BracketBusters

[Newshound]

Re: BracketBusters

That's the problem. Nobody is physically close to UNI in RPI except teams in its own conference. UW-Milwaukee and Wright State are the closest, but they have RPis much higher than UNI.

The Valley is the best conference in this Bracket Buster, from top to bottom. Because of that, UNI should and will be awarded a marquee game.

[Panther789]

Re: BracketBusters

St. Mary's lost by 7 last night @ Gonzaga.

A fairly solid performance, and I am not sure it will have a negative effect on their RPI, or their perception.

[Khan4Cats]

Re: BracketBusters

This is an outstanding board and the discussion is fantastic. I am a "CAT" fan and I know Davidson would love to play Butler in it home court (Belk Arena). Davidson's three loses this year were at Duke, at Oklahoma and at Purdue, although in the later case you could make the argument that the court was neutral. No top 25 team will play Davidson at Belk. However, I do not think my wish will come true. First and foremost ESPN is looking to make money. It will see match ups which will drive audience which is what advertisers pay for. Remember that the games will be played regionally. If University of Northern Iowa were ranked #1 and Davidson were ranked #2 and they played in Boston, no one would watch. We need to think business here. What is going to make ESPN and Disney the most amount of advertising revenue. Davidson (Curry) is attracting huge following in the Southern Conference. Chattanooga never had a crowd larger than 3,000 until yesterday when they drew 11,000. (Curry sank a 75 foot free throw ... yes 75 feet at the first half buzzer). Some of the teams are moving games to larger arenas. Davidson could be matched with anyone and its going to be a win for ESPN provided the audience is a basketball audience in an area where Davidson is well know. The same applies to Butler, Siena, St. Mary's, etc. If ESPN were smart they would focus on regional markets because that is where the games will be televised. Davidson and Butler will not be televised in Boston. Siena might. Northeastern would be. I think that the RPI match up will be second to the Regional match up. Utah is to far away. George Mason is in Virginia which is relatively close to Davidson. Utah State at St. Mary's makes sense. Siena would draw a big crowd in the metropolitan New York area and Upstate New York so that would be a match for Butler. I would love to see Davidson finally get to play a top 25 at home in Belk Arena or at least on a neutral location. Without Butler they will not have a chance at a higher seed than 8th because they only have Southern Conference games left. Who is physically close to Northern Iowa?

The televised games are national. The non-televised games are matched up as best they can regionally. But the top teams, the ones that will be televised on ESPN (which is national) will be matched closer to RPI's than a concern for too much regionalization. UNI has been on three televised BB games, hosting Western Michigan and Bucknell and traveling to Nevada.

[jman2004]

Re: BracketBusters

This is an outstanding board and the discussion is fantastic. I am a "CAT" fan and I know Davidson would love to play Butler in it home court (Belk Arena). Davidson's three loses this year were at Duke, at Oklahoma and at Purdue, although in the later case you could make the argument that the court was neutral. No top 25 team will play Davidson at Belk. However, I do not think my wish will come true. First and foremost ESPN is looking to make money. It will see match ups which will drive audience which is what advertisers pay for. Remember that the games will be played regionally. If University of Northern Iowa were ranked #1 and Davidson were ranked #2 and they played in Boston, no one would watch. We need to think business here. What is going to make ESPN and Disney the most amount of advertising revenue. Davidson (Curry) is attracting huge following in the Southern Conference. Chattanooga never had a crowd larger than 3,000 until yesterday when they drew 11,000. (Curry sank a 75 foot free throw ... yes 75 feet at the first half buzzer). Some of the teams are moving games to larger arenas. Davidson could be matched with anyone and its going to be a win for ESPN provided the audience is a basketball audience in an area where Davidson is well know. The same applies to Butler, Siena, St. Mary's, etc. If ESPN were smart they would focus on regional markets because that is where the games will be televised. Davidson and Butler will not be televised in Boston. Siena might. Northeastern would be. I think that the RPI match up will be second to the Regional match up. Utah is to far away. George Mason is in Virginia which is relatively close to Davidson. Utah State at St. Mary's makes sense. Siena would draw a big crowd in the metropolitan New York area and Upstate New York so that would be a match for Butler. I would love to see Davidson finally get to play a top 25 at home in Belk Arena or at least on a neutral location. Without Butler they will not have a chance at a higher seed than 8th because they only have Southern Conference games left. Who is physically close to Northern Iowa?

According to you, it sounds like we're screwed . . . no one left to play.

Sorry, but that's not the case. At this point in time, maybe I'm biased, but I think you can toss us in with the likes of Siena and St. Mary's. Maybe not Butler and Davidson . . .

I'm not worried. The top games, ESPN doesn't worry too much about keeping "regional". They want good games above all else. That's the point of Bracketbusters.

[PantherHawk]

Re: BracketBusters

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say we are gonna get UW Milwaukee or Siena for the Bracketbuster! Just a shot in the Dark!

[ceaser150]

Re: BracketBusters

St. Mary's best player broke his hand last night and will be out for a month. I wouldn't mind drawing them now.

[ceaser150]

Re: BracketBusters

In case you didn't know, I guess ESPNU has the Bracketbuster selection show on tonight at 5:30. I don't know if we will have access to the picks before that or not.

[jman2004]

Re: BracketBusters

Just think, a draw of St. Mary's or Davidson would mean a home game with them next season. That'd be a fun return game . . . assuming Stephen Curry sticks around.

[jman2004]

Re: BracketBusters

I'm hopeful for a good matchup, I don't see how we couldn't draw someone substantial, but looking at the ESPNU Bracketbuster webpage gives me mixed feelings. There's a shot of Stephen Curry on the main page, but the banner at the top is a collage of MVC players. I really want St. Mary's or Davidson . . . I think this team would be up for the challenge.

[Panther789]

Re: BracketBusters

I'm hopeful for a good matchup, I don't see how we couldn't draw someone substantial, but looking at the ESPNU Bracketbuster webpage gives me mixed feelings. There's a shot of Stephen Curry on the main page, but the banner at the top is a collage of MVC players. I really want St. Mary's or Davidson . . . I think this team would be up for the challenge.

I am not an expert, but I can't imagine that Davidson is possible.

[jman2004]

Re: BracketBusters

I am not an expert, but I can't imagine that Davidson is possible.

If St. Mary's would've beat Gonzaga, and Mills would've not gotten hurt, I think Davidson would've been a possibility.

I'm scared that Utah State will get St. Mary's, leaving us with Siena as our best shot.

[Khan4Cats]

Re: BracketBusters

Okay, my predictions:

Butler at Davidson (too juicy a match-up for ESPN to avoid)
Utah State at St. Mary's (match-up of top 2 western teams)
UNI at Siena (I'm hoping Elgin is lobbying hard to get UNI a chance for a resume building win if we falter in St. Louis-assuming we win the conference)
Northeastern at Fairfield (interesting regional match-up of high RPIs)
George Mason at Creighton (good match-up, gives CAA a higher RPI home team in exchange for our jumping over their top teams)
VCU at Niagara (another higher RPI match-up for the CAA)
Miami (OH) at Drexel (again, a trade for the CAA to get a high RPI opponent)
Buffalo at Evansville (MAC leader in an interesting match)
Illinois State at Nevada (redbirds get to trek across country prior to our return match-up :-))
Green Bay at Vermont (will be a lot of green in the stands)
Bradley at Wright State (not a bad trip for Bradley)
Boise State at Portland State (maybe someone will tell them they're cities and not states)
North Dakota State at Milwaukee (the Summit League leader gets a TV game)

anyways, just a guess.

[Khan4Cats]

Re: BracketBusters

If St. Mary's would've beat Gonzaga, and Mills would've not gotten hurt, I think Davidson would've been a possibility.

I'm scared that Utah State will get St. Mary's, leaving us with Siena as our best shot.

Siena would be a nice match-up. I think we can beat either Davidson or St. Mary's, but I think Siena is a more winnable game. They lost to Wichita State in a Florida tourney earlier in the year. It's on their court, but we will have MVC officials (maybe that's not good).

[ceaser150]

Re: BracketBusters

Okay, my predictions:

Butler at Davidson (too juicy a match-up for ESPN to avoid)
Utah State at St. Mary's (match-up of top 2 western teams)
UNI at Siena (I'm hoping Elgin is lobbying hard to get UNI a chance for a resume building win if we falter in St. Louis-assuming we win the conference)
Northeastern at Fairfield (interesting regional match-up of high RPIs)
George Mason at Creighton (good match-up, gives CAA a higher RPI home team in exchange for our jumping over their top teams)
VCU at Niagara (another higher RPI match-up for the CAA)
Miami (OH) at Drexel (again, a trade for the CAA to get a high RPI opponent)
Buffalo at Evansville (MAC leader in an interesting match)
Illinois State at Nevada (redbirds get to trek across country prior to our return match-up :-))
Green Bay at Vermont (will be a lot of green in the stands)
Bradley at Wright State (not a bad trip for Bradley)
Boise State at Portland State (maybe someone will tell them they're cities and not states)
North Dakota State at Milwaukee (the Summit League leader gets a TV game)

anyways, just a guess.

Hard to disagree with these matchups. UNI has been involved with Bracketbusters since it's inception, so I think that carries some weight and we will get one of the best 3 matchups on the board. I think it will be Siena, but I hope it is St Mary's. They will be an easier team to beat without their top scorer.

[UNIAlum95]

Re: BracketBusters

Okay, my predictions:
...
Buffalo at Evansville (MAC leader in an interesting match)
...

They already played at Evansville in November with EU winning 62-49. They won't do a rematch especially at the same venue.

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=283270339