OT: D1

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Who would have thought Jeff Capel would own the North Carolina Tar Heels?

That's 5 of the past 6 meetings in Pitt's favor.

[Ship69]

Who would have thought Jeff Capel would own the North Carolina Tar Heels?

That's 5 of the past 6 meetings in Pitt's favor.

North Carolina has been a big flop so far this year. The Hubert Davis reviews have not been nearly as enthusiastic as they were last season. ACC is much inferior to the Big 12 and possibly the SEC this year.

[Chuck Norris]

Who would have thought Jeff Capel would own the North Carolina Tar Heels?

That's 5 of the past 6 meetings in Pitt's favor.

Joe Lunardi’s latest bracket has a Pitt-Penn State play in game. That would be fun.

Pitt needed that one badly. The home loss to FSU is a metrics killer.

[Chuck Norris]

How bad is the NEC right now? Merrimack and Stonehill, neither of whom is out of their probationary transition period and eligible for postseason play, sit 1-2 in the conference standings. If you put IUP or West Liberty in that conference tournament today and gave them immediate post season eligibility, they’d probably be heading to the big dance.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

How bad is the NEC right now? Merrimack and Stonehill, neither of whom is out of their probationary transition period and eligible for postseason play, sit 1-2 in the conference standings. If you put IUP or West Liberty in that conference tournament today, they’d probably be heading to the big dance.

It's not good. I've heard (unconfirmed) a particular PSAC team scrimmaged St. Francis this year in a closed door practice and it was ugly.

Not NEC but along the same lines, I've seen two Robert Morris games in person this year. The top 5 teams in our Region would hammer them. Andy Toole has had some good teams out there in Moon, but this particular year he wouldn't even come close to winning the PSAC.

It's not a coincidence these bush league 'D1' programs won't play any of our good teams. Robert Morris played West Virginia Wesleyan -- maybe one of the worst teams in all of D2 this year -- instead of scheduling a PSAC team (or a better MEC team).

I just hope and pray none of our stars get sucked in to the notion of transferring up to play at some 'D1' team in a ghetto conference like the NEC. Playing at IUP in front of 3,000-some fans (in a way nicer arena) is a much better experience. It also provides a much better college experience. I wonder how many kids actually visit some of these NEC campuses before signing.

[Fightingscot82]

It's not good. I've heard (unconfirmed) a particular PSAC team scrimmaged St. Francis this year in a closed door practice and it was ugly.

Not NEC but along the same lines, I've seen two Robert Morris games in person this year. The top 5 teams in our Region would hammer them. Andy Toole has had some good teams out there in Moon, but this particular year he wouldn't even come close to winning the PSAC.

It's not a coincidence these bush league 'D1' programs won't play any of our good teams. Robert Morris played West Virginia Wesleyan -- maybe one of the worst teams in all of D2 this year -- instead of scheduling a PSAC team (or a better MEC team).

I just hope and pray none of our stars get sucked in to the notion of transferring up to play at some 'D1' team in a ghetto conference like the NEC. Playing at IUP in front of 3,000-some fans (in a way nicer arena) is a much better experience. It also provides a much better college experience. I wonder how many kids actually visit some of these NEC campuses before signing.

Remember that RMU is now in the Horizon. Increases their March Madness share payout by 20-25%.

[IUPHawks24]

Remember that RMU is now in the Horizon. Increases their March Madness share payout by 20-25%.

Why does it increase their March Madness share payout? Doesn't a Horizon team have to win games in the NCAA Tournament for that to occur?

[Fightingscot82]

Why does it increase their March Madness share payout? Doesn't a Horizon team have to win games in the NCAA Tournament for that to occur?

The money is divided up based on "shares" of the revenue from the previous year. Shares are determined by how far your conference goes in the tournament and how many teams it had in it, thus why P5 pushed so hard for the playoff games. It forced the little guys into play-in games and allowed for more teams from the bigger conferences. The money then goes to the conferences who determine how to distribute it (usually evenly). I haven't looked to verify if its worked out, but when I was at RMU the push was to upgrade conferences to increase their payout. This was 4 or 5 years ago but there were a handful of conferences discussed with estimated increases between 20 and 25%.

[IUPHawks24]

The money is divided up based on "shares" of the revenue from the previous year. Shares are determined by how far your conference goes in the tournament and how many teams it had in it, thus why P5 pushed so hard for the playoff games. It forced the little guys into play-in games and allowed for more teams from the bigger conferences. The money then goes to the conferences who determine how to distribute it (usually evenly). I haven't looked to verify if its worked out, but when I was at RMU the push was to upgrade conferences to increase their payout. This was 4 or 5 years ago but there were a handful of conferences discussed with estimated increases between 20 and 25%.

Got it. Maybe the NEC wasn't sharing the revenue equally or taking a cut before it reached the schools? My original point was that neither the Horizon or the NEC has won NCAA games to my knowledge recently (The NEC might actually have a PIG win, if that counts as a full share) so I don't see how the share would be significantly different, if it's simply being split between leaguer members.

[Ship69]

Got it. Maybe the NEC wasn't sharing the revenue equally or taking a cut before it reached the schools? My original point was that neither the Horizon or the NEC has won NCAA games to my knowledge recently (The NEC might actually have a PIG win, if that counts as a full share) so I don't see how the share would be significantly different, if it's simply being split between leaguer members.

Mount St. Mary's moved from the NEC to the Metro and is struggling. If the NEC isn't the worst D1 conference, it's pretty close to it. The Horizon actually used to be a decent league back when teams such as Oral Roberts and Chicago Loyola were in it, but that was some time ago.

[EastStroud13]

Right now, EVERY team from the NEC is ranked outside the top 300 in KenPom. I don't think I've ever seen that.

[IUPHawks24]

Right now, EVERY team from the NEC is ranked outside the top 300 in KenPom. I don't think I've ever seen that.

Incredible. The top few teams in the NEC used to be in the 150-200 range not too long ago. That's a gigantic decline. If Merrimack played in the PSAC this year, I wonder how they would've fared.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Pitt just hung 99 on Syracuse

[Ship69]

Pitt just hung 99 on Syracuse

Sorry-excuse is nothing great this year. Boeheim has had a great coaching career, but he's better at talking than winning these days.

[IUPalum]

Pitt just hung 99 on Syracuse

Both teams suck!