Fairleigh Dickinson at Wichita State

I’m down on MVC women’s basketball, because it has not been good for most of this decade. I’m talking one-bid, No. 14-seed bad. Last night slapped me in the face a bit. Let’s give the Valley women some credit for Illinois State’s win over UCLA and Indiana State’s win at Kansas State.

Things are not going as well for the men this opening weekend. Creighton lost at No. 22 Dayton. Bradley lost at BYU. No shame in that. Drake lost at home to IUPUI. Josh Young did not play due to injury.

Injuries and suspensions are already a problem for the Valley. Justin Carter, Clevin Hanah, Young, Chad Millard, Antoine Young, Dwayne Lathan – it seems a long list for Nov. 15.

Which brings me to Hannah and his three-game suspension. I understand that the NCAA takes on the impossible job of policing its 330-some Division I members, coaches and fans, many of whom work each day to find loopholes or ignore rules to gain an advantage. If coaches, players and fans didn’t create a need, the NCAA wouldn’t need so pages and pages of wacky rules and policies that sometimes seem unfair. We should always remember that the NCAA schools set the rules. Railing against the NCAA isn’t alway accurate. Schools are often judged by their peers.

There is a problem, however, when the NCAA can’t look at an individual case and give the benefit of the doubt to an athlete such as Hannah. Neither he (nor WSU) is trying to put one over on the NCAA. Fine WSU. Penalize WSU in some other way. It doesn’t seem right to sideline Hannah for three games for something not of his doing. My same thought applies to Ehimen Orukpe, who is exactly the kind of student you want IN your school. He’s a serious, bright student, in addition to being a 7-foot center. Instead of giving him a chance at WSU, the NCAA sent him on a two-year delay to junior college.

Disappointing.

SIU easily beat Tennessee-Martin with Carlton Fay coming off the bench. He was suspended for exhibition games. Evansville newcomers Bryan Bouchie and Colt Ryan both scored 17 points in a win over Oakland City.