ESPN Chat Alert: Mid-major Hoops Hour Noon CT

[ColoradoPanther]

For those that actually get tired of talking about coaching rumors (technical term: rubbish), check out Kyle Whelliston's chat today. He can be found at a coffee shop hot spot near you! He's hanging in CF today getting ready to cover tomorrow's big game.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=10847

Noon Central start time

[panther2317]

What coffee shop in CF has wireless??? Hmmm...think he's at Panera?

[Newsbreaker]

The mini-Cinema 16 has wifi, he's there. Saw an add in the paper, and it looked reputible!

(kidding, obviously)

[uninisg]

Does Cup of Joes have wireless, that would be my beat over Panera's if it does

[SMK4UNI]

Hasn't even left for Iowa yet, he is in an airport. There was a Bucknell poster that is looking for keys that would upset the Panthers. I think the Panthers are the ones looking for the upset, aren't they?

[GBison89]

Only because of the darn polls (not that I'm really complaining!) You guys have a much better RPI (did any way) which on paper along with your conference strength makes you the upset target not us.

Ken Pomeroy has you at 7.5 point favorites with a 74% chance of winning

GO BISON

[merkpanthers]

Here's some of the transcript from the chat for all to read. I tried to include most UNI and MVC questions.

Kyle Whelliston: (1:02 PM ET ) Hey, Hoops Nation, it's finally here... the weekend we've all been sleeplessly waiting for. It's K-Dub here live from the Philly airport (sitting in a corner, stealing Wi-Fi from some elite SuperMiles club)... I'll try to contain my excitement for the next hour and answer your questions before I hop on a plane. I see we've got lost of questions already about the weekend's matchups, MVC bids, and some assorted hate-mail too. I was Bustin' when I wrote this, so sue me if I type too fast.

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Sam (Ames, IA): After UNI's recent losses where do you see the panthers being seeded in March? Or if you see them being seeded. Also who's your winner of the BU UNI game?

Kyle Whelliston: (1:03 PM ET ) The winner is me, because I get to go! But seriously, I've never been a big Bracketology guy, if I wanted to do puzzles I'd break out the 2000-piece jigsaw of London Bridge down in the basement. I'm all about getting into the Dance firstmost, and trying to avoid the 14-16 seeds second. If UNI wins tomorrow, then makes it to at least the Valley semis, they'll likely have the juice they need to get in. And they certainly wouldn't have to worry about being a 14-seed.

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Daryl: Phoenix, AZ: Kyle- Everyone keeps talking about Dana Altman & Creighton clearly being the top program in the MVC over the past several years, but if you look at what SIU has accomplished as well as what they have gone through (3 coaching changes as a result of winning) aren't they the real top Dawg in the MVC ?!?! Thx- Daryl

Kyle Whelliston: (1:04 PM ET ) They are, Daryl, but it's only because Drake hasn't been very good lately. And Creighton are the top birds, UNI's the best cat team, etc. I think the fact that you can make a debate of this, and raise valid points, proves how awesome this league is. You could argue with a Creighton fan all night long about who's better, and both of you have cases that stand up well to cross-examination. And neither of you would get a decisive win.

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Luke Yanule Cape Caneveral Fl.: Kyle, how do you think the Bucknell Bison will fair over the weekend in Northern Iowa? Who is this defensive gem they call the glove, Abe Badmus for Bucknell? I remember he had a great game vs Kansas last year with 11 assists and O turnovers. He crushed Aaron Miles. This year I watched him shut down Jerry Mac and the 'Cuse as well.

Kyle Whelliston: (1:10 PM ET ) I think UNI's the better team on paper, but Bucknell is catching them at a really good time -- they've lost two in a row and may be at the tippling point of a mini-slump. And I'm with you on Badmus, that Chicago kid can rip up defenses by running through them. Perfect example of a point guard who wins games without showing up in the boxscore. They really call him The Glove? Classic.

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Mike (Boston): Kyle, I know Bucknell @ UNI is getting a lot of pub., but the game I'm looking forward to is Wichita St./GMU. Who you got?

Kyle Whelliston: (1:17 PM ET ) Yo Mike, sorry about yesterday. I'm going to be getting updates on this one every five minutes... this is GMU's trial by fire. I think Wichita has the horses to put them away, but if the Patriots find a way to gut this one out, they are legitimate with a capital L.

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John May (Carbondale, IL): Kyle, Joe Lunardi says that 4 Missouri Valley teams will get into the "Big Dance". Do you agree with this even after the recent upsets that have occurred?

Kyle Whelliston: (1:19 PM ET ) We're setting ourselves up for a huge disappointment with all this Four-Bid Valley talk. As you mentioned, upsets have happened and that only proves how tough the league is. But saying "Four-Bid Valley" has been one of those catch-memes that pundits have been using to seem sensationalistic or erudite, or to file it so they could say "I told you so" later. I'd like to know how many of these writers have actually seen these teams play, and aren't going by some stats they've read somewhere. Me, I've tried to downplay the possibility, because I'd hate to see the league end up with three again and have the snubs talked about more than the accomplishments of the teams that get in.

Kyle Whelliston: (1:19 PM ET ) So how's this: let's not worry about how many teams from the Valley will get in, because it's how far they'll go that matters. I'm going to go out on a limb and set a goal... two MVC teams will go to the Sweet 16, and one will go to the Elite Eight: you heard it here first. If that happens, we'll be talking about that for years. Leave the bid number talk for the Big Ten fans.

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Josh (Wichita, KS): The Shockers have an rpi of 17, if they win out in the regular season how far do you think they need to go in the MVC tourney to get a for-sure bid in the big dance?

Kyle Whelliston: (1:31 PM ET ) Win tomorrow against George Mason, don't lose to Illinois State or Drake, and make a run to at least the semis in St. Louis, that's my guess at this point. But seriously, folks, I'm getting all these questions about "locking up an at-large"... I'm no insurance salesman. Win your tournament, and you're in, simple as that. Eyes on the prize.

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Bill (Cedar Falls, IA): Hey Kyle, I heard your in Cedar Falls and was just wondering how your enjoying your stay and what do you think of the Valley's chances of staying at the top of the mid major conferences. Is this just a once in a life time moment in valley history or do you think the valley has the staying power to be great conference year in and year out.

Kyle Whelliston: (1:36 PM ET ) Yo Bill, not there in heaven/Iowa yet... just waiting for my flying machine. I think this comes down to coaching retention. If all this sports-talk-radio coach-poaching crap about Lowery and Altman and McDermott, et al. filling high-profile vacancies amounts to nothing, then there's a better chance that we'll be having this little 4BV discussion next year too. When you take a closer look at this conference, the secret is really the coaches.

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Chip (Harrisburg, PA): Kyle, just a quick statement about the announcement that the NIT will provide automatic berths to all regular season champions who fail to win the NCAA Tournament. In my opinion, this is a great and very fair move by the NCAA, one I'm glad to see. I'm guessing you'd agree.

Kyle Whelliston: (1:42 PM ET ) It is a great move, and it will ease the stress levels in "campus site" conferences like the NEC and Big South. But when it comes down to it, this will affect only a handful of teams. There's still very little mid-major representation on the panel, and the NIT is going to be little more than a Mountain West/C-USA/A-10 Challenge. I've had a bad feeling about this all year, and I think the real victims will be runner-ups from leagues like the MAC and CAA.

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Chris (Denver): K-Dub, of course I'll be watching my Panthers against Bucknell tomorrow morning. But what other bbuster game is flying under the radar that I should catch later in the day?

Kyle Whelliston: (1:46 PM ET ) Yo Chris, if you can get to a TV set with ESPNU on it, try to catch the Northwestern State-Utah State game, which will be on at a reasonable hour for you in the MST. Two solid teams that play with poise and share the ball well, any UNI fan would appreciate that.

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Dan (Green Bay, WI): What changes, if any, would you like to see made to the current Bracket Buster format?

Kyle Whelliston: (1:48 PM ET ) More teams. Let's get 200 in there.

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Grant (Bound Brook, NJ): Kyle since you're going to my favorite game tomorrow what are my Bison's keys to upsetting the Panthers?

Kyle Whelliston: (1:54 PM ET ) Two: exploit the size advantage down low. If McNaughton gets a double-double, Bucknell probably wins. Secondly, the aforementioned Abe Badmus. He's got the poise to run the team in what will be a packed, hostile UNI-Dome, and if he doesn't turn over the ball much, they have a great chance.

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Baldwin, WI: All this MVC talk is making me crazy, how do you possibly only give 2-3 bids from that conference. It seems if you're going to give 2 you have to give 5 at how even they all are. What are your thoughts?

Kyle Whelliston: (1:55 PM ET ) I've tried to outline the exact scenarios how it could happen in my columns, but one of those was no upsets. I'm not going to blame Indiana State for ruining a 4BV, I think those wins over SIU and UNI prove that this is the best league in the country top-to-bottom. There are still certain things that very much need to happen for the Valley to get four bids: like a BracketBusters sweep tomorrow, and four 20-win teams going to the semifinals in St. Louis. Do I hope it happens? Hell yeah, but I know that plenty of undeserving power-schools are going to end up going. That's the way it is.

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Joe (Parkersburg, IA): Kyle- Check out Z's Restaurant in Waterloo (right next to Cedar Falls) for the best pizza in Iowa. Just a friendly tip.

Kyle Whelliston: (1:57 PM ET ) Booked and noted!

Kyle Whelliston: (1:58 PM ET ) Hey, that's all the time I have, sorry to anybody who got left out, really busy chat today. Enjoy the BracketBusters games this weekend and remember that signal theft of ESPNU is wrong.