Are there any insights into the 2012-2013 basketball schedule? Here are pieces of information that I remember or have heard:
-Road game at Missouri State
-Home game against Loyola Maymount? (not sure if the return game is this year or next)
-Home games against IPFW and IUPUI (I think they are home and home deals and both were on the road last year)
-Oakland on the road (I thought that they were alternating this every year)
-Nebraska (per other post - I assume on the road)
-Northern Illinois at home (return from playing their last season)
(Obviously would love to see a November or December game in Lawrence)
they may hold the loyola-marymount return game until next year for another home opponent, seeing as we're due to be a home team this coming season for bracketbuster. though it looks like we could probably use another decent home game, as ipfw and iupui aren't really 'quality' games.
Based on the above, including the Loyola Marymount game and a bracketbuster, plus conference games (18), you are at 26 games. Without an exempt tourney and if you throw in one non-D1 opponent for tune-up purposes (non-exhibition) around Christmas time, we're pretty close to maximum number of games.
I hope that there is more for three reasons:
1. That would not be a great home non-conference schedule.
2. How many losses (total) could they afford and be able to make the NCAA tournament without winning the conference tourney? It would seem to be a pretty small number (4 or 5 would seem to be the maximum).
3. The team would generate no national interest until at least January. Say what you want, but playing (fairly well) on national TV against Arizona in November and then on BTN in December against highly ranked OSU at least developed a little interest.
Quote from: vu84v2 on May 23, 2012, 11:30:41 AM
I hope that there is more for three reasons:
1. That would not be a great home non-conference schedule.
2. How many losses (total) could they afford and be able to make the NCAA tournament without winning the conference tourney? It would seem to be a pretty small number (4 or 5 would seem to be the maximum).
3. The team would generate no national interest until at least January. Say what you want, but playing (fairly well) on national TV against Arizona in November and then on BTN in December against highly ranked OSU at least developed a little interest.
1. I agree.
2. Not many. Not much in the way of at large contenders on that schedule, and not much in the way of names to draw outside interest. There's nothing on that schedule to draw outsiders in.
3. Beating Nebraska will be nice if that game happens. Always nice to beat a BCS school.
I would like to see more home-and-homes with teams from MAC, Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley conferences, especially those that have had RPI's in the 80-150 range the last year or two.
Valpo 2012-2013 basketball schedule info per ESPN:
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/59690/3-point-shot-uconn-watching-smith-case (http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/59690/3-point-shot-uconn-watching-smith-case)
Looks like the Crusader's are trying for another strong schedule this coming season. Too bad at this point the better non-conference games seem like they will all be away. Interesting to see away games are scheduled with Nebraska, Missouri State (bracketbuster return game), and Kent State, and are trying also to get away games with New Mexico and Kansas. Do we play Oakland again this season, if so I would guess away as well?
Other than return games with IPFW and Northern Illinois, any ideas as to who we might play at home outside the HL? Loyola Marymount owes us a bracketbuster return game, perhaps that game will be scheduled for next season, but, it also could be delayed until 2013-14 season. Would be nice to see maybe an MVC team or two come to play us at Valpo next season. I'm sure with Butler leaving the HL that scheduling got more difficult for next season, as all 9 remaining HL schools are looking to now add two additional non-conference games.
Quote from: vufan75 on June 01, 2012, 12:29:13 PMDo we play Oakland again this season, if so I would guess away as well?
Yep, at their place. Don't know when, but it'll be there.
If LMU gets to make the determination of when they play the return game from BracketBusters, they would heavily push for 2013-2014 with the squad we have coming back...
Quote from: vufan75 on June 01, 2012, 12:29:13 PM
Valpo 2012-2013 basketball schedule info per ESPN:
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/59690/3-point-shot-uconn-watching-smith-case (http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/59690/3-point-shot-uconn-watching-smith-case)
Looks like the Crusader's are trying for another strong schedule this coming season. Too bad at this point the better non-conference games seem like they will all be away. Interesting to see away games are scheduled with Nebraska, Missouri State (bracketbuster return game), and Kent State, and are trying also to get away games with New Mexico and Kansas. Do we play Oakland again this season, if so I would guess away as well?
Other than return games with IPFW and Northern Illinois, any ideas as to who we might play at home outside the HL? Loyola Marymount owes us a bracketbuster return game, perhaps that game will be scheduled for next season, but, it also could be delayed until 2013-14 season. Would be nice to see maybe an MVC team or two come to play us at Valpo next season. I'm sure with Butler leaving the HL that scheduling got more difficult for next season, as all 9 remaining HL schools are looking to now add two additional non-conference games.
Looks good for Valpo's schedule, and to be mentioned on ESPN's site in the summer months.
Here's an interesting article on scheduling, with a lot of focus on strategy for teams with at-large hopes. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7989508/a-guide-scheduling-nonconference-season-ensure-reaching-ncaa-tournament-college-basketball (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7989508/a-guide-scheduling-nonconference-season-ensure-reaching-ncaa-tournament-college-basketball)
If Valpo really is a top-25 team, it would seem they'd love the opportunity to replace the two Butler games with a pair of top-50 type schools who could bolster their schedule and improve their at-large resume. Even if it doesn't work out, the fall back plan of winning the HL tourney shouldn't be that difficult.
I would really like to see us play a yearly alternating site series with the Illinois State Rebirds. ISU is in the MVC, nearly beat Creighton in the Arch Madness Championship, beat Ole Miss on the road in the NIT first round, and have great talent like Warsaw product Nic Moore. I really would have liked to see Moore in a VU jersey though. Another two series that VU should get on the schedule are A-10 teams Saint Louis and Temple. Both have made the NCAA tournament recently and would really make VU better. We never play many A-10 or MVC teans(besides playing Missouri St.), which I think we should try to get some games with those conference teams on our schedule.
Let's give the athletic department a little credit: I'm confident they'd love to have home-and-home series with teams such as St. Louis, Illinois State, Drake, Bradley, etc. and am equally confident they've tried to get them, but it takes two parties to make an agreement. If we can become a consistent top 50 team (and I'm not among those ready to expect top 25 anytime soon) this may become easier, but we still face the issues of a smaller university in a small community when schools are looking for marquee opponents and sites/cities that will help in recruiting. Until then, the Bracketbuster and a conference challenge such as the Big 10/ACC challenge that has been discussed here are probably our best shots. We've also learned that BCS type schools can sign a two-year contract and then buy their way out of it when it comes time to return a game.
Quote from: sliman on June 01, 2012, 04:03:20 PM
Let's give the athletic department a little credit: I'm confident they'd love to have home-and-home series with teams such as St. Louis, Illinois State, Drake, Bradley, etc. and am equally confident they've tried to get them, but it takes two parties to make an agreement. If we can become a consistent top 50 team (and I'm not among those ready to expect top 25 anytime soon) this may become easier, but we still face the issues of a smaller university in a small community when schools are looking for marquee opponents and sites/cities that will help in recruiting. Until then, the Bracketbuster and a conference challenge such as the Big 10/ACC challenge that has been discussed here are probably our best shots. We've also learned that BCS type schools can sign a two-year contract and then buy their way out of it when it comes time to return a game.
I agree. It is tough for the head coach and the athletic department to get most teams to agree to a home-and-home series. I would also like to see Illinois State, Drake, Bradley and some OVC and MAC teams as well.
Remember now that Butler is off the schedule for next year don't we have 2 openings on the schedule? Quite awhile ago I thought I remember hearing that we may play IU in the 2012-13 schedule. Does anyone else remember anything about that or was it my wishful thinking over as few glasses of a good cabernet? With Indiana's expected pre-season #1 ranking, what a great addition that game would be.
Quote from: valpo64 on June 01, 2012, 05:32:13 PM
Remember now that Butler is off the schedule for next year don't we have 2 openings on the schedule? Quite awhile ago I thought I remember hearing that we may play IU in the 2012-13 schedule. Does anyone else remember anything about that or was it my wishful thinking over as few glasses of a good cabernet? With Indiana's expected pre-season #1 ranking, what a great addition that game would be.
personally, i'd rather replace two potentially winnable games with other potentially winnable games, not blowouts. i'm not entirely against playing high-profile teams, both for monetary and improvement reasons. but why schedule an ass-kicking as a replacement for a game that we could win? doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Quote from: valpo64 on June 01, 2012, 05:32:13 PM
Remember now that Butler is off the schedule for next year don't we have 2 openings on the schedule? Quite awhile ago I thought I remember hearing that we may play IU in the 2012-13 schedule. Does anyone else remember anything about that or was it my wishful thinking over as few glasses of a good cabernet? With Indiana's expected pre-season #1 ranking, what a great addition that game would be.
We will be very good, but not THAT good. I'd rather wait a year when we will be almost as good and they will lose a few to the NBA.
Quote from: vuweathernerd on June 01, 2012, 05:43:29 PM
Quote from: valpo64 on June 01, 2012, 05:32:13 PM
Remember now that Butler is off the schedule for next year don't we have 2 openings on the schedule? Quite awhile ago I thought I remember hearing that we may play IU in the 2012-13 schedule. Does anyone else remember anything about that or was it my wishful thinking over as few glasses of a good cabernet? With Indiana's expected pre-season #1 ranking, what a great addition that game would be.
personally, i'd rather replace two potentially winnable games with other potentially winnable games, not blowouts. i'm not entirely against playing high-profile teams, both for monetary and improvement reasons. but why schedule an ass-kicking as a replacement for a game that we could win? doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
As posted above, I agree that Indiana isn't a good selection. Nonetheless, I think 'nerds post calls the forefront one of the big differences between us and Butler. Butler fans want to play big time opponents and we think of them as "ass-kickings". Look, I think Indiana will be totally loaded and will beat everybody. It is Butler's style of play that keeps them in games with over matched opponents, not talent. They grind it out, keep the defensive pressure on and hope. Last year we beat them 3 times and they beat Purdue. Would we view a Purdue matchup as a potential win, or another "ass-kicking"?? Not picking on nerd, just sayin...
Quote from: vu72 on June 01, 2012, 05:53:25 PM
Quote from: vuweathernerd on June 01, 2012, 05:43:29 PM
Quote from: valpo64 on June 01, 2012, 05:32:13 PM
Remember now that Butler is off the schedule for next year don't we have 2 openings on the schedule? Quite awhile ago I thought I remember hearing that we may play IU in the 2012-13 schedule. Does anyone else remember anything about that or was it my wishful thinking over as few glasses of a good cabernet? With Indiana's expected pre-season #1 ranking, what a great addition that game would be.
personally, i'd rather replace two potentially winnable games with other potentially winnable games, not blowouts. i'm not entirely against playing high-profile teams, both for monetary and improvement reasons. but why schedule an ass-kicking as a replacement for a game that we could win? doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
As posted above, I agree that Indiana isn't a good selection. Nonetheless, I think 'nerds post calls the forefront one of the big differences between us and Butler. Butler fans want to play big time opponents and we think of them as "ass-kickings". Look, I think Indiana will be totally loaded and will beat everybody. It is Butler's style of play that keeps them in games with over matched opponents, not talent. They grind it out, keep the defensive pressure on and hope. Last year we beat them 3 times and they beat Purdue. Would we view a Purdue matchup as a potential win, or another "ass-kicking"?? Not picking on nerd, just sayin...
Well 72, I like to think we have reason to raise our level of optimism with this team that is coming in next year. As the favorites to win the HL and probably make the NCAA tournament, I have more confidence in us now than before to get a win against somebody like Purdue, or Arizona, Miami, Kansas State, etc. But guys like IU, Ohio State, Duke, Kansas, UNC, etc., those are still games I don't expect to win. Just being honest about it.
By the way, in no way am I trying to insinuate that 72 is not an optimist, because the opposite is true! haha.
I have no idea if Kansas is interested in hosting Valparaiso since they were here two years ago, but the word is that Kansas has struggled to put together a good home non-conference schedule. The best teams want to play neutral site games and not home and home series over two years - so right now their only announced home games are against Colorado and Temple. Valpo is certainly not the top team that Kansas wants at home, but it is better than getting a Towson St. or UMKC. Given that and at least one player on the roster at KU from Chicago (Jabari Traylor), there could be some minimal shot at getting a 2 for 1 deal with playing one game in Chicago. It is probably just wishful thinking - but I would love to see it.
Obviously I am enthusiastic about our team next year. We will be as loaded as any mid-major. My point is that we need to schedule teams from major conferences that we can beat, not make us look like another patsy. Indiana falls into that category while Penn State or Nebraska do not. Let's get some quality wins before we win the Hroizon, then we can talk about seeding like they do on the Butler board.
Quote from: vu72 on June 02, 2012, 11:03:07 PM
Obviously I am enthusiastic about our team next year. We will be as loaded as any mid-major. My point is that we need to schedule teams from major conferences that we can beat, not make us look like another patsy. Indiana falls into that category while Penn State or Nebraska do not. Let's get some quality wins before we win the Hroizon, then we can talk about seeding like they do on the Butler board.
I can understand that....I just think we should be careful to not schedule too many of those. It's nice to give ourselves an opportunity for a big win. But anything beyond 2 or 3, and then I think it begins to hurt you because I don't believe a loss to a high-major is as good as a win against a mid-major.
Quote from: DMvalpo18 on June 03, 2012, 08:20:32 PM
Quote from: vu72 on June 02, 2012, 11:03:07 PM
Obviously I am enthusiastic about our team next year. We will be as loaded as any mid-major. My point is that we need to schedule teams from major conferences that we can beat, not make us look like another patsy. Indiana falls into that category while Penn State or Nebraska do not. Let's get some quality wins before we win the Hroizon, then we can talk about seeding like they do on the Butler board.
I can understand that....I just think we should be careful to not schedule too many of those. It's nice to give ourselves an opportunity for a big win. But anything beyond 2 or 3, and then I think it begins to hurt you because I don't believe a loss to a high-major is as good as a win against a mid-major.
While I agree with the theory, you leave yourself little margin for error this way. Unless by "mid major" you are thinking about Gonzaga or Butler, the Mid Major's just don't carry the same prestige that beating a BCS team does. Beating Oakland is nice, and their RPI might be higher than let's say Nebraska, but beating a Big 10 opponent has more overall value.
If you're going to schedule this way, then the at large berth is out the window. Rememeber they were talking about Cleveland State at 20-4 as a bubble team for the NCAA's. If you chose to go that route, you're gambling a whole season on 2 Horizon League tournament games. We saw how that worked last year.
Quote from: milanmiracle on June 05, 2012, 02:23:29 PM
Quote from: DMvalpo18 on June 03, 2012, 08:20:32 PM
Quote from: vu72 on June 02, 2012, 11:03:07 PM
Obviously I am enthusiastic about our team next year. We will be as loaded as any mid-major. My point is that we need to schedule teams from major conferences that we can beat, not make us look like another patsy. Indiana falls into that category while Penn State or Nebraska do not. Let's get some quality wins before we win the Hroizon, then we can talk about seeding like they do on the Butler board.
I can understand that....I just think we should be careful to not schedule too many of those. It's nice to give ourselves an opportunity for a big win. But anything beyond 2 or 3, and then I think it begins to hurt you because I don't believe a loss to a high-major is as good as a win against a mid-major.
While I agree with the theory, you leave yourself little margin for error this way. Unless by "mid major" you are thinking about Gonzaga or Butler, the Mid Major's just don't carry the same prestige that beating a BCS team does. Beating Oakland is nice, and their RPI might be higher than let's say Nebraska, but beating a Big 10 opponent has more overall value.
If you're going to schedule this way, then the at large birth is out the window. Rememeber they were talking about Cleveland State at 20-4 as a bubble team for the NCAA's. If you chose to go that route, you're gambling a whole season on 2 Horizon League tournament games. We saw how that worked last year.
While this is true, when was the last time we were in a position to schedule big BCS schools regularly and actually have a chance to gain an at-large berth? I mean, don't we always have to "gamble" every year on the HL tournament? Only now (it's been a while) are we good enough to start considering trying to set up a schedule that might be good enough for an at-large.
I understand Valpo's game at Nebraska will be part of an exempt tournament.
Quote from: DMvalpo18 on June 05, 2012, 07:28:36 PM
Quote from: milanmiracle on June 05, 2012, 02:23:29 PM
Quote from: DMvalpo18 on June 03, 2012, 08:20:32 PM
Quote from: vu72 on June 02, 2012, 11:03:07 PM
Obviously I am enthusiastic about our team next year. We will be as loaded as any mid-major. My point is that we need to schedule teams from major conferences that we can beat, not make us look like another patsy. Indiana falls into that category while Penn State or Nebraska do not. Let's get some quality wins before we win the Hroizon, then we can talk about seeding like they do on the Butler board.
I can understand that....I just think we should be careful to not schedule too many of those. It's nice to give ourselves an opportunity for a big win. But anything beyond 2 or 3, and then I think it begins to hurt you because I don't believe a loss to a high-major is as good as a win against a mid-major.
While I agree with the theory, you leave yourself little margin for error this way. Unless by "mid major" you are thinking about Gonzaga or Butler, the Mid Major's just don't carry the same prestige that beating a BCS team does. Beating Oakland is nice, and their RPI might be higher than let's say Nebraska, but beating a Big 10 opponent has more overall value.
If you're going to schedule this way, then the at large birth is out the window. Rememeber they were talking about Cleveland State at 20-4 as a bubble team for the NCAA's. If you chose to go that route, you're gambling a whole season on 2 Horizon League tournament games. We saw how that worked last year.
While this is true, when was the last time we were in a position to schedule big BCS schools regularly and actually have a chance to gain an at-large berth? I mean, don't we always have to "gamble" every year on the HL tournament? Only now (it's been a while) are we good enough to start considering trying to set up a schedule that might be good enough for an at-large.
I'll leave it at this...I think they should schedule to get an at large birth every year, however unlikely. If not scheduling this way, you're telling your team they aren't good enough for the NCAA's. Then you have to ask the question, why are they scheduling Duke, North Carolina and Ohio State?
I agree with MilanMiracle that scheduling every year should be with the intent of making the NCAAs via an at large birth. Even if the team is not in position to make it as an at-large, a strong schedule that is played well (for the most part) is going to yield a better seed in the tournament. Beyond that, MilanMiracle's points about sending the right message to the team are right on target.
Quote from: valpopal on June 05, 2012, 09:48:26 PM
I understand Valpo's game at Nebraska will be part of an exempt tournament.
A little bit of info as to some other teams participating in the Nebraska exempt tournament. Scroll down to find the info shown.
http://www.bloggingthebracket.com/pages/2012-college-basketball-early-season-tournaments-and-events (http://www.bloggingthebracket.com/pages/2012-college-basketball-early-season-tournaments-and-events)
If those are correct, that is a very winnable tournament for us: Tulane, Nebraska, Nebraska-Omaha, Kent State, and us
Quote from: valpotx on June 06, 2012, 12:56:36 PM
If those are correct, that is a very winnable tournament for us: Tulane, Nebraska, Nebraska-Omaha, Kent State, and us
I agree. Winning a tournament like this should be some kind of resumé builder as well.
That can't be it, can it? A tourney with 5 teams? (not 4, 6, 8 etc.?)
Trust me, Mrs. Bryce is rooting for an at large berth, not an at large birth--just like my wife currently is...
Quote from: LaPorteAveApostle on June 06, 2012, 03:00:50 PM
That can't be it, can it? A tourney with 5 teams? (not 4, 6, 8 etc.?)
The link lists this as a "round robin" event, so my guess is that each team will play the other 4 teams. By playing 4 games in this "exempt tournament", Valpo will be able to play an extra two games. (The limit is 29 regular season games or 27 plus an exempt tournament.)
The wording also makes it sound like all the games involving Nebraska will be played there. The games not involving Nebraska will likely be at another site ... either as individual games worked out between the participants or it could be 3 days of doubleheader games at a central location, like when Valpo hosted the 2K Sports Classic games last year.
If that's the case, it gets Valpo a road game against a beatable BCS team (Nebraska was 150+ RPI), a good matchup with Kent State (106 RPI) and two wins against Tulane and Neb-Omaha.
Quote from: LaPorteAveApostle on June 06, 2012, 03:00:50 PM
That can't be it, can it? A tourney with 5 teams? (not 4, 6, 8 etc.?)
Trust me, Mrs. Bryce is rooting for an at large berth, not an at large birth--just like my wife currently is...
Ouch! What really hurts is there will be another Apostle running around!!! :o
Just kidding of course. Congrats, Apostle!
Quote from: DMvalpo18 on June 06, 2012, 01:14:50 PM
Quote from: valpotx on June 06, 2012, 12:56:36 PM
If those are correct, that is a very winnable tournament for us: Tulane, Nebraska, Nebraska-Omaha, Kent State, and us
I agree. Winning a tournament like this should be some kind of resumé builder as well.
i'm with you guys as well. the only problem is that we've only beaten what, one bcs school since our run in 98? which was washington in the cbi in 08. or did i miss something in the early 2000s between periods of paying attention in the late 90s and when i started seriously considering going to school at vu?
Lubos Barton's team beat Ohio State in Alaska in 2000, I believe, and Barton's first game was a win over South Carolina, I believe.
We beat Seton Hall the day before or after South Carolina.
Ohio State was 2000-2001, my SO year. Antti Nikkila lit up OSU for around 20 pts, I believe
All three of those, plus Washington several years ago have been BCS wins since 1998 tourney.
Barton's first game was the win against South Carolina and his second game was the win against Seton Hall. Both were in the RCA dome.
thanks for filling me in, guys!
I seem to remember Valpo beating Penn State and West Virginia. Both games were blowouts, and both in Arizona. I believe 4 years apart.
Yes, I remember PSU and WVU as well. I think WVU was in the Fiesta Bowl Classic, where we barely lost to AZ as well
Quote from: zvillehaze on June 06, 2012, 04:13:47 PM
Quote from: LaPorteAveApostle on June 06, 2012, 03:00:50 PM
That can't be it, can it? A tourney with 5 teams? (not 4, 6, 8 etc.?)
The link lists this as a "round robin" event, so my guess is that each team will play the other 4 teams. By playing 4 games in this "exempt tournament", Valpo will be able to play an extra two games. (The limit is 29 regular season games or 27 plus an exempt tournament.)
The wording also makes it sound like all the games involving Nebraska will be played there. The games not involving Nebraska will likely be at another site ... either as individual games worked out between the participants or it could be 3 days of doubleheader games at a central location, like when Valpo hosted the 2K Sports Classic games last year.
If that's the case, it gets Valpo a road game against a beatable BCS team (Nebraska was 150+ RPI), a good matchup with Kent State (106 RPI) and two wins against Tulane and Neb-Omaha.
Here is some more info to help piece this together: "The [University of Nebraska-Omaha] Mavs will participate in a two-week tournament, traveling to Tulane (Nov. 16) and in-state foe Nebraska (Nov. 18) before facing Bethune-Cookman (Nov. 23) and either Chicago State or Valparaiso (Nov. 24) in Valparaiso, Ind."
UNO lists their schedule for the tournament:
Nov. 16 at Tulane TBD New Orleans, La.
Nov. 18 at Nebraska TBD Lincoln, Neb.
Nov. 23 vs. Bethune-Cookman TBD Valparaiso, Ind.
Nov. 24 vs. Valparaiso or Chicago State TBD Valparaiso, Ind.
http://www.omaha.com/article/20120709/MAVS/705059883/1707 (http://www.omaha.com/article/20120709/MAVS/705059883/1707)
So this means that on at least the dates of Nov. 23 & 24 Valpo is hosting a tournament with Bethune-Cookman, Chicago State and Nebraska-Omaha?
Can we hope for any other teams at this Thanksgiving weekend tournament?
More scheduling news should be up on Valpoathletics.com tomorrow, Wednesday.
If those are the teams in it, we should win them all by a good margin...those are some poor teams coming to Valpo
So we would play Chicago State for a chance to play a middle of the pack Bethune-Cookman. That isn't much incentive for me to drive to the ARC (and I live close) unless I want to see Coleman, Kurth and Fernandez in starting roles aong with who, maybe a couple of walk-ons?
I have no problem with playing teams of lower caliber as long as they are taking the place of terrible pointless non D-1 games.
I wouldn't say that all of our starters will see significant time conservation during this tournament. Ryan, Kevin, Kenney, and the like might still start, but I don't see them playing 20+ minutes in each game individually. Might see a lot of bench time, but it won't be like the Holy Cross (IN) game when the starters maybe played 5 minutes, and then sat the rest of the day.
Quote from: valporun on July 10, 2012, 07:23:24 PMMight see a lot of bench time, but it won't be like the Holy Cross (IN) game when the starters maybe played 5 minutes, and then sat the rest of the day.
I will agree that the Holy Cross and IU-Kokomo games of last year will be hard to top (or maybe bottom), but with this years talent I can't say that having Chicago State coming to town is anything but a letdown. I guess I can catch a good high school game that night.
Quote from: justducky on July 10, 2012, 10:35:01 PM
Quote from: valporun on July 10, 2012, 07:23:24 PMMight see a lot of bench time, but it won't be like the Holy Cross (IN) game when the starters maybe played 5 minutes, and then sat the rest of the day.
I will agree that the Holy Cross and IU-Kokomo games of last year will be hard to top (or maybe bottom), but with this years talent I can't say that having Chicago State coming to town is anything but a letdown. I guess I can catch a good high school game that night.
And alas, blackpanther, you see why the ARC is not filled every game. Maybe it's a matter of scheduling.
Given our collapse at the end of last season, the idea of some of our starters being able to rest a little bit at the beginning of the season could have some advantages.
Valpo plays against NIU in the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon!
http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2012-13/11878/crusaders-hosting-game-as-part-of-espn-college-hoops-tip-off-marathon/ (http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2012-13/11878/crusaders-hosting-game-as-part-of-espn-college-hoops-tip-off-marathon/)
I know it is strange playing at 7:00 AM, but overall these gimmicks ESPN has are pretty good promotions for programs. Nice creative move in what may otherwise be a very unexciting nonconference home schedule.
Possibility of adding a road game at Murray State this season? Would be a fantastic game to get on our schedule.
http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/sports/blog/711-Bidwells-Blog-Murray-State-schedule-update-162073005.html?blog=y (http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/sports/blog/711-Bidwells-Blog-Murray-State-schedule-update-162073005.html?blog=y)
Their schedule looks pretty weak to me. Dayton? That's the premier game so far. I would love to have a home and home with the Racers. It might bode well for adding them to the Horizon which would be a big step up from the Ohio Valley.
A game at Murray State would be a great matchup. The only downside would be that it eliminates the possibility of a Valpo-MSU matchup in the BracketBusters.
Quote from: EddieCabot on July 11, 2012, 09:36:35 PM
A game at Murray State would be a great matchup. The only downside would be that it eliminates the possibility of a Valpo-MSU matchup in the BracketBusters.
The story also mentions Murray State is working on scheduling a game with an NAIA opponent.
Prohm expects Bethel to be one of the NAIA games, but we don't know yet which NAIA slot Bethel will fill.You have to wonder if Homer Drew turned the Racers on to Bethel, one of Homer's former schools, in Mishawaka.
Quote from: bbtds on July 11, 2012, 11:41:47 PMThe story also mentions Murray State is working on scheduling a game with an NAIA opponent.
Prohm expects Bethel to be one of the NAIA games, but we don't know yet which NAIA slot Bethel will fill.
You have to wonder if Homer Drew turned the Racers on to Bethel, one of Homer's former schools, in Mishawaka.
There is a Bethel located in western Tenn. I would bet that is the one being mentioned.
Most likely you are correct, Indy. That would be Bethel University in McKenzie, TN, 40 miles southwest of Murray, KY. They are in the NAIA's TranSouth Conference along with Blue Mountain College of Blue Mountain, MS, Freed-Hardeman University of Henderson, TN, Martin Methodist College of Pulaski, TN and Mid-Continent University of Mayfield, KY. It's currently only a five school conference. It's not Bethel College of Mishawaka, IN, who just happens to be an NAIA school also. I can see where it would be confusing though.
Here, FYI, is a link to recent Paul Oren thoughts on the upcoming schedule. He presents them as "What we know," "What we think we know," and "What I'd like to see."
http://www.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/valparaiso-university/notes-on-valparaiso-men-s-basketball---schedule/article_0e28824a-caa4-11e1-b1a1-0019bb2963f4.html (http://www.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/valparaiso-university/notes-on-valparaiso-men-s-basketball---schedule/article_0e28824a-caa4-11e1-b1a1-0019bb2963f4.html)
Interesting that Oren mentions Penn State. I know the basketball program was not part of the problem but I just would rather not have them on the schedule.
Me too. The FB coverup scandal infested the entire university and, unfortunately, the innocent will be judged by association with an athletic and university administration that demonstrated a total lack of integrity. :(
Paul Oren makes no mention--in fact seems to exclude--the idea of a "Nebraska Tournament" that was mentioned earlier (and I doubted). The link is still up, but its source is now removed.
If there were anything to it, he'd have mentioned it for one, but for strikes 2 and 3, we would not be bringing the same UNO team here just to potentially play them again.
Don't get me wrong--I'm not happy about being right because the difference in the quality of opponents is staggering. :/
Quote from: LaPorteAveApostle on July 16, 2012, 12:34:21 PM
Paul Oren makes no mention--in fact seems to exclude--the idea of a "Nebraska Tournament" that was mentioned earlier (and I doubted). The link is still up, but its source is now removed.
If there were anything to it, he'd have mentioned it for one, but for strikes 2 and 3, we would not be bringing the same UNO team here just to potentially play them again.
Don't get me wrong--I'm not happy about being right because the difference in the quality of opponents is staggering. :/
Huh? The second bullet under What We Know:
* The Crusaders will host a two-day Thanksgiving tournament on Nov. 23 and 24 that will feature Nebraska-Omaha, Bethune-Cookman and Chicago State. Valparaiso will play Chicago State on Nov. 23 and then play presumably the winner of UNO and Bethune-Cookman on the 24th. This is per a release on UNO's website.
The University of Nebraska has yet to release its schedule, but it's expected that this "tournament" will give the Crusaders a game at Nebraska earlier in the year, similar to playing Kansas last season.
Yes, but originally this tournament was described as, and so thought to have been, a round-robin, and a chance to play Kent State, Tulane, etc., and everyone was talking about "a winnable tournament", what a great "resume builder", and now we're playing these guys with a chance (?) to play Nebraska(-Lincoln)? Quite the let-down.
I assumed that Paul was talking about a chance to play Nebraska-Lincoln. I don't remember the Kansas deal, but surely Nebraska-Omaha's not similar to Kansas.
Somehow a game at the real Nebraska as part of the "tournament" and then hosting these lesser teams?
That would be a start. But to go from Neb-Lincoln, which we thought was definite, to Neb-Omaha, which appears definite, is a downer. Better both than neither, I suppose.
Paul, if you're on here, try telling the Times to fix your blog so that the entries actually appear. The only way I've found around it is clicking the RSS feed button.
Not sure why you're having so much trouble understanding. The UNO game is confirmed. The Nebraska (Lincoln) game is very likely going to happen prior to the home tournament. It's all part of the same event.
Playing (Big Ten) Nebraska this year on the road and then hosting a four-team tourney at home is similar to playing Arizona last year on the road and then hosting the round-robin on campus. That is what I mean and I instead typed Kansas. Valpo played Kansas and Ohio on the road two years ago as part of the Vegas tourney leadup and then played lesser teams in Vegas.
per andy katz on espn.com. if true, that's a pretty solid non-con stretch, even if they are almost all on the road.
Quote
3. Valparaiso should be picked over Detroit for the Horizon League title now that Butler is out. Valparaiso won the regular season a year ago but lost to Detroit at home by 20 in the conference tournament title game. Crusaders coach Bryce Drew is attempting to enhance the nonconference schedule in the oft-chance the Crusaders can't win the conference/tournament. Drew said he has scheduled games against Nebraska, New Mexico, Murray State, Kent State, Missouri State and Oakland. The games against Murray and UNM are quality RPI games and both will return in 2013. Drew is still trying to get Pitt to agree to a game. Drew would also like to get a home-and-home series with the return game being at the United Center in Chicago in his attempt to be creative for a strong series. Meanwhile, the Crusaders will be more formidable if Cal transfer 6-6 Alex Rossi gets a waiver to play immediately. Rossi, who played sparingly at Cal in three games, came home for family reasons. The Crusaders are already adding 6-1 South Florida transfer LaVonte Dority at semester. Dority played in nine games last season, playing 15 minutes a game.
[\quote]
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/61309/3-point-shot-we-have-to-send-our-pros (http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/61309/3-point-shot-we-have-to-send-our-pros)
The non conference schedule doesn't look too bad...especially if we land Pitt. Sounds like some good names coming to the ARC in the fall of 2013!
So, if all of our info so far is correct, our non-conference schedule includes:
Northern Illinois
Nebraska
Nebraska-Omaha/Bethune-Cookman
Chicago State
IUPUI
Oakland
New Mexico
Murray State
Kent State
Missouri State
With the possibilities of adding:
Pitt
IPFW
Probably a garbage team or two
That is a very nice non-conference schedule that becomes a fantastic (by past VU standards) schedule if Pitt or another high-major is added. There is no reason we can't win the vast majority of those games and put ourselves in at-large contention.
Quote from: SadersofthelostArc on July 19, 2012, 09:01:44 AMNebraska-Ohama/Bethune-Cookman
Chicago State
I once suggested Chicago Obama but I really don't think Nebraska would actually go for Nebraska-Ohama. Is he the mayor of Omaha from Hawaii?
Mayor Ohama from Omaha by way of Hawaii once home of Obama!
Another possible game that I haven't seen mentioned would be a return game from playing at Georgia Southern last season. I highly doubt we agreed at one game on the road there, my guess is that we will see them at the ARC this season.
All very winnable games. Hopefully we'll have Rossi available to play next season too, he'll give the team just that much more depth.
Yeah, that Nebraska-Ohama is surprisingly underrated, if memory surfs.
I can hear Adam Duritz singing it now:
"Ohama...somewhere in middle Pacifica"
In addition to the games previously discussed (at Nebraska, at Murray, at Kent, at New Mexico), you can now add at St. Louis.
Good fit and brings nostalgia from Homer's home town and Sweet 16 hisotry for Valpo. It's also one of the largest VU alumni cities that is not in the Horizon League. Nice work on schedule!
Ok, LaporteAve, the wordy jokes are no longer punny....er...funny :rotfl: (Do you see how unfunny it is from the other side of the internet? lol)
St. Louis is another fantastic addition to the schedule. Would love to see the Pitt game happen, but I'm pretty happy with what have scheduled. That's a really nice mid-major schedule.
St. Louis loses only one key player from their 26-8 team that beat Memphis in the NCAA tourney before falling to top seeded Michigan State by 4 in the third round. They posted wins over Washington, Boston College, Villanova, Oklahoma, Xavier (x2), St. Bonaventure, Dayton and St. Joe's. They finished with an RPI of 34. They will be a formidable opponent and certainly a resume booster.
While I'm on the RPI site, how about a look at this season's opponents and last season's RPIs?
Nebraska- 165
Chicago State- 338
Kent State- 108
Missouri State- 145
Saint Louis- 34
Murray State- 10
Northern Illinois- 334
IUPUI- 212
Oakland- 135
New Mexico- 21
Bethune-Cookman- 225
Possibly Pitt?- 104
Bracketbuster- Likely a team somewhere in the 40-80 range
While I still think we have too many bottom of the barrel teams on the schedule, at least they aren't non-D1s. Love having three top 35 RPI teams on the schedule. Now, compare this to last year:
Arizona- 79
Georgia Southern- 205
Akron- 68
Duquesne- 111
Ohio State- 6
IPFW- 281
Bowling Green- 165
Oakland- 135
Northern Illinois- 334
IUPUI- 212
Loyola Marymount- 109
Which schedule do you think is better? (Keep in mind that Butler is gone and takes away a team that is always going to be a 30-100 RPI team, on our schedule three times). By the numbers, I think last year's schedule could be better. However, I think we have a much better chance to win the high RPI games this year (as opposed to OSU last year) and wins obviously dramatically change your resume.
I don't mean to underestimate the difficulty in scheduling as a mid-major, but everything points to a terrible home schedule. Besides losing the Butler game, a reasonable tournament from last year is replaced by tournament with some of the worst teams in Division 1. Nice exposure with the 7:00 AM game, but it is against one of last year's worst teams in the country. Outside of the better conference games and the bracketbuster this is a dismal home schedule that would only be acceptable by a lower Division 1 program. Are alums going to come back and see Chicago State? Will this attract new season ticket holders or retain the marginal ones? This looks like a great team, but you cannot grade the program's scheduling as anything but below average or worse.
Quote from: vu84v2 on July 22, 2012, 10:13:35 AM
I don't mean to underestimate the difficulty in scheduling as a mid-major, but everything points to a terrible home schedule. Besides losing the Butler game, a reasonable tournament from last year is replaced by tournament with some of the worst teams in Division 1. Nice exposure with the 7:00 AM game, but it is against one of last year's worst teams in the country. Outside of the better conference games and the bracketbuster this is a dismal home schedule that would only be acceptable by a lower Division 1 program. Are alums going to come back and see Chicago State? Will this attract new season ticket holders or retain the marginal ones? This looks like a great team, but you cannot grade the program's scheduling as anything but below average or worse.
Not sure where the St. Louis game information came from but if true will replace the Butler game, quality wise, and perhaps better. St. Louis is thought by some to be a top 25 team. Now, as to the home schedule, we may get Loyola Marymount this year at the ARC and will have a goodteam come for the Bracketbuster. It is the NEXT year that will be really fun as all of these games will be returned to the ARC, at least I'm guessing they will. I doubt Bryce would sign a one away game with St. Louis, New Mexico or Murray State. We will have a great team the year after this one as well.
if this is true, i really hope that the game at slu is between christmas and new years so i can go make a ruckus at chaiffetz while i'm home on leave. :D do we have any sort of date yet as to when the schedule will be officially released?
I generally agree that the road schedule will be good, though I would have liked to see one "upper half" team from a major conference. St. Louis, Murray State, and New Mexico are all good games. However (and unfortunately), I think it is doubtful that any more than one of those three agreed to a return game (if anyone did, my guess is it would be Murray State who would seem to have some greater scheduling challenges than the other two).
I am not aware that Loyola Marymount is confirmed on the schedule and I think that there were some previous posts that this game may get delayed 1-2 years. Furthermore, it would not be surprising if LMU tries to winge on the return commitment and find some way out of it. I hope that is not true, but that is a long trip for them.
Quote from: vu84v2 on July 22, 2012, 02:29:36 PMI am not aware that Loyola Marymount is confirmed on the schedule and I think that there were some previous posts that this game may get delayed 1-2 years. Furthermore, it would not be surprising if LMU tries to winge on the return commitment and find some way out of it. I hope that is not true, but that is a long trip for them.
my understanding (if somebody knows concretely, feel free to correct me) is that marymount would have to persuade vu into agreeing to cancel the return game requirement, which i hope doesn't happen. but bracketbuster games do not have to be returned the very next year - the following year is also an option, if needbe.
Where did the VU vs. SLU game info come from? This game, whether at Chaifetz Arena or at the ARC would be awesome ;D :) because SLU returns most of their players and it would be a game between the A-10 conference favorite vs. the HL conference favorite. (SLU has a great campus by the way.)
Quote from: valpofan11 on July 22, 2012, 09:11:06 PMWhere did the VU vs. SLU game info come from?
If this is true then might our schedule be complete to where Pitt is now off the table? Personally if I were in charge of VU basketball scheduling I could take great pleasure in calling Pitt and telling them that while they were dithering over trying to get a better deal we went elsewhere and got one.
Yes I know that I've got a chip on my shoulder towards the power conferences but I just have to wonder how many lifetime enemies I could make in one season of negotiating with the big boys?
weathernerd, swiftmutiny & justducky, it seems you are in want of an avatar.
Let me give you some rather sage advice. Beware of wrascally avatar salesmen!
I hear they prey on unsuspecting posters on this board like medicare supplement insurance salesman in Florida who prey on senior citizens who have just won $1,000 in the lottery.
:P
Quote from: valpo84 on July 21, 2012, 10:23:08 PMIn addition to the games previously discussed (at Nebraska, at Murray, at Kent, at New Mexico), you can now add at St. Louis.
Where did you see this? Can you reference a website?
Almost all Bracketbuster games, event-wide, are now returned two years out. This move was made a couple years back to balance schedules, so that when a team has a home Bracketbuster game, the return game it plays that year would be on the road, and vice versa.
HISTORYman!!!! Don't scare off my customers...(I need guys like the three stooges you mentioned to get off the ground)...lol :rotfl:
JK ducky and swift! Just bustin' your chops and havin' fun...no offense intended. Now, about that avatar.....
Quote from: vu84v2 on July 22, 2012, 02:29:36 PM
I generally agree that the road schedule will be good, though I would have liked to see one "upper half" team from a major conference. St. Louis, Murray State, and New Mexico are all good games. However (and unfortunately), I think it is doubtful that any more than one of those three agreed to a return game (if anyone did, my guess is it would be Murray State who would seem to have some greater scheduling challenges than the other two).I am not aware that Loyola Marymount is confirmed on the schedule and I think that there were some previous posts that this game may get delayed 1-2 years. Furthermore, it would not be surprising if LMU tries to winge on the return commitment and find some way out of it. I hope that is not true, but that is a long trip for them.
I think you are underestimating Valpo's ability relative to attracting return games. We aren't talking about the ACC but rather the A-10. We aren't talking about North Carolina or Ohio State, but rather New Mexico and St. Louis and Murray State. If we have an away game scheduled with St. Louis (we don't have any official or Coach Drew comment on this) I would be surprised if we don't get a return game from any of these three.
As for Loyola Marymount having a "long trip", how far did we travel to play them? As others have posted, they have two years to play the return game so if it isn't this coming year it will be the following one.
Does LMU have to incur travel costs for the return game to Valpo, or is that paid by ESPN and the Bracketbuster sponsors?
Re vu72's comments: "I think you are underestimating Valpo's ability relative to attracting return games. We aren't talking about the ACC but rather the A-10. We aren't talking about North Carolina or Ohio State, but rather New Mexico and St. Louis and Murray State. If we have an away game scheduled with St. Louis (we don't have any official or Coach Drew comment on this) I would be surprised if we don't get a return game from any of these three."
We also need to be careful to not underestimate how difficult it is to get teams to come to Valpo. Other than in-state rival Evansville, it's my understanding that MVC teams have not been interested in a home-and-home series nor has St. Louis been willing to do so in the past. Hopefully that is changing. For all of its faults, the Bracketbuster forces the issue with some of these teams (i.e. Missouri State) and hopefully encourages some of them to continue meeting in the future. Without taking time to look it up, I don't think many conferences other than the MAC (and in-state rival IPFW) have been represented in the ARC with any regularity. The ARC is known as a tough place to win and Valparaiso doesn't have the recruiting draw of a major metropolitan venue. At least that's how I see it.
sliman makes good and fair points. It is a problem for all mid-majors. I just think (I may be wrong :o), but I think Valpo's image is changing. It now is the biggest name in the Horizon and that will almost certainly continue to grow as we continue to succeed. So, if you are talking about a St. Louis doing a home and home with, say, YSU, I'm sure there would be no interest. The image and attraction of a YSU, when it comes to basketball, just isn't there. No expectation of improving your rpi etc. Mid-majors need to take chances if they want to have an at-large opportunity and you aren't going to get there via YSU or IPFW. Now, if you are playing the Horizon Champion and possibly a ranked team, that is a different story. Our win of the title last year changes a lot.
Quote from: vu72 on July 23, 2012, 02:59:42 PM
sliman makes good and fair points. It is a problem for all mid-majors. I just think (I may be wrong :o), but I think Valpo's image is changing. It now is the biggest name in the Horizon and that will almost certainly continue to grow as we continue to succeed. So, if you are talking about a St. Louis doing a home and home with, say, YSU, I'm sure there would be no interest. The image and attraction of a YSU, when it comes to basketball, just isn't there. No expectation of improving your rpi etc. Mid-majors need to take chances if they want to have an at-large opportunity and you aren't going to get there via YSU or IPFW. Now, if you are playing the Horizon Champion and possibly a ranked team, that is a different story. Our win of the title last year changes a lot.
Total agreement. Two years of success, a new energetic coach, a list of 2013 recruits that many teams would like to duplicate, and possibly our best team ever taking to the hardwood this fall. If we can not parlay that into some current and future scheduling achievements then we deserve to wait at Pitts and others beck and call where we gratefully accept the chump change they probably offered us for a one year one and done. I'd rather do a one season home and away with Murray State than take some kind of deal from which you walk away feeling used. Now is the perfect time to drive a hard bargain.
C'mon guys...we will be getting some return games. Geez.
(P.S. You're taking vu84v2's word as the Gospel which, as he will tell you, is not proper for good Lutherans to discuss!!!)
Schedule update from Andy Katz:
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/61455/3-point-shot-uclas-hopes-ride-on-drew (http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/61455/3-point-shot-uclas-hopes-ride-on-drew)
That was a bit of a misleading title for Valpo fans. For a second there I almost thought we had scheduled UCLA. Wrong Drew, whoops. :lol:
Nice to have the Saint Louis game confirmed.
The schedule is a competitive one. The opportunity is there for Valpo to make a name for themselves before conference play even begins. Lets hope they are able to take advantage and win the majority of these.
I think it is a pretty good schedule, too. However, it's a schedule that the Saders will have to almost go undefeated against to get at-large consideration. There is no school on the schedule that would be considered an "expected" loss, i.e. Ohio State, Arizona, etc. I hope we're not leaving ourselves too little room for error.
Hypothetical: We go 14-2 in the Horizon. We go 10-2 in non-conference (assuming 12 games, could be a bit different...we have losses to St Louis and Murray State. We lose a tight game in the championship...so we finish 25-5 with our best wins coming against New Mexico, Nebraska, Brackbuster game. How confident are you guys that we would get an at-large with that resume? I'm not very confident.
Quote from: SadersofthelostArc on July 24, 2012, 11:48:15 AM
I think it is a pretty good schedule, too. However, it's a schedule that the Saders will have to almost go undefeated against to get at-large consideration. There is no school on the schedule that would be considered an "expected" loss, i.e. Ohio State, Arizona, etc. I hope we're not leaving ourselves too little room for error.
Hypothetical: We go 14-2 in the Horizon. We go 10-2 in non-conference (assuming 12 games, could be a bit different...we have losses to St Louis and Murray State. We lose a tight game in the championship...so we finish 25-5 with our best wins coming against New Mexico, Nebraska, Brackbuster game. How confident are you guys that we would get an at-large with that resume? I'm not very confident.
Not something that you can just go by wins and losses. RPI and Sagarin will play a big roll and those are affected by how everyone else on the schedule performs.
Quote from: FWalum on July 24, 2012, 12:33:18 PM
Quote from: SadersofthelostArc on July 24, 2012, 11:48:15 AM
I think it is a pretty good schedule, too. However, it's a schedule that the Saders will have to almost go undefeated against to get at-large consideration. There is no school on the schedule that would be considered an "expected" loss, i.e. Ohio State, Arizona, etc. I hope we're not leaving ourselves too little room for error.
Hypothetical: We go 14-2 in the Horizon. We go 10-2 in non-conference (assuming 12 games, could be a bit different...we have losses to St Louis and Murray State. We lose a tight game in the championship...so we finish 25-5 with our best wins coming against New Mexico, Nebraska, Brackbuster game. How confident are you guys that we would get an at-large with that resume? I'm not very confident.
Not something that you can just go by wins and losses. RPI and Sagarin will play a big roll and those are affected by how everyone else on the schedule performs.
agreed. but with how road-heavy our non-con schedule seems to be, that could be points in our favor, assuming all else plays out like we're expecting.
my question - how tight are the games we lose to slu and murray, and who/where do we lose to in the conference sched, and likewise, how close are the games? ass-whippings won't help, but tight games against top-50 teams, even if they're losses, could demonstrate to the committee come march that we're capable of close games.
I would think that Valpo won't be beat up by anyone on this schedule. The early season games will tell us a lot. First, in spite of all we have coming back, we will still be relying on Capo and Vashil to contribute right a way. Neither have played college basketball either in quite some time or not at all. It is unlikely that we will have LaVonte till the start of the conference schedule. He could take us up a full notch. It is also unclear if we will have Alex Rossi, who could also elevate the team via his shooting and ability to remove a double team from Rowdy.
I think it is amusing that Butler won't schdule us but the conference favorite and pre-season top 25 team will. As we won't be at full strength, I don't think we will beat St. Louis, New Mexico or Murray State on the road.
Quote from: vu72 on July 24, 2012, 01:31:59 PM
I would think that Valpo won't be beat up by anyone on this schedule. The early season games will tell us a lot. First, in spite of all we have coming back, we will still be relying on Capo and Vashil to contribute right a way. Neither have played college basketball either in quite some time or not at all. It is unlikely that we will have LaVonte till the start of the conference schedule. He could take us up a full notch. It is also unclear if we will have Alex Rossi, who could also elevate the team via his shooting and ability to remove a double team from Rowdy.
I think it is amusing that Butler won't schdule us but the conference favorite and pre-season top 25 team will. As we won't be at full strength, I don't think we will beat St. Louis, New Mexico or Murray State on the road.
Spotted somewhere a tentative Dec 29 date for Murray, wonder if we might not head from there to New Mexico. Would think that St Lou and Missouri St would also be on one swing and pre x-mas would work out great for LaVonte. Help me here with any imformation you have on dates.
I would think that our 4 game win streak against Butler will bring them back to the ARC for revenge some day, just not this year.
You're probably right. It will be a great ride though.
Great to see scheduling of several good yet beatable Top 100 teams. As some have said on the board we often in our history played teams that either had "Top Ten" blue-blood talent.......or were in the bottom half or even third of RPI rankings.
I'm excited to see it all unfold.
According to the Murray State forum, the Valpo at Murray State game is on Dec. 29th.
In regards to other comments...I want Valpo to get return games since I want Valpo to have a strong home schedule year in and year out. Far and away, the best environment and excitement at Valpo for basketball is when they get a good opponent for a home game. With the possible exception of the bracketbuster, I wonder if any game will generate a high level of enthsiasm (though being undefeated or having one loss going into conference play would do that too). The school can try all they can to market Detroit or Cleveland State...but it just won't generate the same enthusiasm as Butler or a very good nonconference team would generate (ok, maybe if the Detroit game is on the weekend or a Friday night and is at home - it could generate a good level of enthusiasm). However, my guess is that there will be no more than 2000 people in the ARC for any of these non-conference games.
From the NW Indiana Times sports blog as written by Paul Oren about the coming season's men's basketball schedule, and why it is "smart scheduling" for this season.
http://www.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/valparaiso-university/drew-scheduling-smart/article_b1b50196-d5a7-11e1-b5c4-001a4bcf887a.html (http://www.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/valparaiso-university/drew-scheduling-smart/article_b1b50196-d5a7-11e1-b5c4-001a4bcf887a.html)
Drew scheduling smart
July 24, 2012 10:53 am • By Paul Oren pgmado@gmail.com
It could still be a few weeks before any official word comes down about the 2012-13 Valparaiso men's basketball schedule, but everything looks to be in place right now according to ESPN's Andy Katz.
The Crusaders are set to play Murray State, New Mexico, St. Louis, Oakland, Kent State, Missouri State and Nebraska on the road. Home games will include IPFW, IUPUI, Chicago State, Bethune-Cookman/Nebraska-Omaha and Georgia Southern.
The immediate uproar from fans has been that the home schedule is very weak this season and that is a correct statement. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Valparaiso coach Bryce Drew is smart to schedule the way he has this season.
I don't think it's going out on a limb to say that expectations for this team are higher than they've been since 2001-02. The Horizon League constantly talks about being "built for At-Large" and Drew has set up a schedule that mirrors that statement. If the Crusaders falter again in the Horizon League title game, they will have already had the chance to earn quality road wins against some of the Top RPI teams in the country.
Let's not kid ourselves. Scheduling Duke and North Carolina looks good on the schedule, but those games aren't truly winnable unless something magical happens. Teams like New Mexico, Murray State and St. Louis, all conference favorites who are expected to be in the NCAA tournament, those games are winnable.
Now let's get to home vs. road. Road wins against quality competition are huge when it comes to determining At-Large bids. This particular Valparaiso team has the best chance of any to earn an At-Large bid. I think it's safe to say that next season's team, without Broekhoff, Van Wijk, Buggs, Kenney, Bogan and Boggs, will likely not be built to win an at-large bid. That team will be stocked with freshmen who will now get the chance to play some big teams at home to cut their teeth. Broekhoff and Co. are good enough to win on the road. They don't need the advantage of playing at home as much as they need to be able to capitalize on the disadvantage of playing on the road. The 2013-14 squad will be the opposite.
I know the ARC schedule doesn't look great this year, but the team does and getting to the NCAA tournament is what matters. This schedule is setup to do that.
I still don't quite understand why Paul doesn't think the year after this one will be a good to great team. Sure we will be relying on freshman as BACKUPS and yes, this year's team will be as deep as any we have had since Nuness/Barton et al. Still, the following year will feature Capobianco, Dority, Coleman, Rossi and Chadwick and Fernandez. That's 6'11",6'9", 6'6" up front with Coleman and Dority in the backcourt. We will still have Tommy Kurth (according to the eligibility chart) so we will have seven VERY experienced players. THEN, we add the freshman and who know who else. So what is the typical rotation? Seven or eight. If the freshman get playing time it is because they are THAT good, not because we will need to rely on them.
Probably because those five you have listed as starters have played 0 minutes for Valparaiso to this point and haven't proven a thing at the college level. Kurth won't play, I assume he is around more as a player-coach during practice. This year's team should be very good, the year after has potential, but lets not get ahead of ourselves yet.
vu72, couldn't agree with you more. while it won't likely be as good as this coming year, it's not going to fall off a cliff. each of those transfers comes from an excellent program, and had recruiting profiles to match (both times they were recruited!). Add those to Paul's self-admitted "greatest freshman class ever", and
WE ROLLIN'
Quote from: sectionee on July 25, 2012, 02:53:14 PM
Probably because those five you have listed as starters have played 0 minutes for Valparaiso to this point and haven't proven a thing at the college level. Kurth won't play, I assume he is around more as a player-coach during practice. This year's team should be very good, the year after has potential, but lets not get ahead of ourselves yet.
Well ee, you can't have it both ways. Oren said "I don't think it's going out on a limb to say that expectations for this team are higher than they've been since 2001-02" To get there you have to count on significant contributions from both Capo and Dority and probably Vashil and Coleman as Edwards in gone and so is Harris. If you expect these guys to contribute this year then why not carry that over to the next? Adding a Pac 12 and Conference USA player really can't be too bad a thing unless Bryce is just way off on their abilities. What do you think??
What part of Capo's game that you have seen do you like best? How about Vashil or Dority or Coleman or Rossi or Chadwick? Getting positive contributions from these guys this year coming off the bench shouldn't be too hard to get against other team's benches. No doubt these guys were solid coming out of HS, but there is a reason they didn't make it at their first school. Bryce probably has the edge over me in the talent evaluation category, probably. I just want to see these guys in action before I start touting 2013-2014 as great team.
Quote from: sectionee on July 25, 2012, 04:41:02 PM
What part of Capo's game that you have seen do you like best? How about Vashil or Dority or Coleman or Rossi or Chadwick? Getting positive contributions from these guys this year coming off the bench shouldn't be too hard to get against other team's benches. No doubt these guys were solid coming out of HS, but there is a reason they didn't make it at their first school. Bryce probably has the edge over me in the talent evaluation category, probably. I just want to see these guys in action before I start touting 2013-2014 as great team.
Yes, the same was true of Johnson & Wood and those transfers didn't turn out too bad.
Not saying they won't be good, I am just saying I want to see hem in action before declaring the 2013-2014 team will be great.
sectionee is right...we are all making a lot of predictions based on players we have not seen play. I do expect them to be really good, based on pedigree, but maybe we should wait to talk about 2013-2014 til we see some of these guys play this year.
Fair enough. My point really, was just that Oren seems to be discounting them already when he said: That team will be stocked with freshmen who will now get the chance to play some big teams at home to cut their teeth. Broekhoff and Co. are good enough to win on the road. They don't need the advantage of playing at home as much as they need to be able to capitalize on the disadvantage of playing on the road. The 2013-14 squad will be the opposite.
I'll be happy to wait! ;)
Quote from: vu72 on July 25, 2012, 06:21:10 PM
Fair enough. My point really, was just that Oren seems to be discounting them already when he said: That team will be stocked with freshmen who will now get the chance to play some big teams at home to cut their teeth. Broekhoff and Co. are good enough to win on the road. They don't need the advantage of playing at home as much as they need to be able to capitalize on the disadvantage of playing on the road. The 2013-14 squad will be the opposite.
I'll be happy to wait! ;)
By gosh if Butler can solve all their shooting woes with players they haven't seen play yet then Valpo can count on players that we haven't seen play yet to win the HL regular season title.
While I appreciate the sincerity of Paul Oren's article, there are several problems that I have with the line of thinking:
1. While there are "hints" at a better home schedule next year, where is the commitment? As a fan, my expectation would be no less than two out of four (between Murray State, St. Louis, Nebraska and New Mexico) have games in the ARC next year. Fans should be even more dissapointed in Valpo's scheduling efforts if these questions are not directly answered when the schedule is released.
2. It will be very hard to believe in any sincerity on the part of the basketball program if they try to promote this nonconference home schedule as anything meaningful. You have several of the absolute worst D1 teams in the nation coming to the ARC (in my view, Chicago State is THE worst) and no nonconference home games against teams that are even close to interesting.
3. Everyone agrees that this is an exciting team that could do a lot of great things...that is great. But after a poor nonconference home schedule last year (remember that the Duquense and Akron games were when school was not in session and two conference games were during Christmas break), the fans are rewarded with a FAR worse home schedule with no opportunity to see the team against good (or even decent) non-conference opponents. Furthermore, there is a potential good bracketbuster game - but the honest truth is that only counteracts losing the Butler game.
Again, I hope that Valpo has a great season and wins all of these road games and gets great national respect from it. But with the possible exception of the Northern Illinois game (due to its uniqueness), does anyone think that any game will have more than 2000 people in the ARC prior to the conference schedule?
Quote from: vu84v2 on July 25, 2012, 07:00:27 PMAgain, I hope that Valpo has a great season and wins all of these road games and gets great national respect from it. But with the possible exception of the Northern Illinois game (due to its uniqueness), does anyone think that any game will have more than 2000 people in the ARC prior to the conference schedule?
Yes, absolutely. The only game last year that didn't have over 2,000 in attendance was the game against Holy Cross, which isn't even an NCAA school, and that was by a slim margin (1,957). Given last year's accomplishments and all of the expectations surrounding this year's team, I doubt there will be a single sub 2k game unless we've scheduled Helen Keller's School for the Deaf and Blind on Christmas morning.
I think they will draw well, but not great for this home schedule, not including the conference games or bracketbuster. The marketing department has their work cut out for them. It would have been great to schedule a good opponent at home to get the interest in the team up, but lets be real...no team wants to come into the ARC this year.
I think it's time for Crusader nation to hit the road.
Neither Murray, KY or St Louis are that far from Valpo. I remember one poster saying that you just go south on I-57 and you end up in Murray.
If it happens Pittsburgh wouldn't be that far either.
Quote from: historyman on July 25, 2012, 08:09:52 PMI think it's time for Crusader nation to hit the road
I might have to skip several of those home games and maybe shoot for Lincoln. I think that Pitt is now off the itinerary.
Quote from: swiftmutiny on July 25, 2012, 07:40:01 PMGiven last year's accomplishments and all of the expectations surrounding this year's team, I doubt there will be a single sub 2k game unless we've scheduled Helen Keller's School for the Deaf and Blind on Christmas morning.
OK, how did you find out about the Helen Keller game? We all worked very hard to try to keep that one item under our hats to be released as a special Santa Secret Surprise. Expect to hear from campus security tomorrow concerning the source of the leak.
Quote from: justducky on Today at 09:54:37 PM
OK, how did you find out about the Helen Keller game? We all worked very hard to try to keep that one item under our hats to be released as a special Santa Secret Surprise. Expect to hear from campus security tomorrow concerning the source of the leak.
I heard it was the maintenance dept at Valpo. Yep, there was a plumbing problem in the basketball offices at the ARC. These plumbers, see, broke into the offices and were making sure the coaches were doing their job to get their team re-elected, er, I mean win enough to take first place in the conference. They are calling it "ARCgate." I heard the plumbers recorded an 18 1/2 minute conversation between Coach Drew and the Helen Keller School for the Deaf and Blind but somehow the whole conversation got erased. But the Valpo womens BB team did brag that their trip to China was the greatest achievement by the athletic dept.
Please note that I said 2000 people actually attending the game - not the (as previously noted on this forum by many) fictitious attendance that is reported. When the chairbacks are 2/3 full of people, the lower bleachers are half full of people, and there are few people in the upper deck bleachers...there are not more than 2000 in attendance. That will happen a lot with this non-conference schedule.
Bryce has done a nice job of beefing up the schedule ... the home schedule may not be glamorous, but fans need to understand that getting big name teams to the ARC is not an easy task.
As for attendance, I would think that the buzz and expectations around this team would ensure good crowds no matter who the opponents might be. Ticket prices are extremely reasonable and students get in free, so there really isn't any excuse for fans not supporting a team of this caliber.
I noticed that Oren forgot to list the home game against Northern Illinois, so here's a quick summary based on the information in his article:
Horizon League games - 16
Non-con home games - 7 (IPFW, IUPUI, NIU, Chicago St, Bethune/UNO, GA Southern and BracketBuster)
Non-con road games - 7 (Murray, UNM, SLU, Oakland, Kent, Missouri St and Nebraska)
If all that is right, that's 30 games. The limit is 27 + up to 4 more in an exempt tournament, so Valpo may still have one more game to add (assuming that they'll get 4 games from the Nebraska "exempt tournament"). Anyone have details on that? So far, it appears the Nebraska, Chic St and Bethune/UNO games are part of that tourney, but since Kent State was mentioned earlier, is that game also part of the tournament? I guess we'll find out as schedules get released.
Based on that schedule, there's really no reason for Valpo to lose at home. They'll lose some games on the road, but if they can limit bad road losses, they could easily be 26-5 heading into the HL tourney. With the non-con schedule, that should be enough for an at-large bid, IMO.
Quote from: zvillehaze on July 26, 2012, 09:41:14 AM
Bryce has done a nice job of beefing up the schedule ... the home schedule may not be glamorous, but fans need to understand that getting big name teams to the ARC is not an easy task.
As for attendance, I would think that the buzz and expectations around this team would ensure good crowds no matter who the opponents might be. Ticket prices are extremely reasonable and students get in free, so there really isn't any excuse for fans not supporting a team of this caliber.
I would add that the home games against IPFW, IUPUI, NIU, and Chicago State should draw fans from each of those not-too-distant schools, which would help with attendance. Also, by playing close-by schools at home, especially if we win all those games, Bryce is adding to the familiarity with Valpo among natives of the region as well as possible future recruits in the area, something a few on the board have hoped would happen more.
Bryce has done a great job of building a quality team with good players and quickly implementing his system as a new coach. Bryce is a strongly ethical coach that represents the university well. He may be doing a very good job at recruiting (we'll see). With all that, he has done a very poor job of scheduling (I won't reiterate my previous points from before about what sort of deals are in the road games - let's see what is announced). You need good opponents and a good team to draw good crowds. The best environments and crowds in the last few years were the Butler games, the Purdue game, and the Missouri State bracketbuster game...why? because both criteria were met. I am not saying that they should be getting Michigan State or Indiana or Duke in the ARC...but an acceptable schedule should have had at least two games in the ARC from teams in the upper half of good mid-major conferences.
I would guess that the total combined away fans for IPFW, IUPUI, NIU and Chicago State would be about 200 (maybe 60 or 70 for NIU and IPFW and no more than 10-20 for Chicago State) - so no value there. Furthermore, there is no recruiting value in these games since they would be perceived by potential recruits as inferior teams that good teams either don't play or beat by 50. The negative impact of reduced prestige from these games is far greater than some level of geographic value.
Lastly, about the fans needing to understand that getting good teams to the ARC is not an easy task. I have followed Valpo basketball for the last 20 years and without pouring through RPIs and records over all those years I still believe that this is the worst home schedule in those 20 years. Last year's home schedule was not great and this is far worse. The task was always tough and in most years the job got done fairly well (outstandingly well in a few years). Thus, since the task is of about the same difficulty as it was in many other years, you can only conclude that the program's performance in scheduling home games was poor.
Quote from: vu72 on July 24, 2012, 01:31:59 PMAs we won't be at full strength, I don't think we will beat St. Louis, New Mexico or Murray State on the road.
Not sure I understand this comment. Valpo returns all 5 starters, 6 of 8 top scorers and adds two guys (Capobianco and Fernandez) who practiced with the team last year. They should be as prepared for the season as any team in the country.
Quote from: zvillehaze on July 26, 2012, 01:20:28 PM
Quote from: vu72 on July 24, 2012, 01:31:59 PMAs we won't be at full strength, I don't think we will beat St. Louis, New Mexico or Murray State on the road.
Not sure I understand this comment. Valpo returns all 5 starters, 6 of 8 top scorers and adds two guys (Capobianco and Fernandez) who practiced with the team last year. They should be as prepared for the season as any team in the country.
Let's see...St. Louis is projected to be a top 25 team and the A-10 favorite. Murray State went something like 30-2 and returns just about everyone and New Mexico returns their top 5 scorers from a team that lost by 3 to Louisville in the NCAAs, and, is favored to win the Mountain West. All of these games are on the road. Other than these facts, I'm not sure what I was thinking! ;) We will be very good but to win these in very hostile environments will certainly be a challenge.
Quote from: zvillehaze on July 26, 2012, 09:41:14 AM
Based on that schedule, there's really no reason for Valpo to lose at home. They'll lose some games on the road, but if they can limit bad road losses, they could easily be 26-5 heading into the HL tourney. With the non-con schedule, that should be enough for an at-large bid, IMO.
I think you lose 4 of the road games. This means you would be going 15-1 in the Horizon? Maybe, but doubtful. If you do, the RPI in the league will be so low...... along with the non-existent RPI boost of your home schedule......... you will still have to win the league tourney.
Quote from: vu72 on July 26, 2012, 01:37:39 PM
Quote from: zvillehaze on July 26, 2012, 01:20:28 PM
Quote from: vu72 on July 24, 2012, 01:31:59 PMAs we won't be at full strength, I don't think we will beat St. Louis, New Mexico or Murray State on the road.
Not sure I understand this comment. Valpo returns all 5 starters, 6 of 8 top scorers and adds two guys (Capobianco and Fernandez) who practiced with the team last year. They should be as prepared for the season as any team in the country.
Let's see...St. Louis is projected to be a top 25 team and the A-10 favorite. Murray State went something like 30-2 and returns just about everyone and New Mexico returns their top 5 scorers from a team that lost by 3 to Louisville in the NCAAs, and, is favored to win the Mountain West. All of these games are on the road. Other than these facts, I'm not sure what I was thinking! ;) We will be very good but to win these in very hostile environments will certainly be a challenge.
Sorry ... I was just questioning the "full strength" comment. I don't question that winning at Murray, SLU or UNM will be tough for any team.
Quote from: zvillehaze on July 26, 2012, 04:53:26 PM
Quote from: vu72 on July 26, 2012, 01:37:39 PM
Quote from: zvillehaze on July 26, 2012, 01:20:28 PM
Quote from: vu72 on July 24, 2012, 01:31:59 PMAs we won't be at full strength, I don't think we will beat St. Louis, New Mexico or Murray State on the road.
Not sure I understand this comment. Valpo returns all 5 starters, 6 of 8 top scorers and adds two guys (Capobianco and Fernandez) who practiced with the team last year. They should be as prepared for the season as any team in the country.
Let's see...St. Louis is projected to be a top 25 team and the A-10 favorite. Murray State went something like 30-2 and returns just about everyone and New Mexico returns their top 5 scorers from a team that lost by 3 to Louisville in the NCAAs, and, is favored to win the Mountain West. All of these games are on the road. Other than these facts, I'm not sure what I was thinking! ;) We will be very good but to win these in very hostile environments will certainly be a challenge.
Sorry ... I was just questioning the "full strength" comment. I don't question that winning at Murray, SLU or UNM will be tough for any team.
On the "full stength" question, we still don't know when Dority will be eligible but almost certainly not till the second semester. Same for Rossi, who might be granted a hardship so could play right a way or, he may have to sit the full year. We lost our backup point to transfer so Dority will be important. Tommy Kurth has battled heath issues and we really don't know how effective he will be as the backup. Rossi is a lights out shooter so not having him will hurt to but probably not as much, although losing Richie Edwards cost us a pretty good 3 point shot. Those are the "full strength" questions to which I was referring
Quote from: staxawax on July 26, 2012, 04:09:16 PM
Quote from: zvillehaze on July 26, 2012, 09:41:14 AM
Based on that schedule, there's really no reason for Valpo to lose at home. They'll lose some games on the road, but if they can limit bad road losses, they could easily be 26-5 heading into the HL tourney. With the non-con schedule, that should be enough for an at-large bid, IMO.
I think you lose 4 of the road games. This means you would be going 15-1 in the Horizon? Maybe, but doubtful. If you do, the RPI in the league will be so low...... along with the non-existent RPI boost of your home schedule......... you will still have to win the league tourney.
I can't speak of for all of the league yet, but Detroit upgraded it's RPI schedule for next year:
@ St John's
@ Temple
@ Miami (FL)
@ Syracuse
@ Pitt
Home= Akron and Drake coming in.
Quote from: motowntitan on July 26, 2012, 08:13:09 PM
Quote from: staxawax on July 26, 2012, 04:09:16 PM
Quote from: zvillehaze on July 26, 2012, 09:41:14 AM
Based on that schedule, there's really no reason for Valpo to lose at home. They'll lose some games on the road, but if they can limit bad road losses, they could easily be 26-5 heading into the HL tourney. With the non-con schedule, that should be enough for an at-large bid, IMO.
I think you lose 4 of the road games. This means you would be going 15-1 in the Horizon? Maybe, but doubtful. If you do, the RPI in the league will be so low...... along with the non-existent RPI boost of your home schedule......... you will still have to win the league tourney.
I can't speak of for all of the league yet, but Detroit upgraded it's RPI schedule for next year:
@ St John's
@ Temple
@ Miami (FL)
@ Syracuse
@ Pitt
Home= Akron and Drake coming in.
An impressive line-up of OOC opponents...
Quote from: vu72 on July 26, 2012, 06:26:31 PMOn the "full stength" question, we still don't know when Dority will be eligible but almost certainly not till the second semester. Same for Rossi, who might be granted a hardship so could play right a way or, he may have to sit the full year. We lost our backup point to transfer so Dority will be important. Tommy Kurth has battled heath issues and we really don't know how effective he will be as the backup
All of this was equally true 3 months ago, and in the period of time since you have consitantly been one of our biggest optimist; so don't start getting cold feet now. Yes we will need most of the elligibility and health concerns to break our way. And yes as always when the season starts we will need several critical baskets to rim in instead of out.
Bryce did all he could to ensure that with a little luck we might be a surviving bubble on selection Sunday, and that is all we can ask.
It is somewhat comforting to know that a great number of things might break wrong this year and we could still be a very high NIT seed. Its just a matter of playing the hand we get dealt with the maximum skill, and yes maybe a prayer or two along the way wouldn't hurt.
Quote from: staxawax on July 26, 2012, 04:09:16 PM
Quote from: zvillehaze on July 26, 2012, 09:41:14 AM
Based on that schedule, there's really no reason for Valpo to lose at home. They'll lose some games on the road, but if they can limit bad road losses, they could easily be 26-5 heading into the HL tourney. With the non-con schedule, that should be enough for an at-large bid, IMO.
I think you lose 4 of the road games. This means you would be going 15-1 in the Horizon? Maybe, but doubtful. If you do, the RPI in the league will be so low...... along with the non-existent RPI boost of your home schedule......... you will still have to win the league tourney.
Things obviously change from year to year, but Oral Roberts was the "first team out" in 2012 with a 27-6 record and RPI of 51. http://www.rpiforecast.com/teams/ct/Oral%20Roberts.html (http://www.rpiforecast.com/teams/ct/Oral%20Roberts.html) I'd argue it's a decent comparison, because the Horizon and Summit were fairly close last season in RPI. I'm just throwing this out for discussion, but I think it shows that it will take 25+ wins to even get at-large consideration. Certainly possible, but it doesn't leave much margin for error.
Quote from: vu84v2 on July 22, 2012, 02:29:36 PM
I generally agree that the road schedule will be good, though I would have liked to see one "upper half" team from a major conference. St. Louis, Murray State, and New Mexico are all good games. However (and unfortunately), I think it is doubtful that any more than one of those three agreed to a return game (if anyone did, my guess is it would be Murray State who would seem to have some greater scheduling challenges than the other two).
I am not aware that Loyola Marymount is confirmed on the schedule and I think that there were some previous posts that this game may get delayed 1-2 years. Furthermore, it would not be surprising if LMU tries to winge on the return commitment and find some way out of it. I hope that is not true, but that is a long trip for them.
Not to pick on this post, but if it hasn't been posted here before, according to ESPN, we will have return games from both Murray State and New Mexico. No word yet on St. Louis.
3. Valparaiso should be picked over Detroit for the Horizon League title now that Butler is out. Valparaiso won the regular season a year ago but lost to Detroit at home by 20 in the conference tournament title game. Crusaders coach Bryce Drew is attempting to enhance the nonconference schedule in the oft-chance the Crusaders can't win the conference/tournament. Drew said he has scheduled games against Nebraska, New Mexico, Murray State, Kent State, Missouri State and Oakland.
The games against Murray and UNM are quality RPI games and both will return in 2013. Drew is still trying to get Pitt to agree to a game. Drew would also like to get a home-and-home series with the return game being at the United Center in Chicago in his attempt to be creative for a strong series. Meanwhile, the Crusaders will be more formidable if Cal transfer 6-6 Alex Rossi gets a waiver to play immediately. Rossi, who played sparingly at Cal in three games, came home for family reasons. The Crusaders are already adding 6-1 South Florida transfer LaVonte Dority at semester. Dority played in nine games last season, playing 15 minutes a game.
VU72 - Glad that you pointed this out from ESPN and I hope that is true (they are right far more often than they are wrong). This certainly would point to Valpo making decent deals. Pitt two-for-one is potentially a good deal too, though I can't see Pitt generating as much "buzz" for a United Center game as any of the previous United Center opponents. It might be better to play Pitt at Valpo (if they would agree) or find someone else for that sort of two-for-one deal.
It still is an awful nonconference home schedule for this year.
Not to pick on your post, but was posted above (reply #70 by our vuweathernerd) ;)
I'll tell you one thing ESPN is wrong about: there is no "oft-chance" we won't win the conference. Maybe an "off-chance", but certainly not often.
Link (again): http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/61309/3-point-shot-we-have-to-send-our-pros (http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/61309/3-point-shot-we-have-to-send-our-pros)
When IUPUI plays Valpo at the ARC, that squad will include former Milwaukee Panther Ja'Rob McCallum, who scored 20 points at the ARC as a Freshman against Valpo (That was the Brandon McPherson steal and layup miracle game). According to this article, he may or may not be immediately eligible.
http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2012/08/01/former-marion-guard-transfers-to-iupui/ (http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2012/08/01/former-marion-guard-transfers-to-iupui/)
Quote from: vubballfan10 on August 01, 2012, 09:43:54 PM
When IUPUI plays Valpo at the ARC, that squad will include former Milwaukee Panther Ja'Rob McCallum, who scored 20 points at the ARC as a Freshman against Valpo (That was the Brandon McPherson steal and layup miracle game). According to this article, he may or may not be immediately eligible.
http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2012/08/01/former-marion-guard-transfers-to-iupui/ (http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2012/08/01/former-marion-guard-transfers-to-iupui/)
If you read the story Ja'Rob is quoted as saying
"I just knew it was a really good program and as far as getting players to the next level, (IUPUI) has had some success with that," he said. "I'll have a chance to join a good team and be a little closer to home to be around some friends and family."Does Ja'Rob think IUPUI will get him to the NBA? Is that the next level? Yes, there is George Hill, but who else from IUPUI has gone to the next level?
Quote from: bbtds on August 01, 2012, 11:04:05 PMQuote from: vubballfan10 on August 01, 2012, 09:43:54 PMWhen IUPUI plays Valpo at the ARC, that squad will include former Milwaukee Panther Ja'Rob McCallum, who scored 20 points at the ARC as a Freshman against Valpo (That was the Brandon McPherson steal and layup miracle game). According to this article, he may or may not be immediately eligible. http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2012/08/01/former-marion-guard-transfers-to-iupui/ (http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2012/08/01/former-marion-guard-transfers-to-iupui/)
If you read the story Ja'Rob is quoted as saying "I just knew it was a really good program and as far as getting players to the next level, (IUPUI) has had some success with that," he said. "I'll have a chance to join a good team and be a little closer to home to be around some friends and family." Does Ja'Rob think IUPUI will get him to the NBA? Is that the next level? Yes, there is George Hill, but who else from IUPUI has gone to the next level?
I agree that Ja'Rob doesn't not have the talent to play at the next level, even if he thinks he does. That is just his excuse for transferring. After sitting out almost a year, he knew that he had lost his starting job to Paris Gulley, and therefore wanted to transfer. He is a 6'0 shooting guard without the ball-handling skills to attack the basket. There is no reason someone like Erik Buggs wouldn't be able to shut him down. Regardless, being back in the ARC will bring back good individual memories for him after he nearly single-handedly won the game for the Panthers here as a Freshman.
Folks, isn't the term "off-hand chance?"
As for Ja' Rob, he's a streaky shooter (as many shooters are) but a below-average defender and a terrible ball-handler.
I wish him well at IUPUI.
[FWIW: "offhand chance" is a mixed idiom...like "a bird in the hand is worth beating around the bush"
"offhand chance" < 70K google hits
"off-chance" == 3.85 million hits
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/off+chance (http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/off+chance)]
A good article about Twitter and collegiate athletes from Mark Lazerus, which also mentions that there will not be a game with Pitt: http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/lazerus/14166052-452/lazerus-remember-whos-reading-on-twitter.html (http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/lazerus/14166052-452/lazerus-remember-whos-reading-on-twitter.html)
NAIA Robert Morris Chicago basketball schedule has Valpo on their schedule for a November 3 game. So that wiil be one of the exhibition games.
Quote from: swiftmutiny on August 06, 2012, 03:20:54 PM
A good article about Twitter and collegiate athletes from Mark Lazerus, which also mentions that there will not be a game with Pitt: http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/lazerus/14166052-452/lazerus-remember-whos-reading-on-twitter.html (http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/lazerus/14166052-452/lazerus-remember-whos-reading-on-twitter.html)
More good news. Lazerus confirms that St. Louis will be coming to the ARC in addition to Murray State and New Mexico.
Quote from: vu72 on August 07, 2012, 09:44:06 PM
Quote from: swiftmutiny on August 06, 2012, 03:20:54 PM
A good article about Twitter and collegiate athletes from Mark Lazerus, which also mentions that there will not be a game with Pitt: http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/lazerus/14166052-452/lazerus-remember-whos-reading-on-twitter.html (http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/lazerus/14166052-452/lazerus-remember-whos-reading-on-twitter.html)
More good news. Lazerus confirms that St. Louis will be coming to the ARC in addition to Murray State and New Mexico.
True, but according to the article all those games are in a future season(s) and not this year.
Quote from: valpo95 on August 08, 2012, 08:02:41 AM
True, but according to the article all those games are in a future season(s) and not this year.
We are playing at those places this year.
VU75, I did see that NAIA Robert Morris University, in Chicago, has us as their season opener. The NAIA has that strange rule where they can cross associations, and have the game count in their record, so it will obviously be a winnable game for us to see what our roster looks like. I looked at their roster, and they only have 7 players on the roster. They are all over 6' tall, so we don't really have too much of a height advantage, but we do have a depth advantage. Also, they have former UIC forward Tori Boyd on their roster, so he'll have some background on our program, though nothing recent. I can't wait to see our schedule finally posted, so we can all get an idea of how to predict what will happen, instead of just speculating on what we're hearing for prospective dates for games, and how they fit around tournaments and travel plans.
just snagged this tweet from valpobasketball with part of the schedule.
Quote@ Nebraska Nov. 15, @ Kent St. Nov. 18, & host a 4-team, 2-day pod @ the ARC with Chicago St., Nebraska-Omaha & Bethune-Cookman Nov. 23-24
Here's the press release from Nebraska:
http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=20&SPID=24&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205571521&DB_OEM_ID=100 (http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=20&SPID=24&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205571521&DB_OEM_ID=100)
UIC-January 9th & February 6th per a poster from their board:
http://uicflames.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=2768 (http://uicflames.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=2768)
Quote from: valporun on August 08, 2012, 09:46:01 AM[size=78%] VU75, I did see that NAIA Robert Morris University, in Chicago, has us as their season opener. The NAIA has that strange rule where they can cross associations, and have the game count in their record, so it will obviously be a winnable game for us to see what our roster looks like. I looked at their roster, and they only have 7 players on the roster. They are all over 6' tall, so we don't really have too much of a height advantage, but we do have a depth advantage. Also, they have former UIC forward Tori Boyd on their roster, so he'll have some background on our program, though nothing recent. I can't wait to see our schedule finally posted, so we can all get an idea of how to predict what will happen, instead of just speculating on what we're hearing for prospective dates for games, and how they fit around tournaments and travel plans. [/size]
Here is the link to Tori Boyd's LinkedIn page: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tori-boyd/27/b24/251 (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tori-boyd/27/b24/251)
It seems as though he was not in college for two years after leaving UIC in 2009. I am not sure if he played for Robert Morris in 2011-12, but he should be a top player for the team this season. As it has been 3 years since he has played in the Horizon League, Erik Buggs (5th year Senior) is the only Valpo player who Boyd played against. Other than that, the team is completely different.
Here are Boyd's stats against Valpo in 2008-09: 14.0 ppg, 29.0 mpg, 7.5 rpg,1.5 apg
Quote from: zvillehaze on July 26, 2012, 09:41:14 AMI noticed that Oren forgot to list the home game against Northern Illinois, so here's a quick summary based on the information in his article:
Horizon League games - 16
Non-con home games - 7 (IPFW, IUPUI, NIU, Chicago St, Bethune/UNO, GA Southern and BracketBuster)
Non-con road games - 7 (Murray, UNM, SLU, Oakland, Kent, Missouri St and Nebraska)
If all that is right, that's 30 games. The limit is 27 + up to 4 more in an exempt tournament, so Valpo may still have one more game to add (assuming that they'll get 4 games from the Nebraska "exempt tournament"). Anyone have details on that? So far, it appears the Nebraska, Chic St and Bethune/UNO games are part of that tourney, but since Kent State was mentioned earlier, is that game also part of the tournament? I guess we'll find out as schedules get released.
With the confirmation that Kent State is part of the Nebraska tourney, looks like Valpo has one game left to schedule. Any rumors?
Quote from: zvillehaze on August 11, 2012, 10:44:17 AMWith the confirmation that Kent State is part of the Nebraska tourney, looks like Valpo has one game left to schedule. Any rumors?
No but if we don't hear something shortly I will be very tempted to start one.
Common sense would dictate that what we should be looking for would be a good or better mid-major willing to come to the ARC this season to start a home and away series. But in the real world of VU and mid-major basketball, just what does common sense have to do with it?
Quote from: staxawax on July 26, 2012, 04:09:16 PM
Quote from: zvillehaze on July 26, 2012, 09:41:14 AM
Based on that schedule, there's really no reason for Valpo to lose at home. They'll lose some games on the road, but if they can limit bad road losses, they could easily be 26-5 heading into the HL tourney. With the non-con schedule, that should be enough for an at-large bid, IMO.
I think you lose 4 of the road games. This means you would be going 15-1 in the Horizon? Maybe, but doubtful. If you do, the RPI in the league will be so low...... along with the non-existent RPI boost of your home schedule......... you will still have to win the league tourney.
Sadly I think he's right...
Quote from: bbtds on August 01, 2012, 11:04:05 PM
Quote from: vubballfan10 on August 01, 2012, 09:43:54 PM
When IUPUI plays Valpo at the ARC, that squad will include former Milwaukee Panther Ja'Rob McCallum, who scored 20 points at the ARC as a Freshman against Valpo (That was the Brandon McPherson steal and layup miracle game). According to this article, he may or may not be immediately eligible.
http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2012/08/01/former-marion-guard-transfers-to-iupui/ (http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2012/08/01/former-marion-guard-transfers-to-iupui/)
If you read the story Ja'Rob is quoted as saying "I just knew it was a really good program and as far as getting players to the next level, (IUPUI) has had some success with that," he said. "I'll have a chance to join a good team and be a little closer to home to be around some friends and family."
Does Ja'Rob think IUPUI will get him to the NBA? Is that the next level? Yes, there is George Hill, but who else from IUPUI has gone to the next level?
I think he was refering to George Hill, and there was talk that Alex Young would get drafted this year. He was on mock draft boards going into the draft. It didn't happen but he did spend the summer with the Sacramento King and now he's off to Italy.
Quote from: justducky on July 25, 2012, 09:54:37 PM
Quote from: swiftmutiny on July 25, 2012, 07:40:01 PMGiven last year's accomplishments and all of the expectations surrounding this year's team, I doubt there will be a single sub 2k game unless we've scheduled Helen Keller's School for the Deaf and Blind on Christmas morning.
OK, how did you find out about the Helen Keller game? We all worked very hard to try to keep that one item under our hats to be released as a special Santa Secret Surprise. Expect to hear from campus security tomorrow concerning the source of the leak.
So our Santa Secret Surprise game turns out to be Purdue Calumet on Dec 22 instead of Helen Keller on X-mas morning, but which would have drawn more fans?
This is like finding those fluffy, pink, bunny-suit PJs under the tree instead of the BB-gun.
Quote from: justducky on August 28, 2012, 12:52:09 PM
Quote from: justducky on July 25, 2012, 09:54:37 PM
Quote from: swiftmutiny on July 25, 2012, 07:40:01 PMGiven last year's accomplishments and all of the expectations surrounding this year's team, I doubt there will be a single sub 2k game unless we've scheduled Helen Keller's School for the Deaf and Blind on Christmas morning.
OK, how did you find out about the Helen Keller game? We all worked very hard to try to keep that one item under our hats to be released as a special Santa Secret Surprise. Expect to hear from campus security tomorrow concerning the source of the leak.
So our Santa Secret Surprise game turns out to be Purdue Calumet on Dec 22 instead of Helen Keller on X-mas morning, but which would have drawn more fans?
This is like finding those fluffy, pink, bunny-suit PJs under the tree instead of the BB-gun.
:rotfl:
At least Valpo should go undefeated at home this year.