The Valley Next Year

[ER3]

We'll likely be picked 4th or 5th in the conference next year...and I think that would be about right.

UNI, Creighton, and ISU bring back enough to be fairly clearly picked ahead of us...

And SIU and Wichita will probably be picked behind us, but they bring back a lot of young talent. Tony Freeman will likely provide a big boost to SIU's hopes next year.

The last couple of years there has been a Valley team that is picked in the middle of the pack and comes out of nowhere to win the league...hopefully we can be that team next year...

[shaunguth]

There was some off-the-record talk in St. Louis that the MVC brass was angry with Illinois State's scheduling for the second year in a row. It probably robbed ISU of an NCAA bid, and also robbed the MVC of an extra bid, and hurts the whole conference. ISU's non-conference SOS was around 280 which is abysmal, and Creighton's was about 240, not much better. Maybe next year they will learn. There was even some talk of reinstituting some kind of MVC league penalty for teams who schedule down like ISU since it hurts the whole conference. The MVC has lost most of the status they took so long to achieve in 2006 when the rest of the country wondered how the MVC "broke the RPI code" and had so many high RPI teams and got 4 teams in the tournament.

I'm fairly certain their record wouldn't be nearly as "impressive" if they had scheduled like Bradley. Look what they did against their toughest non-conference opponent.....lost by 14 to Niagara. And they didn't even schedule them!

[ER3]

I'm fairly certain their record wouldn't be nearly as "impressive" if they had scheduled like Bradley. Look what they did against their toughest non-conference opponent.....lost by 14 to Niagara. And they didn't even schedule them!

If ISU would have played BU's schedule outside of the Valley, they would likely have finished 2 games worse off than they finished with their schedule...They likely would have lost to FLA, Mich St., and Butler...but they would have gained a win back if they got to play Loyola rather than Niagara in the bracket buster.

So, I think they probably would be sitting at 22-11 right now if they had played our non-con schedule...

Our non-con schedule was OK...better than ISU's...but outside of the 3 outstanding teams we played (FLA, MSU, Butler), there wasn't much quality there at all...

[CubbieBear]

We'll likely be picked 4th or 5th in the conference next year...and I think that would be about right.
The last couple of years there has been a Valley team that is picked in the middle of the pack and comes out of nowhere to win the league...hopefully we can be that team next year...

I am looking at the 11-13-08 PJS pre-season Hoops section--Obviously they usually drink a lot of Kool-aide when it comes to us, and we were picked 2nd behind CU, and then SIU was 3rd, DU, 4th, ISU 5th and UNI 6th--so it shows how hard it is to predict these things--UNI much better than predicted, SIU and DU much worse than predicted...but overall, I think the Valley could be MUCH better next year top-bottom, and put 3 teams in the NCAA's

[BradleyBrave]

The league will be strong next year, especially up top. We should be a top 6 league, and get 2-3 teams in the tournament. Based solely on known returning players at this point, I think the preseason poll will shake out this way -

1. UNI
2. CU
3. BU
4. WSU
5. ISU
6. SIU
7. INSU
8. DU
9. MSU
10. UE

I think 1-4 will be very strong, and 5-7 will only be slightly below them. 8-10 I think will struggle. Prepare to bump this prediction to the top next March when I am completely off-base once again.

[ER3]

I don't have an argument for someone putting Creighton at the top, but Woodfox seemed to single handedly win about 10 games for them, and I wonder if they'll be a s good with him gone.
Also, every year the complexion of the Valley is altered by injuries and coaching changes.....just look at Drake this year compared to last, and the teams who lost key players often took a hit.

I agree that Creighton will be a hard one to figure out without Woodfox. I thought coming into this year Stinnett, Woodfox, and Witter were going to all improve and be absolutely impossible to match up with out on the perimeter...

Woodfox got a lot better and was an offensive force this year for most of the season...
Stinnett was wildly inconsistent...I don't know that he regressed, but he certainly didn't show marked improvement from his freshman year..
But Witter really fell apart. He scored 40+ in Omaha against us last year, and I thought he was going to take a huge step forward this year...but he was absolutely horrid this year. And over the last 3rd of the season he was basically a non-factor (55 total points in his last 12 games...).

So next year, Creighton will still have a lot of talent coming back...they have two pretty solid bigs in Lawson and Walker...but it will all depend on how well Stinnett handles the attention of being the #1 option on the perimeter and whether or not Witter bounces back (he'll need to shoot much better than 34% from the field next year...)

They could be the best team in the league if Stinnett and Witter progress into consistent, reliable offensive weapons...or they could be a real up and down team if Witter doesn't find his shot and Stinnett continues his pattern where he goes for 25 one night and 5 the next...

Of course, I'm sure this same analysis could be written for about half the teams in the league coming into next year...

[MacabreMob]

Prepare to bump this prediction to the top next March when I am completely off-base once again.

The world isn't out to get you BB.

[Bradleyguy10]

The league will be strong next year, especially up top. We should be a top 6 league, and get 2-3 teams in the tournament. Based solely on known returning players at this point, I think the preseason poll will shake out this way -

1. UNI
2. CU
3. BU
4. WSU
5. ISU
6. SIU
7. INSU
8. DU
9. MSU
10. UE

I think 1-4 will be very strong, and 5-7 will only be slightly below them. 8-10 I think will struggle. Prepare to bump this prediction to the top next March when I am completely off-base once again.

hmmm I think UNI, CU, ISU, and SIU all get picked ahead of us. Not all saying that's what I think...just saying that's how I think the preseason polls will shape up to be.

[SFP]

hmmm I think UNI, CU, ISU, and SIU all get picked ahead of us. Not all saying that's what I think...just saying that's how I think the preseason polls will shape up to be.

How does SIU get picked in front of us? I can understand the other 3 and I'd say ISU would be a toss up but we are only losing DC and TW. Every other team is also losing one stud and we are returning a stud! I'd say with SS in there helping at the 5 we should be better if WE can come back strong. I believe TB's game is better suited then TW in our O and he may not make up totally for TW but he'll be a step away. I also expect JP to be able to give great minutes and also give us a different look in the post. The 3 is no contest, we improve dramatically with AW and another year of CR! The 2 we will now have SM wide open because of AW and we all know when he can set his shot and move into it he is deadly. The 1, how can EM not improve over the summerand give us what we need there. I'm fine with anyone picking UNI and CU over us or even ISU but SIU????

[Tulsa Brave]

Wichita is more likely to be picked ahead of us than SIU...

[Bradleyguy10]

How does SIU get picked in front of us? I can understand the other 3 and I'd say ISU would be a toss up but we are only losing DC and TW. Every other team is also losing one stud and we are returning a stud! I'd say with SS in there helping at the 5 we should be better if WE can come back strong. I believe TB's game is better suited then TW in our O and he may not make up totally for TW but he'll be a step away. I also expect JP to be able to give great minutes and also give us a different look in the post. The 3 is no contest, we improve dramatically with AW and another year of CR! The 2 we will now have SM wide open because of AW and we all know when he can set his shot and move into it he is deadly. The 1, how can EM not improve over the summerand give us what we need there. I'm fine with anyone picking UNI and CU over us or even ISU but SIU????

Like I said...I don't think that will be accurate. However, I have a feeling they will be picked ahead of us in the preseason polls mainly due to these two reasons: 1) SIUC has garnered great respect from the MVC over the past 8 years and 2) Bradley has done just about the exact opposite (not including 2006)

Another reason is because they also are playing with young guys on that team and finished 5th....one spot behind us. Giving the fact that they are SIUC with young ones who played a lot this season and we are Bradley with a few young ones that played a lot this season...I'd think that puts them ahead of us.

To be downright brutal...I think the MVC doesn't think much of Bradley...and they think we are worse than what we are. Unfortunately we haven't done much to disprove that. Next year we should be competitive but there is just something about Bradley Basketball that is too cub-ish....there's always something you know.

[SFP]

I do not know where you get the perception but I believe the MVC picks with us has been pretty accurate. The coaches are pretty good at knowing the other teams talent and they are part of the poll. Oh well preditions are just that and that is why they lace them up. I'd be shocked to see SIU in front of us.

[Bradleyguy10]

Well I didn't mention accuracy. This has nothing to do with where I think we WILL end up in the season just where I think the preseason polls will say.

As for accuracy on Bradley the only reason why they were accurate this year is because of two key injuries.

I think we'll finish ahead of SIUC...I don't think we'll be picked ahead of them...that's all I'm saying.

[ER3]

I do not know where you get the perception but I believe the MVC picks with us has been pretty accurate. The coaches are pretty good at knowing the other teams talent and they are part of the poll. Oh well preditions are just that and that is why they lace them up. I'd be shocked to see SIU in front of us.

I think we will finish ahead of SIU next year, but I wouldn't be completely shocked to see them picked ahead of us in the preseason.
They add Tony Freeman as an incoming senior transfer from Iowa...he should be able to help them quite a bit...
Add him to all of their talented freshmen (Dillard, Hare, Booker, Bocot, Evans) and Fay and you've got a group of 6 or 7 guys that have as much potential as any team in the Valley...
Now whether all of these freshmen can progress and play better together next year remains to be seen...but there is a lot of young talent there...