These are my opinions of teams at this point in the season and should not be taken as a prediction about where teams will finish.

1. La Tech- road win at Ohio St. and solid win against UT Arlington
2. UTEP- neutral site wins against So. Illinois and CSU, #4 according to CBS.com RPI
3. MTSU- Won the Great Alaska Shootout with win over Toledo
4. UAB- Close road loss to Auburn, beat the other teams they were expected to beat
5. ODU- Have struggled after losing Stith to injury
6. FIU- Lost to Oral Roberts in OT and a tougher schedule so far
7. WKU- bad loss to Drake and a softer schedule than FIU so far
8. Rice- have struggled with injuries, have no really bad losses
9. FAU- have played a tough schedule so far with only one win
10. Charlotte- have only played two home games and won one of them
11. North Texas- at least they have won a game although the were against non D1 teams
12. Marshall- only because their losses were to D1 teams
13. UTSA- lost to UTPB
14. USM- lost to an NAIA team

I'm worried about the bottom third of the conference.

Some of those losses can do major damage.... to all.

Seems pretty fair.

No argument here. We've fought hard with a short bench so far - still could make some noise in conference if we get a guy or two back from injuries by January.

Fortunately, we don't have any bad losses yet. We need to reel off the next 7 before conference play to get back to what we expected.

(11-30-2015 02:11 AM)RUNVSFD MINER Wrote:  I'm worried about the bottom third of the conference.

Some of those losses can do major damage.... to all.

Yep, the middle to bottom is dragging down the league faster than the top can help keep us afloat.

That isn't to call out any particular schools, but its clear the bottom of the league is weighing heavily on our ability to form a mult-bid conference. Would like to know if the new commish is planning to address this or there are even any ideas out there to help get us all pulling the rope in the same direction?

We still have yet to play a home game. I feel lucky to not be one of the teams in the lower half at this point.

(11-30-2015 09:11 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(11-30-2015 02:11 AM)RUNVSFD MINER Wrote:  I'm worried about the bottom third of the conference.

Some of those losses can do major damage.... to all.

Yep, the middle to bottom is dragging down the league faster than the top can help keep us afloat.

That isn't to call out any particular schools, but its clear the bottom is of the league is weighing heavily on our ability to form a mult-bid conference. Would like to know if the new commish is planning to address this or there are even any ideas out there to help get us all pulling the rope in the same direction?

Probably nothing beyond scheduling. Basketball at this level is cyclical. Schools will be down for a while and then cycle to the top and vice versa. That's just the way it is. If there is a prolonged period of being down, that's for the school to address (coaching change, etc.). UAB was down a few years ago and then won the tournament last year. Charlotte is down, now, after clearing house and everyone leaving, but looks to bounce back over the next year or two. Not much the conference can do to address the cyclical nature of basketball at this level. Only a select few programs can expect to reload and stay on top every year. The hope is that your down cycles aren't so low and are further apart.

I am very happy with what Tech has done so far considering what we lost from last year, however I think MTSU is #1 after winning the Great Alaskan Shootout.

(11-30-2015 09:17 AM)TribeNiner Wrote:  

(11-30-2015 09:11 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(11-30-2015 02:11 AM)RUNVSFD MINER Wrote:  I'm worried about the bottom third of the conference.

Some of those losses can do major damage.... to all.

Yep, the middle to bottom is dragging down the league faster than the top can help keep us afloat.

That isn't to call out any particular schools, but its clear the bottom is of the league is weighing heavily on our ability to form a mult-bid conference. Would like to know if the new commish is planning to address this or there are even any ideas out there to help get us all pulling the rope in the same direction?

Probably nothing beyond scheduling. Basketball at this level is cyclical. Schools will be down for a while and then cycle to the top and vice versa. That's just the way it is. If there is a prolonged period of being down, that's for the school to address (coaching change, etc.). UAB was down a few years ago and then won the tournament last year. Charlotte is down, now, after clearing house and everyone leaving, but looks to bounce back over the next year or two. Not much the conference can do to address the cyclical nature of basketball at this level. Only a select few programs can expect to reload and stay on top every year. The hope is that your down cycles aren't so low and are further apart.

How does the A10 and Missouri Valley avoid letting the cycle drag them down then?

I'm not being the slightest bit hyperbolic when I say that we are likely the worst team in the country.

(11-30-2015 09:54 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(11-30-2015 09:17 AM)TribeNiner Wrote:  

(11-30-2015 09:11 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(11-30-2015 02:11 AM)RUNVSFD MINER Wrote:  I'm worried about the bottom third of the conference.

Some of those losses can do major damage.... to all.

Yep, the middle to bottom is dragging down the league faster than the top can help keep us afloat.

That isn't to call out any particular schools, but its clear the bottom is of the league is weighing heavily on our ability to form a mult-bid conference. Would like to know if the new commish is planning to address this or there are even any ideas out there to help get us all pulling the rope in the same direction?

Probably nothing beyond scheduling. Basketball at this level is cyclical. Schools will be down for a while and then cycle to the top and vice versa. That's just the way it is. If there is a prolonged period of being down, that's for the school to address (coaching change, etc.). UAB was down a few years ago and then won the tournament last year. Charlotte is down, now, after clearing house and everyone leaving, but looks to bounce back over the next year or two. Not much the conference can do to address the cyclical nature of basketball at this level. Only a select few programs can expect to reload and stay on top every year. The hope is that your down cycles aren't so low and are further apart.

How does the A10 and Missouri Valley avoid letting the cycle drag them down then?

Out of the 24 teams in these leagues, only 1, UMass, is funding a FBS team.

(11-30-2015 10:53 AM)BigSkyGuy Wrote:  

(11-30-2015 09:54 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(11-30-2015 09:17 AM)TribeNiner Wrote:  

(11-30-2015 09:11 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(11-30-2015 02:11 AM)RUNVSFD MINER Wrote:  I'm worried about the bottom third of the conference.

Some of those losses can do major damage.... to all.

Yep, the middle to bottom is dragging down the league faster than the top can help keep us afloat.

That isn't to call out any particular schools, but its clear the bottom is of the league is weighing heavily on our ability to form a mult-bid conference. Would like to know if the new commish is planning to address this or there are even any ideas out there to help get us all pulling the rope in the same direction?

Probably nothing beyond scheduling. Basketball at this level is cyclical. Schools will be down for a while and then cycle to the top and vice versa. That's just the way it is. If there is a prolonged period of being down, that's for the school to address (coaching change, etc.). UAB was down a few years ago and then won the tournament last year. Charlotte is down, now, after clearing house and everyone leaving, but looks to bounce back over the next year or two. Not much the conference can do to address the cyclical nature of basketball at this level. Only a select few programs can expect to reload and stay on top every year. The hope is that your down cycles aren't so low and are further apart.

How does the A10 and Missouri Valley avoid letting the cycle drag them down then?

Out of the 24 teams in these leagues, only 1, UMass, is funding a FBS team.

Correct and their budgets are in line with CUSA..

a few years back (they might still do it?) the MVC used part of their NCAA money to help schools schedule buy games..

home buy games

Again I don't know if it's changed over the last few years but the MVC mostly avoided top 30 schools unless it was in a tourney setting. They hardly ever took a game without a return

Quote:14. USM- lost to an NAIA team

Is it baseball season yet? :)

Looking forward to the USM game after Saturday.

I think MT has a chance to get 20-25 wins on the year. This Wednesday's game versus VCU will be telling.

(11-30-2015 11:23 AM)Ole Blue Wrote:  I think MT has a chance to get 20-25 wins on the year. This Wednesday's game versus VCU will be telling.

Yes it will, should be a good one. MT can avenge the whooping VCU put on ODU.

(11-30-2015 02:04 AM)stanman505 Wrote:  These are my opinions of teams at this point in the season and should not be taken as a prediction about where teams will finish.

1. La Tech- road win at Ohio St. and solid win against UT Arlington
2. UTEP- neutral site wins against So. Illinois and CSU, #4 according to CBS.com RPI
3. MTSU- Won the Great Alaska Shootout with win over Toledo
4. UAB- Close road loss to Auburn, beat the other teams they were expected to beat
5. ODU- Have struggled after losing Stith to injury
6. FIU- Lost to Oral Roberts in OT and a tougher schedule so far
7. WKU- bad loss to Drake and a softer schedule than FIU so far
8. Rice- have struggled with injuries, have no really bad losses
9. FAU- have played a tough schedule so far with only one win
10. Charlotte- have only played two home games and won one of them
11. North Texas- at least they have won a game although the were against non D1 teams
12. Marshall- only because their losses were to D1 teams
13. UTSA- lost to UTPB
14. USM- lost to an NAIA team

Good assessment.

Tech has already exceeded my expectations so far.

UTEP and Middle playing well and representing CUSA by winning those tourneys

ODU has picked-up where they left off last year, not being able to win games on the road but solid at home with a home court advantage. Last year they played those early ooc games at home but folded in conference when they had to play decent teams on the road.

Ken Pom has:

LT
ODU
MTSU
UAB
UTEP
Western Kentucky

huge drop off

Its such a tough thing to rank at this point with several of these teams playing no one or in some cases 1 decent team. I think this week will tell more. LT vs. Memphis, MT vs. VCU, UAB has a couple big games, etc.

At this point, I would go UAB, ODU, MTSU, LT, UTEP, Western Kentucky

(11-30-2015 01:00 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  

(11-30-2015 02:04 AM)stanman505 Wrote:  These are my opinions of teams at this point in the season and should not be taken as a prediction about where teams will finish.

1. La Tech- road win at Ohio St. and solid win against UT Arlington
2. UTEP- neutral site wins against So. Illinois and CSU, #4 according to CBS.com RPI
3. MTSU- Won the Great Alaska Shootout with win over Toledo
4. UAB- Close road loss to Auburn, beat the other teams they were expected to beat
5. ODU- Have struggled after losing Stith to injury
6. FIU- Lost to Oral Roberts in OT and a tougher schedule so far
7. WKU- bad loss to Drake and a softer schedule than FIU so far
8. Rice- have struggled with injuries, have no really bad losses
9. FAU- have played a tough schedule so far with only one win
10. Charlotte- have only played two home games and won one of them
11. North Texas- at least they have won a game although the were against non D1 teams
12. Marshall- only because their losses were to D1 teams
13. UTSA- lost to UTPB
14. USM- lost to an NAIA team

Good assessment.

Tech has already exceeded my expectations so far.

UTEP and Middle playing well and representing CUSA by winning those tourneys

ODU has pick-up where they left off last year, not being able to win games on the road but solid at home with a home court advantage. Last year they played those early ooc games at home but folded in conference when they had to play decent teams on the road.

ODU lost their best big man before playing neutral court games vs. Purdue (possible top 10) and St. Joes (top 80ish) and @VCU (top 40). Based on last year, there has to be some concern on their ability to win on the road, but they played 3 teams that are likely better than anything in the conference (maybe the top 1-2 in CUSA can match St. Joe)

They will certainly have enough chances to prove their meddle on the road. They have road games vs. W&M, Georgia State, Richmond, LT, and Western Kentucky.