had survived versus Detroit.

Quote from: wh on March 11, 2015, 04:41:15 PM
Thanks Hoops. Now, the second part of my question. If we were sitting with a 46 instead of a 53, might we be looking at a better seed or more favorable location or matchup? Just curious as to how costly that loss that we all blew off as basically meaningless because we thereafter beat CSU might in fact have meaning now?

It's possible that it could slide us down a spot or two on the seed list, but I don't think we had any realistic chance at an 11 seed anyways. Perhaps we would have been most solidly feeling like a 12, but maybe not. We won't know for sure until we see how the bracket is put together on Sunday and see who the other 12's and 13's are.

Quote from: covufan on March 11, 2015, 04:21:30 PM

Quote from: Kyle321n on March 11, 2015, 10:20:41 AMMarylandBest Player: Melo Trimble and Dez WhitePotential Spread: +5 (32% chance of winning)Chance of facing: -8 They make any noise in the B1G tourney and they could be a 2 seed. Very likely a 3 seen and would have to lose badly to fall to the 4 line

It is odd that Maryland, who is projected by bracketmatrix to be a 3 seed, is one of the teams we would have the highest chances of winning against.

My vote/hope is for Georgetown in Omaha or Wichita State in Columbus.

Someone more knowledgeable than me can probably explain it better, because I don't know how Massey's system works for that, but I would guess it's based on the success you had against teams with similar offensive and defensive profiles. I haven't looked to in depth at any of these teams, nor will I until we get something more set for seeding. Two years ago I watched every MSU loss and the games they played against teams who had similar offensive profiles to ours. It made me feel like we had a shot and it was clear we didn't from the tip.

If I'm interpreting ValpoHoops correctly, one less loss against anyone would have had basically the same benefit as not losing at Detroit since our two non-conference losses came against teams with records similar to Detroit's.  But, if the two non-conference losses were to teams whose opponents had better records or RPIs than Detroit's opponents, would a win in one of those games been more helpful than beating Detroit?

One less loss against anyone would have had the same effect. Who you beat means nothing.

If we had 20 wins against the "best" 20 teams on our schedule and 10 losses to the "worst", we would have the exact same RPI as if the 20 wins were against the "worst" teams.

It's solely based on winning percentage, not who you beat.

Quote from: sliman on March 11, 2015, 06:31:08 PM
If I'm interpreting ValpoHoops correctly, one less loss against anyone would have had basically the same benefit as not losing at Detroit since our two non-conference losses came against teams with records similar to Detroit's.  But, if the two non-conference losses were to teams whose opponents had better records or RPIs than Detroit's opponents, would a win in one of those games been more helpful than beating Detroit?

Quote from: ValpoHoops on March 11, 2015, 06:46:40 PM
One less loss against anyone would have had the same effect. Who you beat means nothing.

If we had 20 wins against the "best" 20 teams on our schedule and 10 losses to the "worst", we would have the exact same RPI as if the 20 wins were against the "worst" teams.

It's solely based on winning percentage, not who you beat.

RPI isn't solely based on winning percentage. Home wins are only worth 0.6 of a win, while a road wins count for 1.4 of a win. It's why I can do this:

(http://i.imgur.com/ojNzBai.png)

I know. That's why i specified "at" when using the YSU example. I'm going to write a short "RPI Tutorial" tomorrow. At this point, I'm trying to be simple and show the raw numbers. Too many people fall into the "good win for our RPI" trap. Baby steps...

I want us in Columbus, and I'm not particular about the matchup.

I will be in Dayton for the First Four and am thinking I could easily drive there.

It sounds like I won't get my wish, but dammit, that's what I want. :'(

(http://i.imgur.com/tkOC0Ef.jpg)

The bracket is forming! Wonder when they start filling it in - I want to try to catch them putting Valpo up.

They need to correct their bracket model before filling it in. The play-in games are wrongly formatted. I think this is in Indianapolis, a place where I would expect them to get this right.

Has anyone heard anything about a Selection Show watch party at VU?

It seems like they had an event for the Michigan State draw, but I've not heard anything.

Quote from: StlVUFan on March 11, 2015, 11:34:09 PM
I want us in Columbus, and I'm not particular about the matchup.

I will be in Dayton for the First Four and am thinking I could easily drive there.

It sounds like I won't get my wish, but dammit, that's what I want. :'(

Pittsburgh and Louisville would be an easy drive from Dayton as well!

Quote from: agibson on March 12, 2015, 11:49:50 AM
Has anyone heard anything about a Selection Show watch party at VU?

It seems like they had an event for the Michigan State draw, but I've not heard anything.

I was told by an organizer at the Crusader Club pre-game pep rally that there would be a selection party on Sunday if Valpo won. However, nothing official has been released yet.

Quote from: vu84v2 on March 12, 2015, 11:46:25 AM
They need to correct their bracket model before filling it in. The play-in games are wrongly formatted. I think this is in Indianapolis, a place where I would expect them to get this right.

They're not done with the left side.

Quote from: a3uge on March 12, 2015, 12:25:04 PM

Quote from: vu84v2 on March 12, 2015, 11:46:25 AM
They need to correct their bracket model before filling it in. The play-in games are wrongly formatted. I think this is in Indianapolis, a place where I would expect them to get this right.

They're not done with the left side.

And my guess is they put the play ins below the bracket, not in it, since you have no idea where the play-ins will go in regard to the bracket.

Quote from: a3uge on March 12, 2015, 12:24:15 AMWonder when they start filling it in - I want to try to catch them putting Valpo up.

I would guess first daylight on Monday morning. 

Oren wrote an article saying we're likely to go to x, y, z city:

http://m.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/valparaiso-university/valparaiso-poised-to-take-flight/article_3da37c28-c88a-11e4-a688-b3d0fa866361.html

I think it's still a complete crapshoot to predict our city. Last year Michigan State was a 4 and played in Spokane. Some schools we think are 6 seeds will end up with 4 seeds and some 4 seeds may be 6 seeds. Wisconsin may get shipped to Spokane to avoid Kentucky (I know they don't snake but they won't do that). There could be a sweet 16 matchup setup like Louisville going down south and then playing in Indianapolis. I wouldn't assume we're not going to play in certain cities because you can trace a bracket that makes sense. The selection committee rarely makes sense.

I really hope we play Providence... Anyone but Louisville ND or UNC.

Quote from: Valpofan00 on March 12, 2015, 04:26:26 PM
I really hope we play Providence... Anyone but Louisville ND or UNC.

Me too. I am from New England and would love to see us beating them. Kinda like payback for URI knocking us out from the elite 8 back in you know when.

Watch party info posted on ValpoAthletics.com:

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2014-15/14479/selection-show-party-to-be-held-sunday-night-ncaa-tournament-page-unveiled/ (http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2014-15/14479/selection-show-party-to-be-held-sunday-night-ncaa-tournament-page-unveiled/)

While we await the Selection Sunday party, I have posted a gallery with 80 of my photos from the championship game and post-game celebration, such as the one below, at the following link for all to enjoy and savor!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/96208998@N05/sets/72157650840284917/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/96208998@N05/sets/72157650840284917/)


(http://i62.tinypic.com/2n16jqc.jpg)

Love this one:

(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8614/16787330745_a5479769e5_b.jpg)

Quote from: a3uge on March 12, 2015, 12:24:15 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/tkOC0Ef.jpg)

The bracket is forming! Wonder when they start filling it in - I want to try to catch them putting Valpo up.

You know that is pretty much the view that the selection committee sees from the top of the Westin looking west down US40/Washington St.

Google maps streetview of Washington St in downtown Indy (http://tinyurl.com/oo7odvr)

In the google maps streetview the Westin where the NCAA selection committee makes their selections on Sunday is in the forefront while the JW Marriott is the blueish building about 2 blocks away. If you turn the view to the right you can see the Indiana State Capital grounds (the grassy area) and barely see the capital dome. Shula's Restaurant (owned by Don Shula) is in the bottom of the Westin.

Quote from: bbtds on March 12, 2015, 11:26:32 PM

Quote from: a3uge on March 12, 2015, 12:24:15 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/tkOC0Ef.jpg)

The bracket is forming! Wonder when they start filling it in - I want to try to catch them putting Valpo up.

You know that is pretty much the view that the selection committee sees from the top of the Westin looking west down US40/Washington St.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.767146,-86.163198,3a,75y,268.22h,106.43t/data= (https://www.google.com/maps/@39.767146,-86.163198,3a,75y,268.22h,106.43t/data=)!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sR484mIHpJj0EqWRgllKNsw!2e0

In the google maps streetview the Westin where the NCAA selection committee makes their selections on Suniday is in the forefront while the JW Marriott is the blueish building about 2 blocks away. If you turn the view to the right you can see the Indiana State Capital grounds (the grassy area) and barely see the capital dome. Shula's Restaurant (owned by Don Shula) is in the bottom of the Westin.

I thought they met at the Conrad?

Don't know what this does for us but Xavier knocked off Buck Futler in ot in the big east tournament.  I really think we would have a shot at beating Butler if we ever got a chance to play them. Xavier would be tough only because we could not match up with Matt Stainbrook. The dude blots out the sun and can pass out of double teams.  Vashil would foul out in the first half if he had to defend him one on one.

Quote from: a3uge on March 12, 2015, 11:30:55 PMI thought they met at the Conrad?

Well, I better stop posting late at night. It's obvious I forget a lot of things that I thought I really knew. They used to meet at the top of the Westin in the early days when the NCAA first moved to Indy. You are correct. They do use the Conrad Hilton now.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/11604671-123/rabalais-mock-ncaa-selection-meeting (http://theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/11604671-123/rabalais-mock-ncaa-selection-meeting)

The actual selection committee meets at the nearby Conrad Hilton in downtown Indianapolis, on a sealed off upper floor of the hotel.

Google Streetview of front of Conrad Hilton on Washington St. (http://tinyurl.com/mw42wce)

Quote from: bbtds on March 12, 2015, 11:40:09 PM

Quote from: a3uge on March 12, 2015, 11:30:55 PMI thought they met at the Conrad?

Well, I better stop posting late at night. It's obvious I forget a lot of things that I thought I really knew. They used to meet at the top of the Westin in the early days when the NCAA first moved to Indy. You are correct. They do use the Conrad Hilton now.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/11604671-123/rabalais-mock-ncaa-selection-meeting (http://theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/11604671-123/rabalais-mock-ncaa-selection-meeting)

The actual selection committee meets at the nearby Conrad Hilton in downtown Indianapolis, on a sealed off upper floor of the hotel.

Nice. I'm going to sneak in and give Valpo a 7 seed. I live a couple blocks from there.

Quote from: a3uge on March 12, 2015, 11:41:27 PMNice. I'm going to sneak in and give Valpo a 7 seed. I live a couple blocks from there.

I have a friend that lives north of Monument Circle on the corner of N.Meridian and Vermont. About 3 blocks from the circle. It's been an awful long time since I was downtown to see him in his apartment. He usually comes out to see me at my house. 

Quote from: covufan on March 12, 2015, 11:55:48 AM

Quote from: StlVUFan on March 11, 2015, 11:34:09 PM
I want us in Columbus, and I'm not particular about the matchup.

I will be in Dayton for the First Four and am thinking I could easily drive there.

It sounds like I won't get my wish, but dammit, that's what I want. :'(

Pittsburgh and Louisville would be an easy drive from Dayton as well!

Louisville would be tons better than Pittsburgh.  You see, it's not just the drive there, it's the drive back home to St. Louis.

ok.. I think there has to be a better way to describe these 4 groups ... my suggested names in brackets.

Last Four Byes [translate:  MADE IT, PHEW]
LSU  #10
Ole Miss  #11
Oklahoma State #10
Purdue #11

Last Four In:  [MADE IT... UNLESS]
BYU  #11 PIG
Texas  #11 PIG
Temple #11 PIG
Indiana #11 PIG

so...am I correct (assuming Mr. Lunardo is perfectly accurate) everyone below the line needs someone above this line to lose before they can move up?... (or they become a pretty good looking NIT bracket !)

First Four Out:  [MISSED IT BY THIS MUCH]
Miami (FL) - not on bracket
Old Dominion - not on bracket
Tulsa - not on bracket
Texas A&M - not on bracket

Next Four Out:  [OTHER NIT HOST SCHOOLS]
UCLA - not on bracket
Illinois - not on bracket
Murray State - not on bracket
Iona - not on bracket

Green Bay - not in conversation

Quote from: talksalot on March 13, 2015, 08:31:25 AM
ok.. I think there has to be a better way to describe these 4 groups ... my suggested names in brackets.

Last Four Byes [translate:  MADE IT, PHEW]
LSU  #10
Ole Miss  #11
Oklahoma State #10
Purdue #11

Last Four In:  [MADE IT... UNLESS]
BYU  #11 PIG
Texas  #11 PIG
Temple #11 PIG
Indiana #11 PIG

so...am I correct (assuming Mr. Lunardo is perfectly accurate) everyone below the line needs someone above this line to lose before they can move up?... (or they become a pretty good looking NIT bracket !)

First Four Out:  [MISSED IT BY THIS MUCH]
Miami (FL) - not on bracket
Old Dominion - not on bracket
Tulsa - not on bracket
Texas A&M - not on bracket

Next Four Out:  [OTHER NIT HOST SCHOOLS]
UCLA - not on bracket
Illinois - not on bracket
Murray State - not on bracket
Iona - not on bracket

Green Bay - not in conversation

I think that there will be one play-in 11 seeded game and one for the 12 seeds.

I would hope that with Green Bay's RPI that they would be in the mix for NIT.

Quote from: covufan on March 13, 2015, 08:46:38 AM

Quote from: talksalot on March 13, 2015, 08:31:25 AM
ok.. I think there has to be a better way to describe these 4 groups ... my suggested names in brackets.

Last Four Byes [translate:  MADE IT, PHEW]
LSU  #10
Ole Miss  #11
Oklahoma State #10
Purdue #11

Last Four In:  [MADE IT... UNLESS]
BYU  #11 PIG
Texas  #11 PIG
Temple #11 PIG
Indiana #11 PIG

so...am I correct (assuming Mr. Lunardo is perfectly accurate) everyone below the line needs someone above this line to lose before they can move up?... (or they become a pretty good looking NIT bracket !)

First Four Out:  [MISSED IT BY THIS MUCH]
Miami (FL) - not on bracket
Old Dominion - not on bracket
Tulsa - not on bracket
Texas A&M - not on bracket

Next Four Out:  [OTHER NIT HOST SCHOOLS]
UCLA - not on bracket
Illinois - not on bracket
Murray State - not on bracket
Iona - not on bracket

Green Bay - not in conversation

I think that there will be one play-in 11 seeded game and one for the 12 seeds.

I would hope that with Green Bay's RPI that they would be in the mix for NIT.

I think you're right - put it this way: is SFA, Valpo, LA Tech, Wofford, Harvard, etc borderline at-large worthy? No. So I don't see any of those jumping to an 11, or staying at a 12 and the PIG dropping to a 13. But the NCAA can move teams up or down a seed to make everything "fit". In 2013 we saw that with Boise State and LaSalle getting the 13 seed game.

America, get familiar with Delanie Walker...

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/10/introducing-cinderella-meet-the-valparaiso-crusaders/ (http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/10/introducing-cinderella-meet-the-valparaiso-crusaders/)

I like that someone on this site went on the NBCSports site and corrected Darien Walker's name.

When looking to fill out your bracket, I would suggest looking at statistical analyses that will start being posted regularly on the fivethirtyeight.com website. They posted their first analysis today regarding whether higher than expected conference tournament performance correlates (or is predictive) of NCAA tournament performance. They show a very slight correlation, but not nearly as high as many would subjectively predict. UConn in recent years is cited as the outlier. This website offers great analysis on many subjects (political, economics, sociocultural, sports) using common and advanced statistics methods.

Ordered our tickets to the dance today from the ticket office.  Don't care where we plan or when...we'll be there

Quote from: vu84v2 on March 13, 2015, 10:41:00 AM
I like that someone on this site went on the NBCSports site and corrected Darien Walker's name.

Hi!  I also sent this out:
[tweet]576392887593644032[/tweet]

Quote from: BrownTown on March 13, 2015, 10:33:31 AM
America, get familiar with Delanie Walker...

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/10/introducing-cinderella-meet-the-valparaiso-crusaders/ (http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/10/introducing-cinderella-meet-the-valparaiso-crusaders/)

Quote from: vu84v2 on March 13, 2015, 10:41:00 AMI like that someone on this site went on the NBCSports site and corrected Darien Walker's name.

At least they had a video of "The Shot"!  That exposure can't hurt.

Quote from: BrownTown on March 13, 2015, 10:33:31 AM
America, get familiar with Delanie Walker...

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/10/introducing-cinderella-meet-the-valparaiso-crusaders/ (http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/10/introducing-cinderella-meet-the-valparaiso-crusaders/)

What's most surprising is that Damien, Darken, Delanie, Darien, Jasmyn and Tevonn are not related in any way.

Now Derrik Walker's background is a bit unknown.

Never realized how confusing the name Darien is to people!

Quote from: bbtds on March 13, 2015, 12:20:52 PM

Quote from: BrownTown on March 13, 2015, 10:33:31 AM
America, get familiar with Delanie Walker...

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/10/introducing-cinderella-meet-the-valparaiso-crusaders/ (http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/10/introducing-cinderella-meet-the-valparaiso-crusaders/)

What's most surprising is that Damien, Darken, Delanie, Darien, Jasmyn and Tevonn are not related in any way.

Now Derrik Walker's background is a bit unknown.

If we're having problems with incoming Walkers this year, what is Kampe going to do with his two incoming Walkers next year?!?!?

Here's our guard, Delanie, when he's wearing his Tennessee Titans uniform:

(http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nfl/players/full/9761.png&w=350&h=254)

Quote from: classof2014 on March 13, 2015, 12:29:39 PM
Never realized how confusing the name Darien is to people!

Hillary Clinton - What Difference Does it Make! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_gr1zah14#ws)

Reminder: Register online by midnight tonight to attend the Selection Show Party on Sunday!


[tweet]576516081210298369[/tweet]

for those into later-in-the-evening Sunday night announcements...

from bracketmatrix.com/nit

1 - UCLA, Texas A&M, Miami (FL), Tulsa
2 - Connecticut, Illinois, Richmond, Stanford
3 - Buffalo, Rhode Island, Old Dominion, Murray State
4 - Illinois State, George Washington, Minnesota, Alabama
5 - St. Mary's (CA), Pittsburgh, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Iona
6 - UTEP, Harvard, Memphis, Vanderbilt
7 - Michigan, Arizona State, Tennessee, South Dakota State
8 - William & Mary, St. Francis (NY), Bucknell, Charleston Southern

Hoping for Notre Dame in Columbus.    Next best might be an Iowa St or Northern Iowa in Omaha.   

Quote from: talksalot on March 14, 2015, 11:32:59 AMfrom bracketmatrix.com/nit

1 - UCLA, Texas A&M, Miami (FL), Tulsa
 2 - Connecticut, Illinois, Richmond, Stanford
 3 - Buffalo, Rhode Island, Old Dominion, Murray State
 4 - Illinois State, George Washington, Minnesota, Alabama
 5 - St. Mary's (CA), Pittsburgh, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Iona
 6 - UTEP, Harvard, Memphis, Vanderbilt
 7 - Michigan, Arizona State, Tennessee, South Dakota State
 8 - William & Mary, St. Francis (NY), Bucknell, Charleston Southern

I know that Central Michigan has already beaten Buffalo twice but will they be able to do it again? I watched some of that tournament last night on ESPN 3 because they are nowhere to be found on any of the cable tv channels.

Quote from: justducky on March 14, 2015, 12:07:49 PM

Quote from: talksalot on March 14, 2015, 11:32:59 AMfrom bracketmatrix.com/nit 1 - UCLA, Texas A&M, Miami (FL), Tulsa 2 - Connecticut, Illinois, Richmond, Stanford 3 - Buffalo, Rhode Island, Old Dominion, Murray State 4 - Illinois State, George Washington, Minnesota, Alabama 5 - St. Mary's (CA), Pittsburgh, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Iona 6 - UTEP, Harvard, Memphis, Vanderbilt 7 - Michigan, Arizona State, Tennessee, South Dakota State 8 - William & Mary, St. Francis (NY), Bucknell, Charleston Southern

I know that Central Michigan has already beaten Buffalo twice but will they be able to do it again? I watched some of that tournament last night on ESPN 3 because they are nowhere to be found on any of the cable tv channels.

Probably that game will be a lot like the Valpo/GB game. Close until one of the teams breaks away in the last 3 to 4 minutes.

Quote from: justducky on March 14, 2015, 12:07:49 PMI watched some of that tournament last night on ESPN 3 because they are nowhere to be found on any of the cable tv channels.

A lot more competition for TV time this weekend with the bigs playing their tournaments. That's the reason the Horizon plays on a Tue before the packed weekend and gets on ESPN.

Quote from: historyman on March 14, 2015, 03:33:01 PM

Quote from: justducky on March 14, 2015, 12:07:49 PMI watched some of that tournament last night on ESPN 3 because they are nowhere to be found on any of the cable tv channels.

A lot more competition for TV time this weekend with the bigs playing their tournaments. That's the reason the Horizon plays on a Tue before the packed weekend and gets on ESPN.

The MAC final, in an hour, is on one of the major ESPN networks, same as the Horizon.

Quote from: agibson on March 14, 2015, 05:39:20 PM

Quote from: historyman on March 14, 2015, 03:33:01 PM

Quote from: justducky on March 14, 2015, 12:07:49 PMI watched some of that tournament last night on ESPN 3 because they are nowhere to be found on any of the cable tv channels.

A lot more competition for TV time this weekend with the bigs playing their tournaments. That's the reason the Horizon plays on a Tue before the packed weekend and gets on ESPN.

The MAC final, in an hour, is on one of the major ESPN networks, same as the Horizon.

Agreed, however ther is a perception that playing on the big dog is better then the duece.  Not only did we play on ESPN but the timing gave us a much better tv audience then would have happed if we fought it out tonight with the bigs.  I also wonder whether is helps or hurts to have so much time between games.  In our case, this year, I think it will definitely help. T and D Walker are both banged up and hopefully will be at full stength come game time.

Created a handy map for projected seeds from bracket matrix and host site locations. BLUE is first round, GREEN is the Sweet 16.

(http://i.imgur.com/ccUNCCl.png)

Some things I noticed:

1. It's really stupid to not have a first round site in Texas or the southwest.
2. Why the heck did they do Portland AND Seattle as first round sites when west coast college basketball is struggling? Top recruits don't want to play in that time zone because there's NO exposure.

Portland/Seattle > Texas = liberal bias

anyone else enjoying Ron Hunter Coaching in the Sunbest final?  Be fun to catch up to GaState in the Sweet 16...

Here we go... hold onto your butts.

Pretty full house here in the Union Ballroons, good crowd, good energy.  Everyone initially afraid to cut the cake.

Tough, tough matchup

Most likely burnt toast

How good is Maryland?

 >:( :'( >:(

GO VALPO!!

Yeah 13 instead of 12 is a bummer, and I have no idea how good Maryland is, but ....

I GOT MY WISH FOR COLUMBUS!!!! :dance: :cheers:

If I saw correctly, Buffalo, Valpo, Albany, and the Boise State-Dayton winner are the mid-majors sent to Columbus.

Hoops.  Would love to see a table showing seeding versus RPI.  From what I can see, Maryland is VERY big.  They certainly will challenge our great rebounding!

A 4 seed for Maryland seems odd.

Ended the season ranked 8th and lost to MSU by 4 in the B1G tourney semifinals.

They will be a tough matchup for Valpo, lead by Dez Wells and Melo Trimble.

Thanks for the "favor"!!!!

The good news: Maryland hasn't been in the tournament since 2010, so they're pretty new to this. Mark Turgeon isn't Tom Izzo. Also, it's in Columbus. So easy road trip.

I was hoping for a 12.  I also was hoping for a better match-up than a top notch B10 team. That said, we were going to be big underdogs to whomever we were matched up against.  The good news is we could not have asked for a better location than Columbus, OH on Friday.  Very doable for many Crusader fans. 

Even shorter for me since I'll be in Dayton.  I was hoping it would be Thursday, though.  Easier drive back to St. Louis that way.

Ah well.  Just got to rough it ...

Where do I get tickets

I like the matchup.  Many of the rating systems have Maryland well below 16th in the nation.  Our chances against Maryland are better than most other 4 or even 5 seeds.  I think the Columbus crowd will lean towards Valpo, especially if we keep the game close. 

Quote
Subject: I'm done with college basketball

D-O-N-E
35 minutes ago via Mobile

http://maryland.247sports.com/Board/67/Contents/Im-done-with-college-basketball-36206845 (http://maryland.247sports.com/Board/67/Contents/Im-done-with-college-basketball-36206845)

Should be fun reading their board this week. These are the same guys that stormed the court after beating Wisconsin while they were second in the conference.

More good discussion:

(http://i.imgur.com/EcgI6OK.png)

http://maryland.247sports.com/Board/67/Contents/Fourth-Seeded-Maryland-to-Face-Valparaiso-in-NCAA-First-Round-36206568 (http://maryland.247sports.com/Board/67/Contents/Fourth-Seeded-Maryland-to-Face-Valparaiso-in-NCAA-First-Round-36206568)

Funny... I was just thinking the same damn thing.  I'm done with this arbitrary process.  What can we do aside from running the table to get a seed 12 or better?
 
RPIs of 13 seeds:  Valpo 50, Harvard 54, E. Wash 78, Irvine 90!

So if we are the top 13 seed (as Bracketmatrix predicted) then why are we playing arguably the best 4 seed?

Ridiculous.  This feels like Michigan State at Michigan all over again.  At least we're not playing in Baltimore.

Quote from: WiscoCrusader on March 15, 2015, 05:52:53 PMSo if we are the top 13 seed (as Bracketmatrix predicted) then why are we playing arguably the best 4 seed?

Geography. The committee principles state that it should be the first concern.

And, before someone roasts the committee for that decision, its the schools (AD's, presidents, coaches) who decide what the committee should be using.

This is indefensible.  How can a 13 seed ever play the number 8 team in the country, regardless of geography?

Geography rules.  All 5 Indiana schools in Kentucky's bracket.   

Quote from: WiscoCrusader on March 15, 2015, 06:02:06 PM
This is indefensible.  How can a 13 seed ever play the number 8 team in the country, regardless of geography?

AP Ranks aren't used in selection process.

What gets me is that the committee rewards playing top 10 programs and getting blown out to boost SOS. Remarkably stupid.

Also the committee doesn't snake. Also stupid. But hey, Wyoming was close to Seattle, we're close to Columbus. Look what happened.

Of all the bb I have watched this week and this year Maryland is very near the bottom of my viewing time! So I once again have no clue.

As far as I am concerned we will know on Friday just how good the 15-16 team could be and win or lose we can schedule accordingly.

Could've been worse.  Maryland won't blow us out, but their guards are spectacular.  We should be able to keep it within 15 points.  I don't see us winning unless we shoot 70% all game.

I don't mind this really. I'd take Maryland over Louisville or UNC. Weren't going to get Georgetown due to geography. Maryland doesn't have a dominant inside game like MSU did two years ago. Trimble is pretty comparable to Sykes when it comes to the defensive scheme you want to use against him. Wells is the guy we will have a hard time stopping. We were going to be an underdog regardless, so I'm happy to get to watch in person against a Big Ten team on a big time stage.

Also worth pointing out, we were rated as the highest 13 seed. So Wyoming and Buffalo winning took us off the 12 line we were all hoping for.

Saw this on Twitter, full seed listing. Valpo #51
http://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2015/3/15/8220261/ncaa-tournament-2015-full-seed-list-dayton (http://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2015/3/15/8220261/ncaa-tournament-2015-full-seed-list-dayton)

Quote from: valpo4life on March 15, 2015, 06:31:04 PMWeren't going to get Georgetown due to geography.

Huh?  Isn't Georgetown more west than Maryland?

Quote from: WiscoCrusader on March 15, 2015, 06:02:06 PMHow can a 13 seed ever play the number 8 team in the country, regardless of geography?

So how good are they? By Sagarine they are all the way down to 26 vs our 68 and by that methodology are only 5.67 point favorites. By KenPom they are only placed at 33 vs our 63. In a vacuum of knowledge about their team and players I think I like it just as well or better than any of the other 4's. Yes I know they are good but we could complain about any team in the 4 or 5 seed range.

Quote from: vu72 on March 15, 2015, 05:23:58 PMHoops.  Would love to see a table showing seeding versus RPI.

I have the table ready. Just need the NCAA's new RPI numbers following today's games. Will update either tonight or tomorrow, depending on when they are posted.

Quote from: valpo4life on March 15, 2015, 06:31:04 PM
I don't mind this really. I'd take Maryland over Louisville or UNC. Weren't going to get Georgetown due to geography. Maryland doesn't have a dominant inside game like MSU did two years ago. Trimble is pretty comparable to Sykes when it comes to the defensive scheme you want to use against him. Wells is the guy we will have a hard time stopping. We were going to be an underdog regardless, so I'm happy to get to watch in person against a Big Ten team on a big time stage.

Also worth pointing out, we were rated as the highest 13 seed. So Wyoming and Buffalo winning took us off the 12 line we were all hoping for.

That could be but have you checked out their roster? They list 7 players 6'9" or better.  Not sure who plays in their normal rotation but if they do rely on their guards it will be better for us as we do have very solid, quick guards. T Walker told one of the newspapers that he is fine. D Walker will most likely wear a mask.

Quote from: WiscoCrusader on March 15, 2015, 06:02:06 PM
This is indefensible.  How can a 13 seed ever play the number 8 team in the country, regardless of geography?

I think the real question here is how can a number 8 team become a 4 seed? 

The ratings people (Sagarin, TeamRankings, KenPom, etc) have Maryland lower than what the Tournament committee did, based on stats of the Maryland team.  The Maryland team does well in close games - they were 5 - 0 in games decided by 3 points or less.  We will need to hit our FTs!

Crusaders Heading to Columbus, Play Maryland to Open 2015 NCAA Tournament
Sunday, March 15, 2015

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2014-15/14490/crusaders-heading-to-columbus-play-maryland-to-open-2015-ncaa-tournament/#.VQYXySmUDjQ (http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2014-15/14490/crusaders-heading-to-columbus-play-maryland-to-open-2015-ncaa-tournament/#.VQYXySmUDjQ)

Quote from: covufan on March 15, 2015, 06:33:28 PM

Quote from: valpo4life on March 15, 2015, 06:31:04 PMWeren't going to get Georgetown due to geography.

Huh?  Isn't Georgetown more west than Maryland?

Geography as in Eastern Washington is much, much, much closer to Portland than we are

Quote from: covufan on March 15, 2015, 06:40:49 PMI think the real question here is how can a number 8 team become a 4 seed? 

Because the polls are the opinions of coaches that don't watch all the games and sportswriters that don't either.

Quote from: covufan on March 15, 2015, 06:33:28 PM

Quote from: valpo4life on March 15, 2015, 06:31:04 PMWeren't going to get Georgetown due to geography.

Huh?  Isn't Georgetown more west than Maryland?

Slightly further West, but Maryland is probably closer to Columbus because of the campus proximity to 495.  The difference is probably 15 minutes of drive time.

Quote from: vu72 on March 15, 2015, 06:38:32 PM

Quote from: valpo4life on March 15, 2015, 06:31:04 PM
I don't mind this really. I'd take Maryland over Louisville or UNC. Weren't going to get Georgetown due to geography. Maryland doesn't have a dominant inside game like MSU did two years ago. Trimble is pretty comparable to Sykes when it comes to the defensive scheme you want to use against him. Wells is the guy we will have a hard time stopping. We were going to be an underdog regardless, so I'm happy to get to watch in person against a Big Ten team on a big time stage.

Also worth pointing out, we were rated as the highest 13 seed. So Wyoming and Buffalo winning took us off the 12 line we were all hoping for.

That could be but have you checked out their roster? They list 7 players 6'9" or better.  Not sure who plays in their normal rotation but if they do rely on their guards it will be better for us as we do have very solid, quick guards. T Walker told one of the newspapers that he is fine. D Walker will most likely wear a mask.

I've watched them play a couple times. Top two scorers are both guards, the 3rd guy for them is Layman. At 6'8" he plays both inside and out. But most of the time I've watched he's been out on the wing playing well off the dribble, also can shoot the 3 pretty well.

Out of those 6'9" or taller guys, the highest scorer is Smotrycz at 4.6 per game and over half of his shots have come from 3. They don't have a big that would worry me trying to score with his back to the basket over Vashil. Rebound put backs could be an issue as Dodd is pretty physical and Cekovsky is well, 7 foot.

Here is one of my photos showing the team and fans reacting to the announcement at the Selection Sunday party.


(http://i58.tinypic.com/1ze8nd0.jpg)

Terp 14-15 stat-line...

http://www.umterps.com//ViewContent.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=29700&CONTENT_ID=1024404 (http://www.umterps.com//ViewContent.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=29700&CONTENT_ID=1024404)

They played at Nationwide Arena... and OSU blew them out by 24 on January 29th... they beat Oakland by 16.

7-man rotation (against IU the other day, anyway) -last column is minutes-
10 Jake Layman......... f  3-9    0-1    4-6    4  5  9   1  10  2  2  0  0  33  (6'9 205 Junior)
35 Damonte Dodd........ f  2-3    0-0    1-2    1  4  5   1   5  1  1  0  0  19 (6'11 245 Sophomore)
44 Dez Wells........... f  7-14   0-0    8-9    0  6  6   3  22  2  4  1  0  32  (6'5 215 Senior)
2  Melo Trimble........ g  5-9    2-3    5-7    0  1  1   3  17  3  1  0  2  35 (6'3 190 Freshman)
20 Richaud Pack........ g  1-2    1-2    0-0    1  2  3   2   3  3  1  0  1  32 (6'4 190 Senior)
1  Evan Smotrycz.......    1-2    1-2    5-6    2  2  4   3   8  1  1  2  0  22 (6'9 235 Senior)
11 Jared Nickens.......    3-10   2-6    2-3    1  0  1   1  10  0  0  0  1  17  (6'7 200 Freshman)

Terp fan here.  We got royally screwed and our fanbase is pretty salty right now.  We are a top 10 ranked team, 27-6  in a conference with 7 teams that made it, and we are a 4 seed?  Oklahoma gets a 3 seed with 10 losses and we were 2-0 vs the Big 12 with wins at Iowa St. and Oklahoma St.  Now they put us in Kentucky's region and we are matched up vs you guys who probably should be a 12 seed at worst judging by your RPI.  Would like to hear the justification for that.  Anyway....

We are basically a 2 man team right now.  Trimble, our point guard is very very good and Wells is a dominant scorer at the 3. He can score inside our outside. Very athletic.  Rest of the team is just ok except for Jake Layman who is a PF but plays more like a 3.  Our inside game on offense is pretty non existant, but Dodd is solid rim defender on defense.  We dont turn it over much, but we arent a great rebounding team either.  Dont foul us because we make our free throws.

Dont know much about you guys other than the game I saw u play in the conference final vs Wisconsin GB.   Either your defense is really good or they just couldnt shoot. It was pretty ugly from what I saw, but maybe thats your style.  Dont really know.   I am betting its a close game...and we should win....but we can be beat if u play good defense.

OK, these are the numbers before today's games. I don't think there would have been a ton of change, perhaps only to the teams who played.

There's a lot of info on here, so take your time.

RPI = RPI Rank (all teams, not just NCAA teams)
RPI Seed = Where teams would be seeded if tournament was based only on RPI
Actual Seed = Team's actual seed
Seed List = The Committee's final seed list
List Seed = Where the team would be seeded if the teams were perfectly bracketed by the list (which this year they were...the actual seeds are exact)

If the tournament had been seeded straight by RPI, we would have been an 11. Us and Wofford would have gone straight into a game against a 6 seed, while UCLA, OK State, Iowa and St. Johns would be in the First Four


(click to embiggen)
(http://i60.tinypic.com/1z1sc61.jpg)

Quote from: talksalot on March 15, 2015, 07:27:09 PMOSU blew them out by 24 on January 29th... they beat Oakland by 16.

I would expect there may be calls to Kampe as well as Jake Diebler for some scouting stuff!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev9yRknJD1c (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev9yRknJD1c#ws)

Quote from: Flinger29 on March 15, 2015, 07:47:53 PM

Terp fan here.  We got royally screwed and our fanbase is pretty salty right now.  We are a top 10 ranked team, 27-6  in a conference with 7 teams that made it, and we are a 4 seed?  Oklahoma gets a 3 seed with 10 losses and we were 2-0 vs the Big 12 with wins at Iowa St. and Oklahoma St.  Now they put us in Kentucky's region and we are matched up vs you guys who probably should be a 12 seed at worst judging by your RPI.  Would like to hear the justification for that.  Anyway....

We are basically a 2 man team right now.  Trimble, our point guard is very very good and Wells is a dominant scorer at the 3. He can score inside our outside. Very athletic.  Rest of the team is just ok except for Jake Layman who is a PF but plays more like a 3.  Our inside game on offense is pretty non existant, but Dodd is solid rim defender on defense.  We dont turn it over much, but we arent a great rebounding team either.  Dont foul us because we make our free throws.

Dont know much about you guys other than the game I saw u play in the conference final vs Wisconsin GB.   Either your defense is really good or they just couldnt shoot. It was pretty ugly from what I saw, but maybe thats your style.  Dont really know.   I am betting its a close game...and we should win....but we can be beat if u play good defense.

Welcome! Thanks for your imput. I think if you read many of the other posts that our board pretty much feels are chances are from 25% to 40%.

Playing on a neutral court will help us. We have never done well against major conference team to many on our board's consternation. I think our greatest asset is the long arms of the team on defense. Our defense won us many games this season. We also have the 10th best shot blocker in the nation. You may have noticed how much trouble Green Bay had on offense against our very tough defense in the 2nd half in the HL championship game.

We did not have a difficult schedule but that was mainly due to our coach Bryce not anticipating our freshmen/new guys playing as well as they did and therefore we didn't play any really tough major conference teams. We lost to Mizzou, who was terrible in the SEC, on their floor in Columbia and at home to New Mexico. The Lobos didn't do that well in conference either but did play well at Valpo.

Alec Peters has to be the quietest team leading scorer in the country. He is extremely efficient. When he takes shots he makes a high percentage. Our new guards are extremely tough and have played through multiple injuries that would have been devastating to many other mid-major teams. I certainly wouldn't want to get into any "fight" or confrontation with any of the new guys. They are just incredibly tough and you won't intimidate them at all. Earlier in the season we had some turnover issues and couldn't seem to control the ball well enough on offense but as the end of the season has come along we have gotten much better and the turnover issues are no longer a problem.

Personally, I've moved on from the disappointment of the seeding thing and am looking forward to Friday with great anticipation. I'm taking 4 from my family. Had the game been Thursday instead of Friday or a location we had to fly into instead of drive, there's no way we could have worked it out. Win or lose were going to savor every minute of the experience! Go Crusaders!

Well, here we go...

Tip time will be approximately 4:45 Eastern time.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25109286/ncaa-tourney-tip-times-and-announcing-teams (http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25109286/ncaa-tourney-tip-times-and-announcing-teams)

(http://i61.tinypic.com/ncf3uh.png)

I think my game ticket is lined up, just looking for a hotel nearby.  I'm going to at least try to get a ticket for the evening session separately since I'm sure Valpo won't be selling both tickets.  I'm up in the air on whether I stay for Sunday if Valpo loses.  If Albany and the Boise-Dayton winner and Buffalo all also lose leaving just power conference teams, I'll probably just hang out on Saturday and hit the road Sunday morning.  Otherwise, I'm hoping the Sunday game would be in the afternoon, giving me a decent chance to make it home to St. Louis in time get a decent night's sleep prior to work in the morning on the 23rd.

I think we were a 12... but the committee flipped us to a 13 and Wyoming to a 12 to get us to Columbus and them to Seattle.... there.   Justified.

We played the Terps in Orlando 98-99 and they beat us by 22.... in our one and only match. 

I've been looking at their crowds... Their smallest crowd was more than our gym holds!  At least the PA guy will know how to pronounce our name... he grew up in Valpo!  THAT might be interesting.

NIT bracket released...

Old Dominion Region

No. 1 Old Dominion vs No. 8 Charleston Southern

No. 4 Illinois State vs No. 5 Green Bay

No. 3 Murray State vs No. 6 UTEP

No. 2 Tulsa vs No. 7 William and Mary

Timing could not be worse for me personally--not that that matters to anyone, least of all the good people at Turner Network Television, but...

...actually, it could, because my wife could be in labor at that point (due date is saturday).

Ye gods.

Good summary, wh. That UWGB-Valpo game was a typical game. Every win looks ugly. We win with our physical defense and have one of the best shot blockers in the country (Vashil). On defense we use a 6-7 point guard E Victor Nickerson who doesn't do much on offense, but moves very well on defense and causes a lot of problems.

Last time we went dancing in 2013 we had an undersized finesse team, and this year we have a bigger, more physical grind-it-out slow down the pace team. Not sure which makes for a better upset potential, but I'm glad we're not playing Nix and Adrian Payne this year. Should be a good game!

Quote from: StlVUFan on March 15, 2015, 08:28:20 PM
I think my game ticket is lined up, just looking for a hotel nearby.  I'm going to at least try to get a ticket for the evening session separately since I'm sure Valpo won't be selling both tickets.  I'm up in the air on whether I stay for Sunday if Valpo loses.  If Albany and the Boise-Dayton winner and Buffalo all also lose leaving just power conference teams, I'll probably just hang out on Saturday and hit the road Sunday morning.  Otherwise, I'm hoping the Sunday game would be in the afternoon, giving me a decent chance to make it home to St. Louis in time get a decent night's sleep prior to work in the morning on the 23rd.

It's been a long time since I've posted, but since I live in the Columbus area, I'd be happy to answer any questions or provide suggestions for any fellow Crusaders fans that may be travelling here for the game.

Quote from: vurich on March 15, 2015, 08:49:08 PMIt's been a long time since I've posted, but since I live in the Columbus area, I'd be happy to answer any questions or provide suggestions for any fellow Crusaders fans that may be travelling here for the game.

How many couches do you own?  :P  (Kidding, of course...I'll be traveling down on Friday morning)

Quote from: vurich on March 15, 2015, 08:49:08 PM

Quote from: StlVUFan on March 15, 2015, 08:28:20 PM
I think my game ticket is lined up, just looking for a hotel nearby.  I'm going to at least try to get a ticket for the evening session separately since I'm sure Valpo won't be selling both tickets.  I'm up in the air on whether I stay for Sunday if Valpo loses.  If Albany and the Boise-Dayton winner and Buffalo all also lose leaving just power conference teams, I'll probably just hang out on Saturday and hit the road Sunday morning.  Otherwise, I'm hoping the Sunday game would be in the afternoon, giving me a decent chance to make it home to St. Louis in time get a decent night's sleep prior to work in the morning on the 23rd.

It's been a long time since I've posted, but since I live in the Columbus area, I'd be happy to answer any questions or provide suggestions for any fellow Crusaders fans that may be travelling here for the game.

Good place to celebrate around arena after a first round upset?

Quote from: StlVUFan on March 15, 2015, 08:28:20 PM
I think my game ticket is lined up, just looking for a hotel nearby.  I'm going to at least try to get a ticket for the evening session separately since I'm sure Valpo won't be selling both tickets.  I'm up in the air on whether I stay for Sunday if Valpo loses.  If Albany and the Boise-Dayton winner and Buffalo all also lose leaving just power conference teams, I'll probably just hang out on Saturday and hit the road Sunday morning.  Otherwise, I'm hoping the Sunday game would be in the afternoon, giving me a decent chance to make it home to St. Louis in time get a decent night's sleep prior to work in the morning on the 23rd.

Does Valpo sell a block for students and alumni? Can you go right through the university to get tickets?

They announced at the party that tickets will be available tomorrow morning... along with a package price for the Bus/Meal-buffet thing... they are working late tonight putting those details together.  If you attended the event tonight, you had the opportunity to signup for tickets with your credit card.  I don't know how big a block we will get as the 13-seed.  If it's like it was "in the old days" the higher the seed, the more tickets you got.   So the Sunday matchup between Valpo and Buffalo will have tickets-a-plenty!

Quote from: LaPorteAveApostle on March 15, 2015, 08:38:13 PM
Timing could not be worse for me personally--not that that matters to anyone, least of all the good people at Turner Network Television, but...

...actually, it could, because my wife could be in labor at that point (due date is saturday).

Ye gods.

Come on man!  Doesn't your wife understand how important the NCAAs are??  Well, if we win, maybe you could name your new son E. Victor??

If you have a 6-7 point guard who is a good defender and a center who is a great shot blocker, we are going to have a problem with that.  Expect a nail biter.  We don't blow anyone out anyway. 


If we lose, good luck to you guys.  Who can't root for a small school like Valpo?   MD fans are just happy we don't suck anymore after the last 4 years and are back to respectability again.  We will probably be even better next year so this tournament is gravy for us.  Either way, sounds like there is a good chance Buffalo will be waiting for us Sunday so it could be Sweet 16 for the winner of our game.

30 years ago... my daughter... the ULTIMATE Valpo Fan ... was born on the Sunday of Final 4 weekend...She had to see the Patrick Ewing - Phi Slamma Jamma game!  HINT:  if she's in labor... you might not want to be discussing basketball with the delivery folks... I'm STILL paying for that discussion!

Quote from: vu72 on March 15, 2015, 09:02:45 PMactually, it could, because my wife could be in labor at that point (due date is saturday).

oh.. PS... HEY !  Good Luck from all of us on the forum... Hope everything goes well with the delivery and you have a healthy and happy family addition.  Godspeed.

Five Thirty Eight gives Valpo a 28% chance of winning vs Maryland and a 9% chance of getting to the Sweet Sixteen. After that, the odds of Valpo moving any farther are less than 1%. http://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/march-madness-predictions-2015/#mens (http://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/march-madness-predictions-2015/#mens)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2395299-ranking-the-most-likely-cinderellas-in-the-2015-ncaa-tournament/page/9 (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2395299-ranking-the-most-likely-cinderellas-in-the-2015-ncaa-tournament/page/9)

You can skip down to #3  !!  Cute write up....

Quote from: Flinger29 on March 15, 2015, 09:03:33 PM
If you have a 6-7 point guard who is a good defender and a center who is a great shot blocker, we are going to have a problem with that.  Expect a nail biter.  We don't blow anyone out anyway. 


If we lose, good luck to you guys.  Who can't root for a small school like Valpo?   MD fans are just happy we don't suck anymore after the last 4 years and are back to respectability again.  We will probably be even better next year so this tournament is gravy for us.  Either way, sounds like there is a good chance Buffalo will be waiting for us Sunday so it could be Sweet 16 for the winner of our game.

Actually he is a legit 6'8", maybe bigger. But, come on man, you are setting us up and you know it!  Yu did manage to beat Oakland by 16 and, someone named Wisconsin!  ;)

Quote from: vu72 on March 15, 2015, 09:17:11 PMyou are setting us up and you know it!

;) :thumbsup:

Looking at some conference stats, it seems like Maryland is efficient defensively, especially guarding the 3-ball. They hold opponents to a B1G best 1.0 points per possession and opponents shoot only 32.9% from three. Those are the two things that stood out to me. They also get to the line a bunch... they're 3rd in FTR and opponents have opponents have committed B1G most 19.1 fouls per game against Maryland. They're right in the middle in offensive efficiency and other defensive efficiency metrics. Rebounding they're in the middle of the B1G. They actually turn it over a bunch and have the 3rd worst TO%. They're in the middle in forced turnovers. Overall they seem like a fairly balance team. We might give them 35 free throws, but I don't think we'll look physically outmatched.

So what are the defensive match ups? Who guards (g) 6'3' Trimble, (f) 6' 5" Wells and (f) 6' 9" Layman? How much man to man will or can we play and will that get Vashil into foul trouble? Are we quick enough and strong enough defensively to keep them within reach? Pretty sure we can not compete in a shootout so all of our defenders will need to be near 100%.

I guess we have to make some shots too but I will worry about that tomorrow!     

Quote from: a3uge on March 15, 2015, 08:55:59 PM

Quote from: vurich on March 15, 2015, 08:49:08 PM

Quote from: StlVUFan on March 15, 2015, 08:28:20 PM
I think my game ticket is lined up, just looking for a hotel nearby.  I'm going to at least try to get a ticket for the evening session separately since I'm sure Valpo won't be selling both tickets.  I'm up in the air on whether I stay for Sunday if Valpo loses.  If Albany and the Boise-Dayton winner and Buffalo all also lose leaving just power conference teams, I'll probably just hang out on Saturday and hit the road Sunday morning.  Otherwise, I'm hoping the Sunday game would be in the afternoon, giving me a decent chance to make it home to St. Louis in time get a decent night's sleep prior to work in the morning on the 23rd.

It's been a long time since I've posted, but since I live in the Columbus area, I'd be happy to answer any questions or provide suggestions for any fellow Crusaders fans that may be travelling here for the game.

Good place to celebrate around arena after a first round upset?

The Arena District has a lot of restaurants and bars. Here's a website that lists some options.

http://arenadistrict.com/food-and-drink/ (http://arenadistrict.com/food-and-drink/)

Anyone else notice how unhappy keith was when we were called? I can't make out what he said but I wanna say "they gonna beat us"

I really don't know much about Maryland, so I look forward to reading up on them. As mentioned, any big conference team tends to cause Valpo problems even when we seem to have the matchups. Based on the description of Maryland above, I like Valpo defensively matching up well with Nickerson and Carter on Tremble and Peters or Tevonn Walker on Wells.

On a different note, why is everyone thinking West Virginia is ripe for an upset against Buffalo. I know that Buffalo has played well, but West Virginia is a pain in the a%$ to play. Full court press for 40 minutes with lots of player rotations, coupled with several strong inside rebounders. Very inconsistent offense, especially if Staten is not back - but their young players are getting better.

We have zero chance.  They are way bigger, their guards are way faster, their shooters are way better, their defense is way better and they haven't really beat anyone.  Should be a "nail biter".

I mean, really,  we start a freshman, a sophomore, two juniors and one senior, who offers zero offense. We have to play another freshman a lot and two more juniors and a sophomore.  How can such a young team compete with a team from the BIG?  Don't expect anything pretty with us having such a young coach and all.  Expect a close game.  ;D

Quote from: Valpofan00 on March 15, 2015, 09:47:23 PM
Anyone else notice how unhappy keith was when we were called? I can't make out what he said but I wanna say "they gonna beat us"

He might have been disappointed that Valpo was seeded 13 instead of 12 and not paired with West Virginia (which would have happened if the Crusaders were the 12), since his cousin plays for West Virginia. However, as it turns out, the whole Carter family can go to Columbus, and if Valpo wins, they might get to face West Virginia in the second game.

I should have added that if anyone needs advice on how to beat West Virginia, they probably want to consult with another Drew. Baylor owned West Virginia this year.

Speaking of which, did you notice that Scott Drew gets to go up against an old foe Ron Hunter?  I remember a few light-hearted moments during tight games between those two in 2003 (though not in KC, that's for sure).

Quote from: valpopal on March 15, 2015, 10:16:27 PM

Quote from: Valpofan00 on March 15, 2015, 09:47:23 PM
Anyone else notice how unhappy keith was when we were called? I can't make out what he said but I wanna say "they gonna beat us"

He might have been disappointed that Valpo was seeded 13 instead of 12 and not paired with West Virginia (which would have happened if the Crusaders were the 12), since his cousin plays for West Virginia. However, as it turns out, the whole Carter family can go to Columbus, and if Valpo wins, they might get to face West Virginia in the second game.

Quote from: vu72 on March 15, 2015, 09:56:13 PM
We have zero chance.  They are way bigger, their guards are way faster, their shooters are way better, their defense is way better and they haven't really beat anyone.  Should be a "nail biter".

I mean, really,  we start a freshman, a sophomore, two juniors and one senior, who offers zero offense. We have to play another freshman a lot and two more juniors and a sophomore.  How can such a young team compete with a team from the BIG?  Don't expect anything pretty with us having such a young coach and all.  Expect a close game.  ;D

Stop the negativity. Sit back. Enjoy the moment. Then watch.  We have been saying, as well as others, that Bryce is one of the best young coaches in the country. He has  a few days to prepare for Goiath. All he needs is one stone, right ?   Let's see how our TEAM prepares.  Will UM take Valpo as seriously as Valpo takes UM?  Doubt it.  We are where we are because we exceeded expectations all season long. Why not us?

Quote from: VULB#62 on March 15, 2015, 10:34:11 PMStop the negativity. Sit back. Enjoy the moment.

(http://i.qkme.me/35s3vg.jpg)

Quote from: wh on March 15, 2015, 01:05:18 PMPortland/Seattle > Texas = liberal bias

My thinking was that it was time to get out of Texas because of all the conservative bias. And look who they listened to. The fact the decision was made from Indy is what was quite remarkable.

Quote from: wh on March 15, 2015, 01:05:18 PM
Portland/Seattle > Texas = liberal bias

BARF! 

Here is another photo I took at the moment of the announcement. In addition to witnessing the excitement of the players, there are quite a few familiar faces among the fans cheering in the background, including a number of forum members.


(http://i59.tinypic.com/34ijlmp.jpg)

I really do hope that Keith did not mouth, 'they are going to beat us' lol.  That would be a terrible sign of our PG play going into the game.

Are you kidding? Keith would never think that thought, let alone say it.  All he's thinking about is getting in someone's face on defense. 

Looking at Maryland's schedule, they obviously have some great wins, and are a solid team that will be difficult to beat.  However, they didn't really blow anyone out as flinger29 mentioned, and this was against several teams that are worse than us. Our Missouri loss looks terrible, but that was our second game with a very young team just learning their way together.  I take solace in the below scores:

MD 67 - SC Upstate 57 @ MD
MD 67 - NC Central 56 @ MD
MD 61 - Monmouth 56 @ MD
MD 73 - Rutgers 65 @ MD
MD 60 - Rutgers 50 @ Rutgers
MD 64 - Penn State 58 @ MD
MD 76 - Penn State 73 @ PSU
MD 64 - Nebraska 61 @ Nebraska
MD 69 - Nebraska 65 @ MD

Obviously, the key is that they won each of these games, but it shows that we can play with this team regardless of how good they are, and in NCAA tournament games, anything can happen in close games!!

Quote from: WiscoCrusader on March 15, 2015, 05:52:53 PM
Funny... I was just thinking the same damn thing.  I'm done with this arbitrary process.  What can we do aside from running the table to get a seed 12 or better? 

Play a stronger schedule, not a weak RPI schedule. Don't have bad out of conference losses to teams that you should beat like Missouri and New Mexico. What good wins out of conference did Valpo have other than Murray State? These two things are the reason Valpo is not a 12 seed this year. Even had Valpo beat Missouri and New Mexico, that wouldn't have been anything special in the eyes of the committee. That should have been expected. But to lose to these teams made it extremely difficult for them to argue for a 12 seed.

Quote from: valpopal on March 16, 2015, 01:13:56 AM
Here is another photo I took at the moment of the announcement. In addition to witnessing the excitement of the players, there are quite a few familiar faces among the fans cheering in the background, including a number of forum members.


(http://i59.tinypic.com/34ijlmp.jpg)

You sure that isn't the bowling team?

Quote from: LaPorteAveApostle on March 15, 2015, 08:38:13 PM
Timing could not be worse for me personally--not that that matters to anyone, least of all the good people at Turner Network Television, but...

...actually, it could, because my wife could be in labor at that point (due date is saturday).

Ye gods.

So when do you fly to Columbus?

This is Valpo in the Big Dance! There must be exceptions made.

Quote from: covufan on March 15, 2015, 06:33:28 PM

Quote from: valpo4life on March 15, 2015, 06:31:04 PMWeren't going to get Georgetown due to geography.

Huh?  Isn't Georgetown more west than Maryland?

Best way to get from Georgetown to U of Maryland is a 45 minute taxi ride through the DC area. U of M is in College Park, a DC suburb (not Baltimore) in the northeast part of suburban Washington. College Park is on the Metro (WMATA) Green Line.

Google map showing Georgetown and College Park (http://tinyurl.com/lyurtfr)

No matter what we were gonna be underdogs. I like this matchup, we have shutdown the best guards in the HL, I know Trimble is better than anyone in the HL but EVN should be able to matchup with him. They aren't big at scoring down low and they aren't a 3 point shooting team either but it still is an option.

This is a very winnable game. Although Maryland is ranked top 10, I don't think they are a top 10, like our team they have never played in the NCAAs (we had Vashil who played 1 minute in 13), they seem to be a team that keeps games close thus we should be in the game.

In 2013 we got royally screwed. Michigan St in Auburn Hills was awful. We have a winnable game this season. Do I expect a win? No. I don't expect to beat anybody that's a significantly higher seed, but I do believe that we can certainly knock off the Terrapins.

Good time, good location, and a winnable game. Looking forward to Friday afternoon!

Peters drains a 3 as the clock expires...

Valpo 70
Mary 69

;D

Have tried to have very low expectations for this team all year as we thought this would be the year before the big year. We are ahead of schedule, and this experience reminds me of 1997 and the matchup with Boston College. That confidence in playing a major tough set the stage for the 98 team's year. You have to play the team on the line opposite you and that is all that matters. One at a time.

Maryland poses a good matchup for us. It's a tough team with a couple big time players in Wells/Trimble (who is only a frosh). They have won close games as we have. Neutral court. What we need is to come out and play our game. We need someone to shoot the ball well. So many times our shooters disappear in these games (Barton, ex A vs Maryland and UK, 2013 team). We will have open looks and our offensive sets will find the gaps available. By the way, E Vic has shown he can provide offense.

As to Buffalo-WVA, interesting matchup. Shannon Evans for Buffalo is one of the better frosh PGs I've seen this year. Exceptionally quick and can deliver the dimes. Moss, their PF, played on a bad ankle in the MAC finals and dominated the interior, esp O glass. Reminds me of a bigger, more aggressive Jubril. Plus, they have Bobby "Bartman" Hurley coaching. Huggybear's WVA team is beatable, although don't forget WVA is not that far from Columbus and they travel well. See you in C-Bus.

So I posted earlier about watching Ron Hunter and GaState.  as soon as the game was over, I switched back to the UConn game... and missed the celebration.  In case you missed this, • Georgia State coach Ron Hunter watched the bracket unveiling with his left foot in a cast. He tore his Achilles' tendon while celebrating his program's first trip to the tournament since 2001. The 14th-seeded Panthers open against Baylor.

Anyone remember him breaking his foot at the ARC stomping his foot to get his player's attention?  (I'm trying to remember if he broke it AT the ARC? or in a game before he came to the ARC.   Some of you will remember the incident.

Did anyone go to the opening round game in Detroit 2 years ago? If so, did you get them through Valpo and how much were tickets?

I don't think anyone enjoyed the Selection Sunday party more than Homer Drew, who had a table filled with family members and a grandchild in his arms. Here is the moment when he was standing with Darien Walker and Coach Powell, and he saw Baylor added to the brackets, which meant two plane trips to see his sons coach.


[tweet]577473397363474432[/tweet]

Quote from: bbtds on March 16, 2015, 07:50:35 AM

Quote from: covufan on March 15, 2015, 06:33:28 PM

Quote from: valpo4life on March 15, 2015, 06:31:04 PMWeren't going to get Georgetown due to geography.

Huh?  Isn't Georgetown more west than Maryland?

Best way to get from Georgetown to U of Maryland is a 45 minute taxi ride through the DC area. U of M is in College Park, a DC suburb (not Baltimore) in the northeast part of suburban Washington. College Park is on the Metro (WMATA) Green Line.

Google map showing Georgetown and College Park (http://tinyurl.com/lyurtfr)

Know the area quite well.  Wife is from Bethesda and all of her family still live in the area (quite a number of them VU alums). Middle daughter got her doctorate at GW. That is why I said in another post that while Georgetown may be slightly further West, Maryland is actually a closer drive to Columbus because of the proximity to 495.

Quote from: Just Sayin on March 16, 2015, 06:02:55 AM

Quote from: WiscoCrusader on March 15, 2015, 05:52:53 PM
Funny... I was just thinking the same damn thing.  I'm done with this arbitrary process.  What can we do aside from running the table to get a seed 12 or better? 

Play a stronger schedule, not a weak RPI schedule. Don't have bad out of conference losses to teams that you should beat like Missouri and New Mexico. What good wins out of conference did Valpo have other than Murray State? These two things are the reason Valpo is not a 12 seed this year. Even had Valpo beat Missouri and New Mexico, that wouldn't have been anything special in the eyes of the committee. That should have been expected. But to lose to these teams made it extremely difficult for them to argue for a 12 seed.

Well, our Oakland athletic department troll again.  When you and the rest of your "brain trust" up there figure out how to put together a challenging OOC schedule absent 6 buy games against teams you have zero chance of beating, come back and talk.  In the meantime just some friendly advice from someone who once was a huge supporter of adding Oakland to the HL.   Quit prostituting yourself to fund your athletic budget in exchange for perpetually damaging the RPI's of your fellow conference members.  You have squandered all the good will you had when you joined the league.  Man up and do the right thing.       

Quote from: wh on March 16, 2015, 09:47:28 AM

Quote from: Just Sayin on March 16, 2015, 06:02:55 AM

Quote from: WiscoCrusader on March 15, 2015, 05:52:53 PM
Funny... I was just thinking the same damn thing.  I'm done with this arbitrary process.  What can we do aside from running the table to get a seed 12 or better? 

Play a stronger schedule, not a weak RPI schedule. Don't have bad out of conference losses to teams that you should beat like Missouri and New Mexico. What good wins out of conference did Valpo have other than Murray State? These two things are the reason Valpo is not a 12 seed this year. Even had Valpo beat Missouri and New Mexico, that wouldn't have been anything special in the eyes of the committee. That should have been expected. But to lose to these teams made it extremely difficult for them to argue for a 12 seed.

Well, our Oakland athletic department troll again.  When you and the rest of your "brain trust" up there figure out how to put together a challenging OOC schedule absent 6 buy games against teams you have zero chance of beating, come back and talk.  In the meantime just some friendly advice from someone who once was a huge supporter of adding Oakland to the HL.   Quit prostituting yourself to fund your athletic budget in exchange for perpetually damaging the RPI's of your fellow conference members.  You have squandered all the good will you had when you joined the league.  Man up and do the right thing.       

Yeah, considering Oakland finished below .500 and would have been a 16 seed despite only being a game back in the conference standings...

Valpo would have had a much better RPI had the rest of the league played an easier non-conf schedule. It works every year for the MWC and it worked for the MAC this year. There were TWO HL teams with winning OOC records this year. Buffalo didn't have a good OOC win this year. Outside of a home win against South Dakota St, their next best win was Robert Morris at 171. Their high RPI came from the rest of the conference playing an easy schedule. Wyoming's best OOC win was NM State, a +100 RPI team from the WAC. Replace Oakland's and Detroit's abysmal WL record generated from their buy games and our RPI is in the low 40s, which would make it impossible to seed us at a 13. And with conference members winning OOC, SOS is protected and inflated.

Just ordered tickets from the athletics departments. Driving from DC on Thursday night. Let's go Valpo!!!

Who cares about how Oakland scheduled now? Who cares what happened in the regular season?

We made it to where we want to be. I think this is a better matchup than playing as a 12 against UNI. We are in a terrific location, it isn't a home game for Maryland, fans can drive to the game and a student bus I'm sure will make the 5 hour journey as well. This Maryland team is as inexperienced as we are in the NCAAs. They are somewhat similar offensively to Green Bay, the like to drive into the lane to score, that's the strength of our defense. They don't have a great 5 like MSU did 2 years ago. Yes, there are better matchups, perhaps if Oakland plays a more reasonable schedule we get a better matchup.

We took care of business, we did our part. We have a winnable game in the NCAA tournament. I like the matchup. This team has had a terrific season up to now, and the only place to go is up.

Who gives a crap about Oakland? We have a reasonable chance to do something a Valpo team hasn't done in nearly 20 years. This is arguably the best matchup since 98 with a reasonable path to the Sweet 16 as well.

Go VALPO!!

So I wanted to let this simmer for a little bit before I made a post. And list form might be the best way to do this...

• I'm really ticked about Wyoming over us, even if it is for geography. Not that I'd prefer to play UNI, but it still stings.
• How does Colorado St. not make the tourney. UCLA is a joke of a team and I hope they lose by 30.
• The Indiana Bracket? The round of 32 is going to have 8 teams who are located in the Midwest or play in a conference HQ'd in the Midwest. Who were the ad wizards who came up with that one?
• We could have done a lot worse than Maryland. Sure I'd prefer Arkansas or West Virginia, but Utah and UNI are a big PASS and all the other 4 seeds? It's a who's who or coach with GT3, Pitino and Williams. That's too many final 4 appearances.

I'll break down the actual game in that thread, but suffice to say, this is a ton better than a Michigan State team that looked primed for a final 4 run and we were just a stepping stone.

Originally pretty disappointed with the 13 seed versus Maryland. It seems pretty obvious that the selection committee puts aside things like RPI for their "eye test" which is the veiled term for SOS. Andy Katz asked selection committee chair Scott Barnes by what measure UCLA and Indiana made the field and he used the "eye test". This tweet and the replies say it all. [tweet]577267227281461248[/tweet]

After settling down and really thinking about this match up a little, it appears that this may not be a terrible draw for us.  Maryland is a guard oriented team and we have been saying for years that the HL is a guard oriented league and we have been pretty good at defending the guard position. I think we can hold our own at the 3,4 and 5 positions. My main concern is that Tremble and Wells are going to drive and get to the line a bunch.  Tremble has lived at the line and can knock them down at a Felder like pace.  I fear they will get all of the calls and the foul discrepancy will be huge.  If the major conference bias does not raise its ugly head, then this game could be close.

This interview is also interesting.
[tweet]577476044644548608[/tweet]

Tickets were $50 when I first called and then increased to $100 when I called back. Weird. Got on some list for 5 tickets and they'll call back when they can confirm availability.

Quote from: Kyle321n on March 16, 2015, 10:31:18 AM
So I wanted to let this simmer for a little bit before I made a post. And list form might be the best way to do this...

• I'm really ticked about Wyoming over us, even if it is for geography. Not that I'd prefer to play UNI, but it still stings.
• How does Colorado St. not make the tourney. UCLA is a joke of a team and I hope they lose by 30.
• The Indiana Bracket? The round of 32 is going to have 8 teams who are located in the Midwest or play in a conference HQ'd in the Midwest. Who were the ad wizards who came up with that one?
• We could have done a lot worse than Maryland. Sure I'd prefer Arkansas or West Virginia, but Utah and UNI are a big PASS and all the other 4 seeds? It's a who's who or coach with GT3, Pitino and Williams. That's too many final 4 appearances.

I'll break down the actual game in that thread, but suffice to say, this is a ton better than a Michigan State team that looked primed for a final 4 run and we were just a stepping stone.

• I agree, really ticks me off after all the emphasis on RPI that we are 22 points better than them and we are 4 slots lower on the seed list?? I guess everyone loves Larry Nance Jr. because they say that in every interview.
• Everyone of the final four out are 10 times more deserving than UCLA!!!! If they are using the "eye test" then Mr. Magoo must be on the selection committee.
• CRAZY, add to that list Dayton playing a home game.
• Yes it is great that we are playing in Columbus and the Maryland draw appears to be decent as far as the match ups.  Make no mistake, I would rather play a team for which the name and tradition will not possibly create some bias.

Saw this article about Valpo in the News Setinel from Fort Wayne and one paragraph really stood out to me about the program and how strong it has been for the past 20 or so seasons:

QuoteAnd he wouldn't mind ruining a few more brackets this year, either, when the Crusaders play Maryland on Friday (4:40 p.m.) at Columbus, Ohio. While many of those mid-major powers have held on for a two- or three-year run and then disappeared (hello George Mason, Princeton and Florida Gulf Coast), Valpo is still around and still dangerous.

We may not be very successful in the tournament, the fact that we are able to consistently get there says something about the program. Not many programs can say they've been to the tournament 9 times in the past 20 seasons, let alone a small mid-major program like Valpo.

Quote from: classof2014 on March 16, 2015, 11:50:38 AM
Saw this article about Valpo in the News Setinel from Fort Wayne and one paragraph really stood out to me about the program and how strong it has been for the past 20 or so seasons:

QuoteAnd he wouldn't mind ruining a few more brackets this year, either, when the Crusaders play Maryland on Friday (4:40 p.m.) at Columbus, Ohio. While many of those mid-major powers have held on for a two- or three-year run and then disappeared (hello George Mason, Princeton and Florida Gulf Coast), Valpo is still around and still dangerous.

We may not be very successful in the tournament, the fact that we are able to consistently get there says something about the program. Not many programs can say they've been to the tournament 9 times in the past 20 seasons, let alone a small mid-major program like Valpo.

Wow, a Fort Wayne paper actually had something about Valpo... I'll have to check that out.

Quote from: FWalum on March 16, 2015, 11:53:39 AM
Wow, a Fort Wayne paper actually had something about Valpo... I'll have to check that out.

I'll bet it wasn't Ben Smith.

Or Tom Davis

Or Tom Davis, for sure.

Or Tom Davis for sure.

Quote from: valpo64 on March 16, 2015, 12:52:30 PM
Or Tom Davis, for sure.

Quote from: valpo64 on March 16, 2015, 12:53:38 PM
Or Tom Davis for sure.

You can say that a third time.

Quote from: valpo64 on March 16, 2015, 12:48:50 PM
Or Tom Davis

Quote from: valpo64 on March 16, 2015, 12:52:30 PM
Or Tom Davis, for sure.

Quote from: valpo64 on March 16, 2015, 12:53:38 PM
Or Tom Davis for sure.

Quote from: bbtds on March 16, 2015, 03:55:04 PMYou can say that a third time.

he did.  at least he phrased it differently each time.

Quote from: LaPorteAveApostle on March 16, 2015, 04:07:07 PM

Quote from: valpo64 on March 16, 2015, 12:48:50 PM
Or Tom Davis

Quote from: valpo64 on March 16, 2015, 12:52:30 PM
Or Tom Davis, for sure.

Quote from: valpo64 on March 16, 2015, 12:53:38 PM
Or Tom Davis for sure.

Quote from: bbtds on March 16, 2015, 03:55:04 PMYou can say that a third time.

he did.  at least he phrased it differently each time.

But was that a Tom Davis-for sure, for sure?

Quote from: FWalum on March 16, 2015, 10:35:03 AMOriginally pretty disappointed with the 13 seed versus Maryland. It seems pretty obvious that the selection committee puts aside things like RPI for their "eye test" which is the veiled term for SOS. Andy Katz asked selection committee chair Scott Barnes by what measure UCLA and Indiana made the field and he used the "eye test". This tweet and the replies say it all. [tweet]577267227281461248[/tweet] After settling down and really thinking about this match up a little, it appears that this may not be a terrible draw for us.  Maryland is a guard oriented team and we have been saying for years that the HL is a guard oriented league and we have been pretty good at defending the guard position. I think we can hold our own at the 3,4 and 5 positions. My main concern is that Tremble and Wells are going to drive and get to the line a bunch.  Tremble has lived at the line and can knock them down at a Felder like pace.  I fear they will get all of the calls and the foul discrepancy will be huge.  If the major conference bias does not raise its ugly head, then this game could be close. This interview is also interesting. [tweet]577476044644548608[/tweet]

Here is Scott Barnes's optometrist's  eye chart:


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