(01-13-2017 08:11 AM)MinerInWisconsin Wrote:  

(01-13-2017 08:01 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  Preparing folks to watch MT's RPI fall off a cliff. The next seven games...

232
345
325
338
225
312
346

And hell our last game was against 296.

Heaven forbid we have a bad game and drop one of these. Will we even stay in the 30s after this stretch? This is why an airport meeting will eventually happen. There is no damn reason for a league of this caliber to have six 300+ RPI teams. We have more teams in the 300's than we have under 200.

MT has a very good team this year and really enjoyed the Raiders win over Mich St last year but if new conferences were forming based on the latest results, chaos would ensue. Do you think taking the best current rpi group at this point and forming a new conference would somehow solve this issue? How long would it be before another airport meeting was necessary and then another one. BS.

I see your point. Fantasy-league-conference discussions are just as unrealistic as fantasy-league teams. Fun to ponder, but we know it won't happen.

But I trust you also see TibL's point. In a conference that at least pretends to be a cut above, having this many programs just mailing it in when it comes to men's basketball is a huge problem. It is not just a bad reflection on those schools that aren't trying, but it also is a very unfair burden on schools that are -- such as Empty Sue, who this year is pretty much singlehandedly carrying the conference.

As TibL notes, a loss to even one of these bottom-rung programs is lethal to any at-large hopes. And even if they sweep (which they should, but bad games do sometimes happen), the overall corrosive effect of winning against these numbers will unavoidably be a negative consideration come March if Empty Sue fails to win out in the tournament.

Cheesehead Miner, be aware that this is not meant as a rap on UTEP. You guys are having a catastrophic year. But we all know you will be back in the thick of it once you get your leadership issues figured out. The fact that your AD felt compelled to issue that embarrassing fan letter shows that the UTEP faithful are applying heavy pressure to get things turned around in El Paso.

But SIX (!!!!!!) programs at 300+ rpi? That is not just a down year in all instances. That is a reflection of a conference that is allowing programs slide by when it comes to men's basketball.

That is unfair to the programs that are trying -- like Empty Sue.