isha73

The days of Valpo dominance may be gone for good, and as a Valpo alum I am actually okay with that. The top 6 teams are currently within 1.5 games of each other, so it is certainly anyone's guess as to who will win the conference tourney. Obviously, I would prefer that Valpo win, but regardless of who gets in I will be cheering for them just the same.

Hopefully, the Mid-Con will stop getting 16 seeds so they have a chance to advance past the first round. Recent history has shown that Mid-Con teams can be dangerous if they are better than 16 seeds. Of course, my favorite is Valpo's Sweet Sixteen run in 1998 (13 seed). In 2001, Southern Utah (14 seed) gave 3 seed Boston College a 68-65 scare.

Of course, Valpo lost by a combined 37 points in the first rounds of the 1999 and 2002 tournaments with 15 and 13 seeds, respectively. I just know that 16 seeds have ZERO chance of beating 1 seeds. With a conference RPI 6 spots higher than last year it is entirely possible that NCAA tournament respect will soon follow.

As for Centenary and Chicago State, who would have thought that a newcomer and a perennial doormat would have a chance to share a piece of the conference title? I am almost hoping the Cougars beat Valpo to force the 5-way tie at 10-6. With UMKC at 9-7 that would put 66% of the conference within 1 game of each other....even ESPN would have to take note of the parity.

Stl VU Fan

1. There is greater parity in the conference season, but right now only IUPUI and, to a lesser extent, UMKC have figured out how to be successful in the Mid-Con tourney (along with Valpo, of course). ORU and Oakland have just not figured it out yet, SUU had that two year aberration (2000 & 2001), WIU now needs to figure out how to earn a spot in the first place, Centenary failed in its first try and hasn't really had a chance yet, and Chicago State - wow, I've lived to see CSU's men's team win a tournament game! - has only just now gotten their first tourney win, need to see how they progress this year and in the future.

Kampe and Sutton both have to be feeling some heat. Kampe now gets to try it without Mike Helms who made a spectacle of himself today, but there's usually a reason why a guy feels like he needs to carry the whole load, and I am still waiting to see how Kampe gets his other players to play as a team and take responsibility for it.

Sutton needs to get over his allergy to zone defense big time, among other things. He just has not shown me much at tourney time.

This year's championship game will probably be IUPUI versus Valpo again. We have been in the championship game 9 straight years now, and IUPUI has been there the last 2 years. UMKC may come close to an upset tomorrow, but I don't think it is going to happen. You really have to hand it to Ron Hunter for the way he has taken his program to the next level in such a short time. Kampe has had about the same amount of time and is still stalled. And the other charter member of the Mid-Con is a shell of their former selves - Western Illinois. UMKC may make to the championship game this year, but even so, I still want to see how they do over the long run. Zvosec doesn't really impress me much as a coach. Kevin Jones and Derrick Thomas could easily become the third and fourth best coaches in this conference over the next couple of years, and with Watson gone, how well will UMKC do next year?

2. Having a winning non-conference record helps as much as improving the RPI's of the conference members. Previous year's 300+ RPI Chicago State has been replaced by this year's 300+ RPI Western Illinois. At least this year, nobody had to play WIU in the tourney. Until a couple of weeks ago, IUPUI was the only team in this conference with a prayer of getting a 15 seed. Whoever wins Tuesday night will be a 16 seed, I am quite sure.

On the other hand, if WIU can improve significantly next year, CSU can keep it's momentum going, and SUU can improve itself, and the conference can start scoring a few quality wins against power teams - all doable things - then the days of 16 seeds may indeed be over.

3. I doubt a 5 way tie would merit a mention on ESPN. Good RPI is what it takes. They could care less about our conference season. They have our men's championship game and that's it. I could be wrong, but that's my guess. Getting a TV deal with ESPN for conference games would be a better bet for getting more mention.

__________________
"A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgement through the ministrations of Christ with out a cross."
-- H. Richard Neibuhr

isha73

I read somewhere (I think it was CBS Sportsline or CNNSI.com) that Valpo should be a 14 or 15 seed, so we'll see about that. Personally, no matter what seed they get I wish the selection committee would give the Mid-Con a break from Kentucky. IUPUI got them last year and Valpo got them the year before. The fact that Valpo played Maryland in 1999 and eventual national champ Michigan State in 2000 makes you wonder how good the Mid-Con must get to make it out of the first round. Obviously, the 1998 Valpo team was good enough, and Southern Utah came close in 2001 to knocking off 3-seeded Boston College.

At this point I am happy Valpo is in, but how about a team OTHER THAN Kentucky in the first round???