West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[boatcapt]

And, half the teams are playing D3s.

Joe's played 5 games .... 1 tomato can.

Hummmm...They had a second tomato can on their schedule in the form of Salem but Salem backed out. IUP is also no stranger to scheduling D3's as tomato can games. Last D3 IUP victim was Bethany which they beat by 61 points!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP schedules teams for it's tourney to fill certain roles. The role of WVW and Concord is not to win or even give IUP a tough game. Their purpose is to give IUP someone to practice against at game speed and under game circumstances and give the team a 2-0 start.

And, half the teams are playing D3s.

Joe's played 5 games .... 1 tomato can.

[Scrub]

IUP schedules teams for it's tourney to fill certain roles. The role of WVW and Concord is not to win or even give IUP a tough game. Their purpose is to give IUP someone to practice against at game speed and under game circumstances and give the team a 2-0 start.

Even if that's true, Boat, isn't that the side of the schedule debate you inhabited for many years? You always argued that it was better for WLU to start out 2-0 against Clarion & Mansfield than to invite Kutztown, ESU, or the like down here to play. So even if Joe is scheduling IUP with an eye toward hosting the Regional, how is that different from the argument you and I (and others) had for years about Crutch's scheduling? You were always in favor of an easy non-con to rack up wins and try to host. Has your position changed?

[boatcapt]

In fairness, WVW was signed in to this deal a couple years ago when they weren't a total basement dweller. They did win at West Liberty in 2019.

Joe's kickoff tournament isn't overly attractive. You get IUP one night and UPJ the next. Good odds most teams are leaving Indiana 0-2.

IUP schedules teams for it's tourney to fill certain roles. The role of WVW and Concord is not to win or even give IUP a tough game. Their purpose is to give IUP someone to practice against at game speed and under game circumstances and give the team a 2-0 start.

[boatcapt]

You never know. Look at Bowie State this year (0-6 so far) ... always a solid non-conference game. Virginia State is also a perennial power and they've now lost 4 in a row.

Good teams do have outlier bad seasons, but that ain't WVW.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Yes...WLU has scheduled similar teams and they have been criticized for doing so. Other programs schedule equivalents of Clarion and Mansfield yet get praised for how tough they schedule.

You never know. Look at Bowie State this year (0-6 so far) ... always a solid non-conference game. Virginia State is also a perennial power and they've now lost 4 in a row.

[boatcapt]

Right. Just like when you guys would play Clarion and Mansfield.

Yes...WLU has scheduled similar teams and they have been criticized for doing so. Other programs schedule equivalents of Clarion and Mansfield yet get praised for how tough they schedule.

[Scrub]

In fairness, WVW was signed in to this deal a couple years ago when they weren't a total basement dweller. They did win at West Liberty in 2019.

Joe's kickoff tournament isn't overly attractive. You get IUP one night and UPJ the next. Good odds most teams are leaving Indiana 0-2.

And you're also correct that many of these home-and-home deals were signed before COVID thereby extending those deals into a new era so to speak. It took about 3 years for Daemen to pay off their visit after WLU went there a few years ago. But non-con games were restricted last year, so those agreements couldn't be paid off then.

[Scrub]

In fairness, WVW was signed in to this deal a couple years ago when they weren't a total basement dweller. They did win at West Liberty in 2019.

Joe's kickoff tournament isn't overly attractive. You get IUP one night and UPJ the next. Good odds most teams are leaving Indiana 0-2.

Correct. They were a tough out during that stretch of time when they had the 3 Serbian kids. They've fallen on hard times more recently (and I'm not sure the hard times are exclusive to the Athletic Department). I don't know how to check on this, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they severely cut scholarships in the athletic program to save $$ during uncertain financial times. The roster last night boasted a fair number of local WV products. The coach is clearly not being given the money to go get tough Serbian kids anymore.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Great points!

In fairness, WVW was signed in to this deal a couple years ago when they weren't a total basement dweller. They did win at West Liberty in 2019.

Joe's kickoff tournament isn't overly attractive. You get IUP one night and UPJ the next. Good odds most teams are leaving Indiana 0-2.

[IUPalum]

Right. Just like when you guys would play Clarion and Mansfield.

Great points!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

They are. They are the definition of "Tomato Can." We have to play them because they are a conference school but any quality non-MEC school that schedules them has to be questioned for their commitment to playing a tough schedule.

Right. Just like when you guys would play Clarion and Mansfield.

[boatcapt]

They are. They are the definition of "Tomato Can." We have to play them because they are a conference school but any quality non-MEC school that schedules them has to be questioned for their commitment to playing a tough schedule.

[boatcapt]

Not much of a contest. WLU 118 WVW 72. Hard telling much from this game except when WLU has wide open shots, we make them. 73 points in the first half alone. Games like this can get a little ragged in the second half and this was no exception. Second half looked like an open gym pick-up game.

[Layton]