When (and How) Will the Valley Schedule Up?

(St. Louis, MO) – For the Missouri Valley Conference to move up in the national consciousness they have to break the scheduling code. This conference is stuck in a no-win situation when it comes to non-conference schedule-making.

Seven of ten MVC schools have strength of schedule ratings north of 200 or in the bottom 40 % of the nation’s teams. That makes the Valley the eleventh best league in their strength of schedule rating.  Where are they ranked in the RPI? It’s no coincidence they they are eleventh!

The Ohio Valley Conference is ranked 25^th in the SOS and 24^th in the RPI. There are no coincidences in this process. You have to play better teams.

MVC coaches told me this week that scheduling is difficult and the loss of the ‘Bracket Buster’ games and the ‘Mountain West Challenge’ made stiffening their schedules just that much harder.

Only Wichita State (83) and Northern Iowa (32) have schedules under 100 and only Illinois State (179) joins them under the 200 mark.

What is the problem? Valley coaches say the ‘money conferences’ won’t come and play in Valley buildings, but will pay MVC schools to play on their floor.  Since teams routinely win 65 % of their home games, the Valley coaches can only put their teams in ‘harm’s way’ so often.  So they look for early season tournaments and neutral floor festivals for some of those ‘statement game’ opportunities.

Missouri State Head Coach Paul Lusk says his staff worked very hard to get seven home games this year and that making the schedule is very time consuming.

 

Indiana State has an SOS of 229 which doesn’t sound strong, but the Sycamores have played 10 true road games and they are 7-3 in those games, including a huge upset  of then number 21 Notre Dame and losing at nationally ranked Saint Louis University. Lansing says he hates that part of his job, because he knows the BCS schools won’t ever come to Terre Haute, but he is committed to playing tough teams in big time arenas so that his players have that kind of experience.

 

Lansing says Commissioner Doug Elgin is working on future conference rivalry arrangements and realizes the BCS conference schools are in a ‘no win’ situation when it comes to scheduling Valley schools.

 

Illinois State Head Coach Dan Muller was an assistant at one of those ‘money conference’ schools and says he’s never really had trouble scheduling. As noted, the Redbirds do have the third best SOS in the league. Muller has managed to schedule games with nationally ranked VCU and Dayton and hosted their Big East and Big Ten neighbors DePaul and Northwestern. Two of those games were at Redbird Arena.

 

Unlike other MVC coaches Muller is glad the Bracket Buster game is gone, but would welcome something like the Mountain West Challenge back in the works.

 

What is the solution? Creativity is a must where this is concerned.

When will someone put together similar events to Northern Iowa and Drake’s big Wells Fargo event with Iowa and Iowa State?  Why doesn’t Scottrade Center in St. Louis host an event with Missouri, Illinois, Missouri State and Southern Illinois Carbondale. Or when will there be a game in down town Chicago with DePaul, Northwestern, Loyola and Illinois? In Indianapolis they could put together an Indiana, Butler, Evansville and Indiana State celebration.

Drake Head Coach Ray Giacoletti says Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Few had to get creative when trying to get games for his team and ‘The Battle of Seattle” was a tool he used to start that process.

 

These would be big money makers and give these teams a chance to knock heads with regional rivals. Kansas City’s Quest Center could host Wichita State, K-State, Kansas and Missouri. However, K-U won’t play Missouri anymore, so maybe you’d have to insert Nebraska and you’d have representation from four different conferences. It’s time to get these things done!

Do Good