(10-23-2020 12:17 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

(10-23-2020 11:39 AM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(10-22-2020 09:09 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

(10-21-2020 04:42 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  I think the hopeful addition of SFA and Sam Houston State would bring immediate respectability to the WAC in basketball; along with the recent success of Abilene Christian and past success of Lamar. An addition like this would put the WAC on par with the Missouri Valley.

This isn't true.

If you remove Chicago St (NMSU/GCU/UTRGV/UVU/CBU/SU + SFA/ACU/SHSU/Lamar), the WAC still comes out far behind the Missouri Valley.

8 of the top 10 NET hail from the MVC while the MVC's median ranking (129) outpaces the WAC's median ranking (227) by nearly 100 spots.

48 UNI (MVC)
77 SFA (WAC)
98 LUC (MVC)
102 BU (MVC)
104 NMSU (WAC)
105 INST (MVC)
119 MOST (MVC)
138 VU (MVC)
156 DU (MVC)
162 SIU (MVC)
194 ACU (WAC)
196 ILST (MVC)
200 CBU (WAC)
226 SU (WAC)
228 SHSU (WAC)
250 UVU (WAC)
260 UTRGV (WAC)
264 UE (MVC)
267 Lamar (WAC)
278 GCU (WAC)

Also, going by NCAA Tournament wins by these 20 schools:

Since 2015
MVC 6
WAC 1

MVC had 2 teams finish top-15 in the postseason coaches poll (#7 Loyola-'18, #14 UNI-'15).

These are numbers from 2019-2020, a bad year for the WAC and a season that was cut-short by Covid-19. The three previous seasons from the WAC were much better. The MVC got four tournament wins from Loyola of Chicago in that magical post-season run of 2017-2018. The MVC is a good basketball conference, but they have become a one-bid conference. Losing Creighton and Wichita State has turned them into a one-bid conference.

The MVC is a better conference from top to bottom because they have been around longer. The WAC is in the developmental stage of their conference. NMSU is the basketball power in the conference, but eventually GCU, CBU, Seattle, UVU and UTRGV will fully develop their programs and hopefully the D2 move-up schools will develop as well.

The WAC has schools with healthy basketball budgets, good facilities and good markets. The WAC just needs stability to get to where the MVC has been and is. But without the post-season tournaments, the season was incomplete and 2019-2020 season is not a good reference point.

MVC isn't better because it's "been around longer". If that was the case, a dozen other conferences who've been around a long time would be at the MVC's level. And leagues don't suddenly get better because they're in markets -- the Horizon is littered in bigger markets and they've plummeted in the rankings.

The MVC is where it's at because of its success in the NCAA Tournament and fan support -- top to bottom.

6 of the 10 MVC schools have advanced to the Sweet 16 since 1998.
MVC has won 50% of its NCAA Tournament games in the last 15 years (and this doesn't count WSU/CU).
MVC ranks 10th in both average attendance and average conference tournament attendance.

The WAC has a long way to go to reach that level -- it'll take much more than stability.

NMSU and GCU could slide with ease into the top of the MVC in budget, fan support, etc. Where the separation comes is the depth of the two leagues.

The point that the 2019-20 isn't a good reference point because of the pandemic cannot be serious. The entire regular season was completed. You don't want it to be used as a reference point because you don't like the data it spits out.

You are missing the point. NMSU had a good basketball team in 2019-2020. They had a number of early season injuries that held them back. I thought that team could make a run in the tournament. Had they hit their free throws against Auburn they would have beat a 2019 final four team last year. The 2018-2019 season had three WAC schools in the top 100 in Net Ranking. The 2018-2019 season had zero MVC schools in the top 100, with Drake on top at 127. Overall, the MVC was ranked 14th and the WAC 16th in Net conference rankings. The MVC had a range in Net Ranking from 127 to 208. The WAC had a range from 40 to 225, with the exception of Chicago State, which came in at 353, last in the nation. Chicago State was the reason the MVC was ranked higher in Net Conference ranking over the WAC in 2018-2019.

Don't give me the history of the MVC. What are they recently? A single bid conference for the past four seasons. They have fallen behind the MWC. I said they were a good basketball conference, but they are not what they once were.