https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/...6856269825


We should start one with the Missouri Valley now. I think that would be a good match up and a nice boost of the RPI. Since they only have ten teams, we could drop the four teams from previous season with lowest RPI from the challenge.

Loyola was the only one that was even decent. I say let them play our bottom 4 and the losing conference has to take those teams.


Conference Overall Streak
Loyola 15-3 0.833 32-6 0.842 L1
Southern Illinois 11-7 0.611 20-13 0.606 L1
Illinois State 10-8 0.556 18-15 0.545 L1
Drake 10-8 0.556 17-17 0.500 L1
Bradley 9-9 0.500 20-13 0.606 L1
Indiana State 8-10 0.444 13-18 0.419 L1
Missouri State 7-11 0.389 18-15 0.545 L1
Evansville 7-11 0.389 17-15 0.531 L1
UNI 7-11 0.389 16-16 0.500 L1
Valparaiso 6-12 0.333 15-17 0.469 L1

I think one vs the Sun Belt would be better.

That sounds a terrible idea for us.

I don't see this as being a bad idea for the conference. But instead of the challenge being 10 games, they should pick 4 a year, that they think will help strengthen RPI for the top tier programs. Missouri Valley or Sun Belt are the only options, which may lessen the appeal. Wichita State and Creighton aren't in the VALLEY anymore, which has severely crippled that league. Despite the run Loyola made last year, is it really worth it?

IMO the MVC is NOT crippled.They finished 8th last year with three teams in the top 100 and ZERO teams below 187.

For people suggesting Sun Belt, CUSA already has the scheduling alliance with Horizon & SBC so that's basically setup already. Would love to set one up with the MVC.

(10-18-2018 03:09 PM)Auburn_Blazer Wrote:  For people suggesting Sun Belt, CUSA already has the scheduling alliance with Horizon & SBC so that's basically setup already. Would love to set one up with the MVC.

I did not know that. UTSA plays Texas State from the Sun Belt, but we have always played TXST. That is the only Horizon or SBC team UTSA plays.

The CAA might be worth considering. It’s finished between 9th and 13th the last three years in conference RPI.

The MAC might be interesting since we both have 14 teams. Expanding on our scheduling experiment we could do it at the END of the year. The top team from CUSA plays home and home with the top team from the MAC, 2nd place plays 2nd place, and so on and so forth down the line. The top teams from the MAC are usually pretty solid so that could give you another couple games with teams that will win 20+ games. Just a thought.

(10-19-2018 05:43 AM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  The MAC might be interesting since we both have 14 teams. Expanding on our scheduling experiment we could do it at the END of the year. The top team from CUSA plays home and home with the top team from the MAC, 2nd place plays 2nd place, and so on and so forth down the line. The top teams from the MAC are usually pretty solid so that could give you another couple games with teams that will win 20+ games. Just a thought.

The MAC has 12 schools.