Game 25- @ Oakland

[Pounce Needs Pals]

Milwaukee 15-9 (6-5)
@
Oakland 17-8 (9-3)

When: Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016
Time: 6:00pm

TV: none/espn3
Radio: WISN 1130AM

[BBFran]

"TV: none"

I guess the Kay Felder effect only goes so far.

[MKEPanthers45]

Good chance we come out of this game 6-6. Never thought we'd only be .500 more than halfway through conference play.

[BBFran]

The team and the coaches haven't lost faith in themselves or each other. There's a long way to go -- let's see what happens.

[GoPanthers33]

Well...It will probably be a close game...

[nickpanther]

well since UNK cant be the postseason, theres only 9 teams that will be i the bracket. Top 2 get double byes and #3 gets a single bye. 4-9 play all 4 games. right now we'd be th 4 seed thanks to the head to head win over GB. we'd play UIC in the 4-9 game. Gb would play Cleveland State in the other game on that side. Chalk hold it would be us vs GB in round 2 winner gets Valpo in the semis. Tough road, but remember. we were a 5 seed in 2014, and got hot and beat GB in their building and beat Wright St in their house for the first time in 9 years to go dancing.

[BBFran]

Not saying you're wrong Nick but the official HL bracket does not show the 3 getting a bye. It may be that NKU can play in the HLT even though they can't reach the NCAA. I think the rest of the league might be unhappy if that's the case -- that's a dangerous team as they showed against us and OU.

Can anyone confirm or refute?

[hailvu2014]

Feb 8, 2016 23:27:40 GMT -6 BBFran said:

Not saying you're wrong Nick but the official HL bracket does not show the 3 getting a bye. It may be that NKU can play in the HLT even though they can't reach the NCAA. I think the rest of the league might be unhappy if that's the case -- that's a dangerous team as they showed against us and OU.

Can anyone confirm or refute?

Hey there! Hope that you don't mind a Valpo fan replying to this, but I believe that NKU will be playing the Horizon League tournament, and if they were to win it all, the runner up would go to the NCAA tournament. (This same situation occurred last year in the SWAC with Southern being ineligible for the NCAA Tourney and thus Texas Southern did not even have to win the SWAC championship game to go to the NCAA tournament.) There was an article somewhere that addressed this situation, but I couldn't find it tonight. I'll edit this post, if/when I do.

However, here is the press release on the 10-team bracket: www.horizonleague.org/blog/mens-basketball-tournament-logo-bracket-unveiled?page=6&teams%5B%5D=15
Here is the HL Tournament Central with a 10-team schedule: motorcitymadness.horizonleague.org/tournament-central
Here is NKU's official schedule, which includes the HL Tourney in Detroit: www.nkunorse.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball
And, NKU does have their own reserved section for the tourney as well: motorcitymadness.horizonleague.org/tickets


Good luck against Oakland on Thursday! They are beatable at home. Also, if any of you are going to the game, the contrast between the dark court/seating bowl and the LED lights can be tough on the eyes. Just an FYI. 

[nickpanther]

thanks for clearing that up. they cant go to the dance,but they do get to play in the postseason, as far as confee nce is concerned. i'm guessing they cant go to the NIT and other tourneys as well?

[ghostofdylan]

Yes, the Horizon League had to dangle a neutral-court tournament and immediate conference-tournament eligibility in order to lure the highly coveted NKU program out of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Great job, Jon and everyone else at league headquarters!

[BBFran]

Thanks halivu. Good info.

dylan -- I'm not going to complain about how the league got NKU to join -- I think they are a good addition and lord knows we desperately needed to get back to 10 teams. I just don't understand why the league didn't revert to a standard weekend paired team travel schedule. That is so much better for both the student athletes and the fans. I assume it was because of the outstanding TV package ESPN gave us. D'oh!

[ghostofdylan]

My understanding is that the Horizon League started scheduling Monday games because it didn't want to go up against higher-profile college leagues or the NBA.

In that case, why not go to Sunday morning or Wednesday afternoon games?

[FTA1982]

How dare they intrude on Monday night SWACTION?

[Pounce Needs Pals]

Keep in mind years past when the HL had 10 schools with Butler and Loyola, HL conference play started with just two games in December. Now, they are rushing in 18 league games, that must end by Feb 28, so the conference tournament can start. Still, I don't understand all the Monday games as they are attendance killers in all sports, pro or college.

[PantherU]

Feb 9, 2016 18:59:24 GMT -6 Pounce Needs Pals said:

Keep in mind years past when the HL had 10 schools with Butler and Loyola, HL conference play started with just two games in December. Now, they are rushing in 18 league games, that must end by Feb 28, so the conference tournament can start. Still, I don't understand all the Monday games as they are attendance killers in all sports, pro or college.

I never even considered that. You're a smart guy, Matt.

I actually liked having that first week of games at the beginning of December. It was cool that we were the first conference to get into its own season, and I always thought the conference didn't do a good job of promoting it. I mentioned on here and in other spaces that the Horizon League should have promoted it as an "Opening Weekend" or some snazzier title. They could have pitched it to ESPN. Now, with ESPN3 here, we could most certainly get them to go along with the deal, since all it would cost them is the $150 or so for one of their image guys to make a graphic. The HL could even get a title sponsor for the Opening Weekend and make a *little* cash.

Hell, I'm sending it to JRL now.

Add it to the list of complaints for the League office.