Hello There, Guest! (LoginRegister)

Post Reply 
A Stronger OVC
Author Message
Bruin2002 Offline
Special Teams
*

Posts: 784
Joined: Mar 2009
Reputation: 14
I Root For: Belmont
Location: Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Post: #1
A Stronger OVC
The EKU board has a nice little summary for the OVC next year. He posted it prior to Neubauer leaving, but it is good reading. You can find it here: http://www.maroon-nation.com/forum/viewt...f=5&t=1918

Reading message boards from around the OVC, I see where the consensus seems to be that the bottom half of the league needs to step it up to raise the league RPI. Being a numbers guy, I decided to compare the top half and bottom half from sister leagues with the NCAA RPI.

Average RPI per team for the top half of the league:

C-USA 111.3
Horizon 118.2
Sun Belt 143.7
OVC 145.8

By this we can see that the league’s top half needs to step it up too. I think Murray may have a slight dip if Cam bolts to the NBA, but they will still be competitive. I feel Belmont, EIU, and UT-Martin will improve over last year. EKU lost a lot of players and a coach, so they will be an unknown. I feel Morehead will be better, but I expected more of them this past year (and their fans did too). I feel the top half will pick it up a little next year.

Now the bottom half average per team:

C-USA 258.3
Horizon 264.5
Sun Belt 278.2
OVC 305.7

It looks like the entire league needs to step it up a bit. TSU, APSU, and JSU are the biggest hits to our RPI. I feel TSU will gradually get better with Ford getting a year under his belt. JSU picked up a 4 star transfer. I don’t feel that alone will make them a contender, but it may improve them a bit. I don’t see much movement in APSU. SEMO and SIUE are seeking to get better by changing coaches, but it may take some time.

I think the OVC will be stronger next year, but I'm not sure how much. What do you think?
04-01-2015 05:05 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


BruinsFan31 Offline
Bench Warmer
*

Posts: 165
Joined: Nov 2012
Reputation: 1
I Root For: Belmont
Location:
Post: #2
RE: A Stronger OVC
I disagree. I think the OVC will be substantially weaker next year. Just look at the top 3 teams (Belmont, EKU, and Murray St.) in the OVC, since our arrival. EKU loses Walden, Stutz and Coach Neubauer. Murray State loses Fairell, Williams, Sapp, and possibly Payne. And despite Prohm's new contract, I still think he will end up at Bama. Right there alone, the OVC loses 4 of the 5 first team all conference players...potentially including the conference player and coach of the year. Furthermore, 3 of the 5 second team all conference players were seniors. I expect Belmont to dominate next year and take our 3rd OVC title in four years. Murray has an uphill battle (but you can never count them out completely), EKU you will not compete, and EIU was a fluke. UTM will be our biggest challenge next year, IMO.
04-02-2015 09:56 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


Bruin2002 Offline
Special Teams
*

Posts: 784
Joined: Mar 2009
Reputation: 14
I Root For: Belmont
Location: Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Post: #3
RE: A Stronger OVC
I appreciate your views and won’t say they aren’t wrong. They could very well be right. But, isn’t a majority of first and second teams usually senior heavy? Conference USA has 7 of their top 10 players listed as seniors. With the Sun Belt, 3 of the first team were seniors and of the other 2, one has declared for the draft and the other is likely to follow.

Transfers can be a negative or a positive. With more than 300 deciding to transfer this year, it will take a while before we can determine how well the OVC ends up with transfers. Belmont did well with Taylor Barnett end Drew Windler was a nice pick up previously. Murray has done well with Sapp. UT Martin has done well too. This coming year, Murray has a nice guard coming in from Texas and Jax State has a nice 4 star player joining them.

Some transfers may never amount to anything, some are in development and losing them hurts in the long run. Other transfers are nice players that leave for unknown reasons or coaching changes. So far, the OVC has done fairly well. Below is a sampling of teams with RPIs in the top 150 with the number of players they are losing in addition to seniors.

Other

32 – Dayton loses 3
45 – Tulsa loses 2
56 – Richmond loses 2
79 – Toledo loses 3
84 – George Washington loses 2
86 – Northeastern loses 2
112 – Chattanooga loses 3
117 – Western KY loses 2
136 – American loses 4
137 – Bucknell loses 2
04-03-2015 05:01 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Bruin2002 Offline
Special Teams
*

Posts: 784
Joined: Mar 2009
Reputation: 14
I Root For: Belmont
Location: Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Post: #4
RE: A Stronger OVC
The OVC took a hit recently as a couple of big men left their teams. Charles Jackson left Tennessee Tech. The 6-10 center averaged 13 points and nearly 10 rebounds a game. Chris Olivier left EIU. The 6-8 power forward averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds a game. These players leave a big hole for their coaches to fill.
05-05-2015 04:38 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 




User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


Copyright © 2002-2024 Collegiate Sports Nation Bulletin Board System (CSNbbs), All Rights Reserved.
CSNbbs is an independent fan site and is in no way affiliated to the NCAA or any of the schools and conferences it represents.
This site monetizes links. FTC Disclosure.
We allow third-party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information when you visit our web site. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g., click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice or to opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit http://www.networkadvertising.org.
Powered By MyBB, © 2002-2024 MyBB Group.