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Probably GL's "alter ego," which he lost contact w/ long ago...

Here's a review of last night's game from the SEMO perspective. They've now lost to SIU, UE (both in OT) & ISU in close contests. Is this a school that the MVC should be examining as a potential "add?"


If we could add both Murray State and SEMO tomorrow I would approve of it 100%. SEMO doesn't have a ton of fan support currently, but they have football and are close enough to St Louis that they definitely have the potential to bring fans to the tournament. I've been in their arena and it's definitely nice enough to be considered MVC caliber. Valpo for example would kill to have an arena that's as nice as SEMO's.

In my view adding SEMO would be 50 times better than adding a UIC or Northern KY. Of course the private schools would never agree to it because they have football.

I'd also add that historically Murray State and SEMO have been rivals for many years; and SEMO would be natural rivals with SIU and Missouri State. In football SEMO and SIU already have a travel trophy. MO State and SEMO are also the only two FCS schools in the state of Missouri and adding another school in Missouri would be nice, considering how MSU in the southwestern corner of the state.
 

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I don't believe MVCBeat has promoted the following link, but this is probably his best work so far. He rates all the MVC Coaches. The 2nd longest tenured coach in the MVC (GL) gets ranked at #7. MVCBeat said "Lansing is probably the toughest coach to rank on this list. He has himself has admitted, “If they had the money, they would have bought me out three years ago”. I don't remember him being quoted as saying that before.


Thank you for reading!

That quote, I believe, came from an article in the Athletic. I originally saw it in the Indiana State preview article on Three Man Weave.

Athletic Article: https://theathletic.com/1578290/202...nture-36-hours-with-indiana-state-basketball/
3MW Article: https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/missouri-valley-basketball-preview-2021

Thanks!
 
Hello Sycamores,

I just posted the week 5 updated power rankings. I am also using the ten teams from my first article, "Every MVC School's Best Basketball Team of the 20th Century" to play out a simulated all-time MVC season using whatifsports.com. Part one of my two part series on that is also posted. Indiana State's participant is the 2001 team that won Arch Madness and an NCAA Tournament game.

Have a happy new year all.

 
The Week 6 Power Rankings and Tidbits are now posted.

I have also posted the second part of my All-Time MVC simulated season. The regular season has finished so you can see the final standings, where the 2001 Sycamores landed and their scores (although I'll go ahead and tell you it isn't good).

Really looking forward to next week when I play out my all-time season's Arch Madness complete with box scores and game summaries. I have already started and it has been a blast.

Thanks for those of you who are reading. Really cool to see multiple hundreds of views on my articles!


I still think ya'll have a decent team, but you definitely need to get something out of this weekend Best of luck.
 
Hello Trees,

There are two new posts this week. The first is my standard weekly power ranking, summaries and tidbits.

The second is one I am really excited about. It is Session 1 of my "All-Time Arch Madness" featuring all the teams from my "Every MVC School's Best Team of the 20th Century" article. For this, I have supplied a writeup and a box score for each game as provided by whatifsports. Session 1, Thursday Night, is posted, and I will be posting one session a day for the next five days. ISU makes its debut in today's article against 2006 Bradley. After this week, I'll get back to my normal stuff.

Thanks all. The link is here: https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/
 
Hello Sycamore Fans,

The new weekly power rankings and summaries are posted. This week's other article is about the "Top 30 Newcomers in the MVC in 20-21 (So Far)". Featured Sycamores include Howard, Larry and Miller. Also my "All-Time Arch Madness" was played out in five sessions over the course of last week and that is now finished and posted.

The link is here: https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/

Thanks all and good luck.
 

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For those that don't have the time to read MVC Beats article, here's the only take away from it.

26.) Julian Larry, FR, Indiana State (2.6 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, 19.8 MPG, 11 Starts): I haven’t been able to watch a lot of Indiana State’s games, so I don’t know why this freshman from Frisco, Texas, has started every one of the Sycamores’ games despite mediocre stats. He has been on the floor for nearly half of Indiana State’s minutes and has shot the ball at a 22% clip. I have to assume he is a glue guy type of player, as the guard has been held scoreless in four if the Trees’ last seven games and went five straight games without making a basket. The kid is still a true freshman and I am sure he will develop into a fine player, but the Trees’ commitment to him for this season right now with more experienced guards on their bench is puzzling.
 
For those that don't have the time to read MVC Beats article, here's the only take away from it.

26.) Julian Larry, FR, Indiana State (2.6 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, 19.8 MPG, 11 Starts): I haven’t been able to watch a lot of Indiana State’s games, so I don’t know why this freshman from Frisco, Texas, has started every one of the Sycamores’ games despite mediocre stats. He has been on the floor for nearly half of Indiana State’s minutes and has shot the ball at a 22% clip. I have to assume he is a glue guy type of player, as the guard has been held scoreless in four if the Trees’ last seven games and went five straight games without making a basket. The kid is still a true freshman and I am sure he will develop into a fine player, but the Trees’ commitment to him for this season right now with more experienced guards on their bench is puzzling.

Well it is good to see I'm not crazy.
 
Hello Sycamores,

I just made two new blog posts. One is the standard power rankings and tidbits for week 9. The other is "Every MVC School's Most Famous Basketball Alum". The Indiana State rep is.....well duh..... I also included an addendum for other famous alums at each school. Please let me know which ones I missed. I really enjoyed researching this one.

 
Hello Sycamores,

I just made two new blog posts. One is the standard power rankings and tidbits for week 9. The other is "Every MVC School's Most Famous Basketball Alum". The Indiana State rep is.....well duh..... I also included an addendum for other famous alums at each school. Please let me know which ones I missed. I really enjoyed researching this one.


Not bad but a small edit - John Wooden IS an alumnus; he was awarded a Masters Degree, during his 2-yr tenure as the Basketball Head Coach, he also coached the baseball team for one season, was the Athletic Director AND taught courses as part of his class load as a Grad Student.

Other Indiana State alums are actors Alvey Moore, Burl Ives; some records indicate Jerry Van Dyke took some courses... the Salukis may claim Randy "Macho Man" Savage but The Ultimate Warrior is a Sycamore! the late Kurt Thomas, arguably the best American male gymnast is an alumnus. Lastly, uber-accountant and money-launderer extraordinaire Marty Byrde is also a Sycamore.

incomplete list of Sycamore alumni: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indiana_State_University_people
 
You overlooked ISC Theta Chi/NTH-Otter Creek HS ('51) native DAVE MADDEN(aka Ruben Kincaid, Partridge Family Band Mgr) on the infamous 1970-74 TV series, which is still running on various channels.

Btw, Burl was also a Theta Chi.
 

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I had
Not bad but a small edit - John Wooden IS an alumnus; he was awarded a Masters Degree, during his 2-yr tenure as the Basketball Head Coach, he also coached the baseball team for one season, was the Athletic Director AND taught courses as part of his class load as a Grad Student.

Other Indiana State alums are actors Alvey Moore, Burl Ives; some records indicate Jerry Van Dyke took some courses... the Salukis may claim Randy "Macho Man" Savage but The Ultimate Warrior is a Sycamore! the late Kurt Thomas, arguably the best American male gymnast is an alumnus. Lastly, uber-accountant and money-launderer extraordinaire Marty Byrde is also a Sycamore.

incomplete list of Sycamore alumni: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indiana_State_University_people
I did not know that. He would have easily been the top guy for any other MVC school. Solid info.
 
Alright, there is a lot of new stuff this week at https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/.

-We are now on Twitter. Follow @BeatMVC

-New week 10 power rankings and tidbits. The tidbits this week are essentially a mid-major bubble watch so I figure that might be interesting to some people. https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/post/week-10-summary-power-rankings-mid-major-bracketology-update

-This week's other article is a check-in on the Larry Bird Trophy race (written primarily before this weekend's games, so it is already a bit out of date. I look at the top 15 candidates with at least one from each team. LaRavia and Key featured for Indiana State. https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/post/midseason-larry-bird-trophy-watch-top-15

Thanks everyone! Have a good one!
 
This week's posts are in!

-Week 13 Power Rankings are here: https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/post/week-13-summary-updated-power-rankings-mid-major-tidbits

-This week's featured article, "Top Ten Arch Madness Quarterfinal Games Of the Last Decade" is here: https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/...ness-play-in-quarterfinal-games-of-the-decade

-Week 2 MVFC Football Power Rankings are here (if you are into the sort of thing): https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/post/mvfc-football-week-2-power-rankings

Also follow me on Twitter at @BeatMVC

You think ISU rests guys on Saturday if their seed is locked up? Genuinely curious.
 

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Happy Arch Madness Week Sycamore Fans!

My final weekly power rankings are here: https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/post/week-13-summary-updated-power-rankings-mid-major-tidbits-1

My ranking of the top ten Arch Madness semifinal games of the last decade are here: https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/post/top-ten-arch-madness-semifinal-games-of-the-last-decade

I also did my week 3 MVFC Power Rankings if you're into that: https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/post/mvfc-football-week-3-power-rankings

You can follow me @BeatMVC on Twitter.

Will probably whip up an Arch Madness Preview and Predictions tomorrow so watch out for that as well.

Thank you to everyone who read my stuff this year!
 
I try not to post twice a week, but I am making an exception this week to promote my Arch Madness preview I just posted. I honestly think it is some of my better work. Check it out here if you want a primer for the weekend:

 
I wrap up my thoughts on Arch Madness and the UNI situation in this week's article. I also talk about the upcoming commissioner hire, possible alternative locations for Arch Madness, and the oft-discussed topic of expansion.


I intend to continue to create MVC content as Drake and Loyola's seasons continue. Plus I have an idea for a fun article next week. So I am not done yet. You'll also probably see something about Indiana State's hire, whenever that comes. But this does sort of feel like a season wrap up article in many ways.
 
Hello Sycamore Fans! I have three new articles for your consumption.

No new power rankings for hoops but I do have tid-bits. I pontificate on Loyola and Drake in the NCAAs, another weird COVID situation for the MVC at Hoops in the Heartland, Indiana State's reported new coach and a mid-major laden NIT field here:
https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/...e-indy-st-women-s-hoops-and-the-mid-major-nit

In my other piece I put together what a Mid Major NCAA Tournament might have looked like if the NCAA was split into two subdivisions in basketball similar to football:
https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/post/alternate-reality-mid-major-basketball-championship

Finally, I have my weekly MVFC power rankings here if you all are paying any attention to that haha:

As always, you can follow me on Twitter @BeatMVC

Thanks everyone!
 
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