Slu Vs Vcu And Mizzou Vs Fla

[joeD]

Yeah, it's me. Get over it.

Okay.

First, which game(s) are you fellas going to watch? Tough choice, I know. What are the odds that our two (main) Missouri teams are on national TV playing games of SIGNIFICANCE?

Me? Well, first, I am watching my two daughters play high school BB (last regular season game). But, I can guarantee that I will be on my phone checking scores, then, after, proceeding to the first available bar (or home) to finish a BIG Tuesday.

Thoughts: SLU vs VCU is the game to watch. As a SLU alumnus, I have no bias. Look at SLU though fellas! Get on board. Have you seen them play? They play as a team. They are at the top of their conference, yet, not one of their players is in the top 20 in scoring. Even though they are the "local" team, they still play second fiddle to Missouri and, yes, Illinois, in the St. Louis media.

Boo hooing much Joe? Yes. Chip on the old shoulder, huh Billiken fan? Possibly.

However, right now, SLU is playing the best basketball in the state. They have a great opportunity ahead against VCU, who are as tough as anybody in the country.

I will not watch Mizzou. I feel like a spurned lover who has seen the clay feet of my idol. Mizzou is frustrating to the extreme. Too hard for me to watch. Lame, yes. But...

I'm a SLU Billiken.

PS: I purposely did not go into specifics regarding player performance, coaching strategy, media input, etc. regarding our two teams.

[moguy1973]

I've thought SLU should have been ranked a couple weeks ago after they beat Butler. They could be spoilers in the tourney if they hold things together down the stretch.

[joeD]

I dislike the word "spoiler." In terms of sports, it infers that, in this case, a team is "inferior" to their opponent. I get what you mean, but I think SLU is tougher than a lot of fans and media give them credit. Tough and relentless D, good guard play, pretty resilient offense, underrated coach. SLU is good. Period.

[ozark trout fisher]

I will be watching the Missouri game, as usual. I really do like SLU, but I'm a Missouri fan first and foremost regardless of the record...It's absolutely nothing against a very good SLU team and has little or nothing to do with Mizzou being in a so called "power conference" (the Atlantic 10 may be the slightly better conference this year, actually)- it's just how it's always been for me and probably always will be. And honestly, if this is a bad and frustrating season for Mizzou, we've really let ourselves get used to the good times. Because by the standards of your average program, Missouri is having a very good season. But we've all been spoiled ever since 2009.

But since this post is primarily about St. Louis, they have a chance to earn there ranking now. Within the next few days, they play VCU and Butler. If they win both, they deserve to be ranked. They probably need at least a split to stay safe to make the tournament, though it's not completely necessary. Really, both Missouri and St. Louis are in similar situations...probably tourney bound but needing to earn their way in from here on out, though I'll grant you St. Louis' played has probably played better lately. But for whatever reason, I think that St. Louis' RPI is much worse than their level of play (45), which is slightly troubling. But if they can continue to play well, and get wins against Butler and/or VCU, they can make that not matter.

It's even (remotely) possible that if they both get in, the two could meet in the first round of the tournament in an 8 vs. 9 or 7 vs.10 game. That would be a fun game, to say the least. Short of that, I hope SLU makes a long run in the tournament. I thought they were given a somewhat unfairly low seed last year, and it made it very tough for them to make a deep run. Chances are the seed will be low again, but maybe the draw will be better, and the team should benefit from last year's tournament experience. No 1 or 2 seed should be excited about facing SLU in the second round.

[joeD]

I love college basketball. March Madness this year will be superior. I just don't think there is a lot of separation between, say, a 3 seed and a 12 seed. I really don't. So many good and worthy teams. Which means that there will be a LOT of disappointed teams come selection Sunday. Hopefully SLU and Mizzou will be in. there is no lock.

[ozark trout fisher]

I agree that March should be exciting this year. There are no truly great teams (outside of maybe an underrated Florida team) so there is a lot of room for unexpected teams to find their way to the final four. I'll be surprised if a team a 5 seed or worse doesn't make the final four this year. It's just been one of those seasons. The #1 ranked team in the country lost to a team that came into the game 2-7 in conference play. The second ranked team in the country this year lost to Florida Gulf Coast. The third ranked team is a member of the West Coast Conference, while the fourth ranked team (Michigan State) didn't start playing elite-level basketball until about two weeks ago. So plenty of chances for upsets.

[Flysmallie]

I'd rather watch that high school game than either one of these.

[OzarksRiverman]

Well, Arkansas ran FL out of Bud Walton... So let's see how Mizzou handles the Gators?

[Smalliebigs]

Mizzou is a huge under achiever and IMO does not deserve a tourney bid as of right now. If they win the SEC tourney then they should go or if they can beat Florida, otherwise it's NIT for them. Haith has no control of his team, mostly Pressey.....out of control. The SEC this year sucks royally for basketball and Missouri can only beat one half assed team on the road????? thats garbage with their talent, so for me it's on the coach, you can't control these loosers and you don't deserve a bid. That beeing said I will not watch Missouri, they couldn't beat a garbage Arkansas team, LSU or Texas A&M.....you suck.

SLU on the other hand is the opposite of Mizzou, team play all the way, with gaurds that actually run the offense and wow, play defense???? who would have thunk it. A group of players that respects their coach and it shows on the floor. Screw the RPI and the media they don't know dung unless it's from North Carolina or ESPN told them so. SLU will make the tourney, unlike all the garbage SEC teams like Arkansas,Kentucky, and Missouri and I will be watching them.

[ozark trout fisher]

Mizzou is a huge under achiever and IMO does not deserve a tourney bid as of right now. If they win the SEC tourney then they should go or if they can beat Florida, otherwise it's NIT for them. Haith has no control of his team, mostly Pressey.....out of control. The SEC this year sucks royally for basketball and Missouri can only beat one half assed team on the road????? thats garbage with their talent, so for me it's on the coach, you can't control these loosers and you don't deserve a bid. That beeing said I will not watch Missouri, they couldn't beat a garbage Arkansas team, LSU or Vanderbilt.....you suck.

SLU on the other hand is the opposite of Mizzou, team play all the way, with gaurds that actually run the offense and wow, play defense???? who would have thunk it. A group of players that respects their coach and it shows on the floor. Screw the RPI and the media they don't know dung unless it's from North Carolina or ESPN told them so. SLU will make the tourney, unlike all the garbage SEC teams like Arkansas,Kentucky, and Missouri and I will be watching them.

Wow. Mizzou is 18-7, 7-5 in a conference very comparable to the Atlantic 10. Mizzou is not a garbage team by any stretch of the imagination, and yes, short of something akin to a collapse they will be in the tournament come March. SLU is playing better now but Mizzou got big time wins out of conference (like the victories over a ranked VCU team and an Illinois team that is currently tearing through the Big 10 on a path to a high tournament seed), and that part of the season still does matter come selection Sunday. Schedule strength is also important (Mizzou knows about that after last year), so the fact that they scheduled a whole bunch of tough games pre-conference is helping them, even though a couple are losses. Go play some top 25 teams out of conference, and you are rewarded. Missouri is benefiting from that this year. Personally I'm a Missouri fan, always will be. I watched from beginning to end the 5-7 football season this year so 18-7 in basketball doesn't seem so bad.

I don't love the RPI or the other metrics used, but how else are you objectively going to seed teams in a tournament when they aren't playing similar schedules...when there's a better way they will probably use it.