LH

A10fan

I think we can learn that we need a real commissioner.

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XU #20 Most Valuable Program,#17 Most prestigious program,FIRST to be put on ignore by posting legend MuddyWaters

#1 Envied program by the UD triumvirate of idiocy

Box and Won

Buried in the Illinois State preview:

What a name!

bdance

I read the article - fluffy - and still can't square what I read with the title of this thread. What can the A10 learn from the MVC? Nothing. Field good teams and good things will happen. When your Standard Bearer plays one of the weakest OOC schedules in D1, then goes undefeated in conference, then gets toasted early in the Dance by a mediocre opponent, then your conference just isn't that good. No amount of RPI gaming can disguise that fact.

Edit: Maybe that "Expert take" sidebar prompted the title here.

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Ohio has given birth to 22 Astronauts. What is it about this State that makes people want to flee the Planet?

LH

The MVC is looking to get 4 NCAA bids again this season. When has the A10 had 4 two years in a row? The MVC must be doing something right and the A10 needs to figure out what it is as the MVC is passing the A10 by.

bdance

Isn't that special. Of course "looking to get" 4 bids and actually doing it are not quite the same thing now are they?

When has the MVC? Never, I wager.

As for the A10:

1995-6: 4 bids
1996-7: 5 bids
1997-8: 5 bids

We're two years removed from having 2 teams in the Elite 8 (another 4 bid year). How many times has the MVC done that? Again, I suspect the answer is: Never.

They had a nice year. Better than the A10's for sure. It remains to be seen if they can duplicate it. That was the gist of that article you introduced. It also remains to be seen if they again have a better year than the A10. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. If they do they still have a long way to go to catch up to the post-season performances of the best years of the A10. And I think it would take more than 1 or even 2 years to say they've passed the A10. In the meantime, the A10 has nothing to learn from the MVC.

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Ohio has given birth to 22 Astronauts. What is it about this State that makes people want to flee the Planet?

LH

What the A10 did a decade ago was nice but recently the A10 has had a one bid year and two 2 bid years while the MVC had three two years ago and 4 last year. They have a good shot at 3-4 this year as well and I do not think the A10 does. So, again I ask, what is the MVC doing right that the A10 is not?

VARhody

Just win and the rest takes care of itself.

I am talking about the rest of the a-10, uri will be good again in 2008 eight we are on the ten year plan.

The ten year Plan
1988 sweet sixteen
1998 elite eight
2008 final four!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The ten year Plan
1988 sweet sixteen
1998 elite eight
2008 Baron has got to go

bdance

It was. You posed a question, I provided you with the answer. I notice you didn't answer any of my questions however.

I see. Two years ago the MVC had 3 bids. But the A10 had 4 that very same year. And 2 of those went to the Elite 8. Nice try at selective memory. I guess when I'm done here I'll go take a closer look at the MVC since you're clearly being disingenuous.


It all seems to come back to the one year. Best ever for the MVC. We agree that last year was better for the MVC, by far. But one year does not a trend make. All you have is one year.

Sure 'nuff.

They most certainly do have a good shot at 3-4 this year. As well.

Again, what do you to hang your hat one, except one year? The answer - I answered before, remember? - is still : NOTHING!

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Ohio has given birth to 22 Astronauts. What is it about this State that makes people want to flee the Planet?

bdance

I'm really not looking to bash the MVC. Seriously. After a quick search I see they've had 8 straight years of 2+ bids. Nice. And I see now that they've done some creative stuff with their NCAA money, rewarding teams for good RPI's. And hiring good refs - okay you got me there, the A10 definitely could learn from that. We should be banding together and spend our energies bashing the real enemy - the BCS.

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Ohio has given birth to 22 Astronauts. What is it about this State that makes people want to flee the Planet?

LH

B,

You need to calm down and understand a few things. First, I am an XU fan and A10 guy and I am not a fan of the MVC. Secondly, the MVC has out shined the A10 for the last two years and looks to do so again this year. The MVC is doing something right and the A10 is falling further and further behind. Again, what is the MVC doing to get these multiple bids that the A10 is not? Is it turnover in coaches, facilties, geography, what? The A10 is not what it was 10 years ago and something needs to be done to get it there again.

bdance

If the A10 falls short of expectations again this year then maybe I'll start getting a bit worried. The last couple of years have been brutal. But I think some of the core problems have been taken care of. Some horrid coaches have been canned, and one who stayed too long finally let it go. The replacements look good and just need a little time. We're still flailing about on the best way to make the A10 tournament work, but at least they're trying different things. IMHO they ought to just go back to Dayton and be done with it.

On the downside: The referees are clearly a problem. The commish probably needs to be replaced. The schools should be putting some pressure, or rewards,or both, on the teams that are expected to do well so that we never ever see a repeat of that fiasco that was GW's OOC last year. It wasn't until I started googling the MVC an hour ago that I realized just how proactive and innovative they have been since about 2001 (A usatoday, of all places, writeup of the MVC, was eye opening http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colle...nt-hopes_x.htm).

But as far as calming down? NEVER! Where's Red? Better yet, where's that cracker ExploreSteve. I deleted a good rant against that clown the other day, and I'm sorry I didn't leave it up.

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Ohio has given birth to 22 Astronauts. What is it about this State that makes people want to flee the Planet?