MVC Bias

**RocktheDome** · 03-05-2008, 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by cyclone#1

A quick question for you...when was the last time a MVC team made it to the Final Four?

The answer might tell you why the MVC doesn't get the respect you think it deserves.

MVC teams are given much lower seeds than their BCS league counterparts. A 4 loss Drake team will probably be around a 7 seed. A 4 loss BCS team can fight for a 1-2 seed. It makes things a little harder when you are placed in a position to lose.

And since when did the Final Four become the barometer of success in the tournament? Apparently Iowa State has a ways to go to earn respect in basketball.

The MVC has sent several teams to the Sweet Sixteen in the past 2-3 years, with SIU, Bradley, and Wichita State all going within the last two years. Our conference has done quite well when given the higher seed (as SIU and Wichita State showed) and they have done well even as the underdog.

**cyclonenum1** · 03-07-2008, 06:30 AM

Originally Posted by RocktheDome

MVC teams are given much lower seeds than their BCS league counterparts. A 4 loss Drake team will probably be around a 7 seed. A 4 loss BCS team can fight for a 1-2 seed. It makes things a little harder when you are placed in a position to lose.

And since when did the Final Four become the barometer of success in the tournament? Apparently Iowa State has a ways to go to earn respect in basketball.

The MVC has sent several teams to the Sweet Sixteen in the past 2-3 years, with SIU, Bradley, and Wichita State all going within the last two years. Our conference has done quite well when given the higher seed (as SIU and Wichita State showed) and they have done well even as the underdog.

The seeding system...especially at the very top (1s and 2s) and the very bottom (15s and 16s) is pretty "right on" every year...I don't believe a 1 has ever lost to a 16 and I think a 15 has only beaten a 2 a handful of times since the Tournament went to 64/65 teams back in the mid 80s. Most years, the Final 4 usually has all upper level seeds (1s though 4s). Much as they like to "sell" the "Cinderella story" of the tournament, most of these teams are in that middle of the seeding (5 through 12) where the teams are pretty equal (can you say..."bell curve") and matchups really count...and usually "Cinderella" only wins one or two games. So, don't "knock" the seeding.

A 4 loss MVC team gets seeded lower than a 4 loss team from a power conference because it is easier to lose only 4 games in the MVC than in a power conference. Put Drake in the Big 12 or the Pac 10, for example, and they would have significantly more losses. The top team in the MVC is never one of the four or eight best teams in the country. MVC teams do not deserve higher seeds and it will be proven out again this year as they all lose out relatively early in the tournament again.

I never said the Final Four was the "barometer of success"...you asked "Why no respect for the MVC?"...my answer is simple...the conference is weaker...the top teams have no shot at winning a National Championship (as proven by the history of a lack of making Final Fours). The top teams in the power conferences are the teams you see fighting for, and making, the Final Four (and hence winning Championships) pretty much year in and year out.

Could you keep a straight face trying to claim Drake deserves a 1 or 2 seed? Please!

**wonkadog** · 03-07-2008, 02:17 PM

Wow...game...set...match. Nice job!

**Wesley** · 03-07-2008, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by RocktheDome

MVC teams are given much lower seeds than their BCS league counterparts. A 4 loss Drake team will probably be around a 7 seed. A 4 loss BCS team can fight for a 1-2 seed. It makes things a little harder when you are placed in a position to lose.

And since when did the Final Four become the barometer of success in the tournament? Apparently Iowa State has a ways to go to earn respect in basketball.

The MVC has sent several teams to the Sweet Sixteen in the past 2-3 years, with SIU, Bradley, and Wichita State all going within the last two years. Our conference has done quite well when given the higher seed (as SIU and Wichita State showed) and they have done well even as the underdog.

Usually higher seeded NCAA tournament teams beat lower seeded teams because they are ..... Better.

**cyclonenum1** · 03-21-2008, 02:34 PM

Any more questions about the supposed bias against the MVC after the Drake game today?

**EatemupISU** · 03-21-2008, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by cyclonenum1

Any more questions about the supposed bias against the MVC after the Drake game today?

Wait a sec. You post this right after the best game of the tourney so far (hard-fought, gritty, amazing back-and-forth action) to jump on a three-week old thread?

And somehow a 12 beating a 5 (not uncommon, really) proves something about the MVC? Anything can happen in the tournament. When we lost to Hampton it didn't mean that the Big 12 sucked.

I bleed cardinal-and-gold, but I just can't believe some of the sour-**** Drake haters posting on here today. That team was a joy to watch, and brought some excitement to a horrible hoops season for the state of Iowa.

**CycloneErik** · 03-21-2008, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by EatemupISU

Wait a sec. You post this right after the best game of the tourney so far (hard-fought, gritty, amazing back-and-forth action) to jump on a three-week old thread?

And somehow a 12 beating a 5 (not uncommon, really) proves something about the MVC? Anything can happen in the tournament. When we lost to Hampton it didn't mean that the Big 12 sucked.

I bleed cardinal-and-gold, but I just can't believe some of the sour-**** Drake haters posting on here today. That team was a joy to watch, and brought some excitement to a horrible hoops season for the state of Iowa.

A lot of people can't handle anyone else having success, so they have to tear them down as soon as something happens. Not real reasonable, but unfortuneately, very real.

**cyclonenum1** · 03-21-2008, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by CycloneErik

A lot of people can't handle anyone else having success, so they have to tear them down as soon as something happens. Not real reasonable, but unfortuneately, very real.

I really couldn't care less about any success Drake may be having. However, I take exception to people trying to equate the MVC to a power conference like the Big 12. Maybe you should go back and read all of the posts in this thread. Put Drake in the Big 12 and they likely do not make the NCAA tournament.

**CycloneErik** · 03-21-2008, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by cyclonenum1

I really couldn't care less about any success Drake may be having. However, I take exception to people trying to equate the MVC to a power conference like the Big 12. Maybe you should go back and read all of the posts in this thread. Put Drake in the Big 12 and they likely do not make the NCAA tournament.

Smart team. Plays well together. Shoots the lights out. Hard to say, but maybe they do make it.

**ISUChippewa** · 03-21-2008, 03:29 PM

I haven't seen a whole lot of people on here trying to make the case that the MVC is equal to the Big 12, cyclonenum1. We'll never know if Drake would have succeeded in the Big 12 this season, but that doesn't mean that every single team not playing in the big, bad BCS conferences automatically sucks and is worthy of scorn and derision.