We had to upgrade our RPI. To do that you have go on the road, you have to play good teams and you have to win. |
We haven't had a lot of marquee wins since Southern Illinois went to the Sweet 16 in 2002. But we have played well against teams that advanced deep into the tournament. |
We're keeping coaches in place. Dana Altman sets the example. He understands you can accomplish just as much at Creighton as you can at Big State U. His program has been in postseason play for eight consecutive seasons. And kids in the Midwest see Valley schools playing in sold-out arenas, taking on the best teams in the nation, and getting more television exposure. It's coming together for us. We're having a bunch of programs mature at the same time. |
We're under siege and I don't get it. We deserved every bid. We earned them. We deserved six bids and we should have had five, because I don't understand how they can look at Missouri State and not put them in. |
We're very concerned when something like this happens. We don't want to curtail unnecessarily anything viewed in cheerleading culture as routine. But we don't want the risk of serious or catastrophic injuries. |
We've had discussions with other conferences about adding games that would be worthy of national exposure. It's difficult to do. We're trying to be as aggressive as we possibly can. |
We've really broken the ice on getting national attention. I don't think they'll forget about this year like they've done in the past with [Sweet 16 participant Missouri State] in 1999 and Southern Illinois in 2002. The programs that have success this year are linked together by a common thread. |