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Will someone step up and show they are capable?
Between the top picks underperforming and/or playing only cupcakes, I am not the least bit sure who is now the favorite.
I hate to be a Debbie Downer with my favorite conference, but here are a few thoughts.......
Here's how the preseason Media Day poll went......with commentary...
School (First-Place Votes) Points
1. Creighton (36) 386 -- they might still be the favorite, but team chemistry issues, an SOS
that's 266, and loss to Arkansas-Little Rock kinda have you wondering if they are ripe to get beat.
2. Southern Illinois (2) 322 -- 3-6 vs. DI, a couple bad
losses, and the fans are getting restless. will continue the trend of getting worse with each passing year that the
Weber/Painter recruits are graduating or being booted.
3. Illinois State (1) 309 -- undefeated but untested. SOS 321,
FIVE single digit wins against hideously cupcakish teams, and despite their schedule filled with RPI 200+ gimmes, they have only
ONE win over a team that's been DI more than a couple seasons and with a winning margin more than 12-13 pts.
I am still not impressed they can win on the road in the Valley....but then nobody has stepped up to lay claim to being any better.
4. Drake 274 -- lose to Stephen F. Austin at home then turn right around and beat a Big Ten
team by 17! Also - only 2 true road games play thus far, and SOS >> 150. But it looks more and more like the guy who picked
Drake to repeat as Valley champs could have a shot by default.
5. Bradley 219 -- nothing but freshman, 1st year guys and 2nd year guys. The long term future
looks brighter than the 3-month outlook.
I am convinced if we had a healthy Warren we would be 7-3 or possibly even 8-2. Still the only home lass is to the #4 RPI team,
so we could still get some decent MVC wins.
6. UNI 186 -- not a lot to be happy about, and now a few player defections are going to ruin chemistry
further. The good news is that the road to playing on Thursday is already really crowded, so UNI might just get pushed off that road by default.
7. Indiana State 137 -- not just bad losses, but bad losses by dobe digits.
Just another team in the mix for a thursday game.
8. Evansville 122 -- surely better than 8th place, but which of their wins is actually a quality win?
Maybe Western Kentucky, but WKU hasn't beaten a team with a higher than 140 RPI!
Anyway, they are just one injury away from disaster, with no experienced backup PG option and no depth to the bench.
After their first two bench players (freshmen Haarsma & Williams) then they have Holmes, Erickson, Hopf....
at the end of a long, tough Valley season, look for them to tail off and look like.......uh....Evansville down the stretch.
9. Wichita State 105 -- some good flashes like beating Siena away from wichita, but barely nipping
Northern Arizona doesn't impress me, and they are one of my book-it's for Thursday.
10. Missouri State 85 -- gotta feel for the fans in Springfield....at least they had Barry to entertain
them when they struggled, which they didn't do too often.
Now they need late game heroics at home to beat Norfolk State. But an 0-4 record against any team whose RPI is better than 114 bodes poorly.
They will easily provide ISU an automatic 1-0 start in the Valley come 12/28.
Between the top picks underperforming and/or playing only cupcakes, I am not the least bit sure who is now the favorite.
I hate to be a Debbie Downer with my favorite conference, but here are a few thoughts.......
Here's how the preseason Media Day poll went......with commentary...
School (First-Place Votes) Points
1. Creighton (36) 386 -- they might still be the favorite, but team chemistry issues, an SOS
that's 266, and loss to Arkansas-Little Rock kinda have you wondering if they are ripe to get beat.
2. Southern Illinois (2) 322 -- 3-6 vs. DI, a couple bad
losses, and the fans are getting restless. will continue the trend of getting worse with each passing year that the
Weber/Painter recruits are graduating or being booted.
3. Illinois State (1) 309 -- undefeated but untested. SOS 321,
FIVE single digit wins against hideously cupcakish teams, and despite their schedule filled with RPI 200+ gimmes, they have only
ONE win over a team that's been DI more than a couple seasons and with a winning margin more than 12-13 pts.
I am still not impressed they can win on the road in the Valley....but then nobody has stepped up to lay claim to being any better.
4. Drake 274 -- lose to Stephen F. Austin at home then turn right around and beat a Big Ten
team by 17! Also - only 2 true road games play thus far, and SOS >> 150. But it looks more and more like the guy who picked
Drake to repeat as Valley champs could have a shot by default.
5. Bradley 219 -- nothing but freshman, 1st year guys and 2nd year guys. The long term future
looks brighter than the 3-month outlook.
I am convinced if we had a healthy Warren we would be 7-3 or possibly even 8-2. Still the only home lass is to the #4 RPI team,
so we could still get some decent MVC wins.
6. UNI 186 -- not a lot to be happy about, and now a few player defections are going to ruin chemistry
further. The good news is that the road to playing on Thursday is already really crowded, so UNI might just get pushed off that road by default.
7. Indiana State 137 -- not just bad losses, but bad losses by dobe digits.
Just another team in the mix for a thursday game.
8. Evansville 122 -- surely better than 8th place, but which of their wins is actually a quality win?
Maybe Western Kentucky, but WKU hasn't beaten a team with a higher than 140 RPI!
Anyway, they are just one injury away from disaster, with no experienced backup PG option and no depth to the bench.
After their first two bench players (freshmen Haarsma & Williams) then they have Holmes, Erickson, Hopf....
at the end of a long, tough Valley season, look for them to tail off and look like.......uh....Evansville down the stretch.
9. Wichita State 105 -- some good flashes like beating Siena away from wichita, but barely nipping
Northern Arizona doesn't impress me, and they are one of my book-it's for Thursday.
10. Missouri State 85 -- gotta feel for the fans in Springfield....at least they had Barry to entertain
them when they struggled, which they didn't do too often.
Now they need late game heroics at home to beat Norfolk State. But an 0-4 record against any team whose RPI is better than 114 bodes poorly.
They will easily provide ISU an automatic 1-0 start in the Valley come 12/28.
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