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I have the new Sporting News College Basketball Preview issue, and these guys stand out for several reasons.
First, because they don't pick Florida to repeat. They are the only preview issue I have seen so far that doesn't (see below)
Second, because they really do have the best Valley coverage I have seen yet, and rate the Valley teams as highly as anyone.
and Third, because they DO NOT cowtow to the idea that all the freshmen coming into college ball (like Greg Oden, etc.) are going to automatically dominate at the colllege level,
AND--they really do have several sections that discuss Missouri Valley basketball as a real, solid, top conference, not just a surprise.
First....they rank the conferences.
The Valley is the 7th rated conference, and here are their overall rankings:
1-SEC
2-ACC
3-Big East
4-Pac-10
5-Big Ten
6-Big XII
7-Missouri Valley
8-Atlantic 10
9-WAC
10-Conference USA
11-Mountain West
12-Colonial
13-MAC
14-WCC
15-Sun Belt
16-Horizon
17-Metro Atlantic
18-Southern
19-Big Sky
20-Big West
21-Patriot
22-Ivy League
23-Mid-Con
24-Ohio Valley
25-Big South
26-Southland
27-Atlantic Sun
28-Northeast
29-American East
30-Mid-Eastern Atlantic
31-ASouthwestern Athletic
32-Independents
Then tnhey rank their Top 25 teams:
1-UNC
2-Florida
3-Kansas
4-Ohio State
5-Pitt
6-LSU
7-UCLA
8-Georgetown
9-Alabama
10-Duke
11-Wisconsin
12-Arizona
13-Memphis
14-Texas A&M
15-Washington
16-Gonzaga
17-Florida State
18-Marquette
19-Boston College
20-Creighton
21-Kentucky
22-Xavier
23-Nevada
24-Syracuse
25-Southern Illinois University
Then an article on why Florida won't repeat, and why UNC will win.
An article about the fine big men ni colege basketball (and Aaron Gray is the #3 guy they talk about)
The a piece on page 9 "Was the Valley for Real""
The seem to be saying "no", it was the result of effective scheduling, winning a lot of key games, and "a bit of a statistical anomaly".
......................this part bugs me...
Then on the very next page, they highlight the very best players in college basketball
--Best shooter-Lee Humphrey, Florida
--Best NBA prospect - Greg Oden
--etc....
and then they go into why ranking TWO VALLEY teams is not a stretch...including a nice picture of Nate Funk.
In the end, they have a "Buy" and Sell" and they say sell the idea that the mid-majors will do well (midmajor madness).
Then they select the field of 65 for the NCAA
Creighton is picked as the automatic bid winner, then they predict MSU, SIU, and WSU as at large bids.
Then they pick the All Americans and the best in the nation at each position. The only thing of note is that after hailing Nate Funk five pages earlier as one of the top shoting guards in the nation, then they give a whole list of 20 shooting guards, all the way down to guys like Colin Falls (Notre Dame) and Stanley Burrell (Xavier) and they leave Nate off the list!!
They also list CJ Giles (Kansas) as the #17 center---sorry guys.
Virtually no midmajor picks here, either, and NO Valley players, but they do have Brian Randle as the # 15 small forward.
Then they list the bast Frontcourts/Backcourts, etc...and no Valley mention....not even Wichita State for best backcourt (as some have proposed).
Then they do all the individual team, and go by conference, starting with their top conference, the SEC....
The Missouri Valley is on page 72
They pick the Valley:
1-CU
2-SIU
3-WSU
4-MSU
5-UNI
6-Drake
7-Evansville
8-BU
9-ISU
10-Indiana State
Here's basically what they say....
CU--they say it's the best group of players Dana Altman has had in 13 years at Creighton, and they label the X-Factor (one of the important factors) as being Nick Bahe (transfer from Kansas) as crucial playing backup point guard.
I personally think they go a little overboadr on how great all these players are, but time will tell.
SIU--everyone returns but they don't have any proven scorer
WSU--most of the team returns
MSU--will blow a lot of teams out with their scoring
UNI--new look and supposedly their guards will come through
DU--upgraded talent "quicker, bigger, and more athletic" (hey this is a near ripoff!)
UE--strong returnees
ISU--only one returning starter, new guys are "?".
Indiana State concerns for "job security" for Royce Waltman.
Here is what they say about Bradley
Outlook: Reaching the heights it did last season sets Bradley up for a big fall because the Braves have some major regrouping to do. With the departures of starters Marcellus Sommerville, Patrick O'Bryant, and Tony Bennett.....
Big hole ni the middle....Zach Andrews ..will need to raise his game, as will newcomer Matt Salley.
The backcourt can hold its own....
They will need more.............
Finally here's how they see the Valley, but the guy who writes this entire Valley section is the Omaha beat writer for creighton, Steve Pivovar.
All Conference:
1st-Funk, Tolliver, Young, Stout, Couisnadr
2nd-Ahearn, Tatum, Falker, Coleman, Wilson
POY-Funk
NOY-Eldridge
Best shooter-Funk
Best playmaker-Daniel Ruffin
Best NBA prospect-Funk
Best Defender-Young
Most Versatile-Couisnard
Most Underrated-Matt Webster
5 Impact Newcomers-Eldridge(ISU), Mekel(WSU), Morrison(CU), Bone(SIU), Eglseder(UNI)
Then they have fine coverage of high schoolers,
recruiting, juniors, sophs, etc.
They also have a lot of coverage of top jucos, and in their TOP 50 JUCO players, they do not rank any of the 3 incoming ISU jucos (Slack, Richardson, Johnson) anywhere in the Top 50.
They also list a TOP 50 for present juco sophomore, and Shang Ping is nowhere to be found.
Jamarcus Ellis is #7, Mareceo Rutledge is #17, and Matt Salley's teammate at Bronx/Monroe, Kassim Green is #40.
That's about it....if you have read this far, then here is a contest.
The first person to name in a reply post, the guy this Sporting News issue names as the very top junior college player in the nation wins this issue of the Sporting News Preview...absolutely FREE.........
First, because they don't pick Florida to repeat. They are the only preview issue I have seen so far that doesn't (see below)
Second, because they really do have the best Valley coverage I have seen yet, and rate the Valley teams as highly as anyone.
and Third, because they DO NOT cowtow to the idea that all the freshmen coming into college ball (like Greg Oden, etc.) are going to automatically dominate at the colllege level,
AND--they really do have several sections that discuss Missouri Valley basketball as a real, solid, top conference, not just a surprise.
First....they rank the conferences.
The Valley is the 7th rated conference, and here are their overall rankings:
1-SEC
2-ACC
3-Big East
4-Pac-10
5-Big Ten
6-Big XII
7-Missouri Valley
8-Atlantic 10
9-WAC
10-Conference USA
11-Mountain West
12-Colonial
13-MAC
14-WCC
15-Sun Belt
16-Horizon
17-Metro Atlantic
18-Southern
19-Big Sky
20-Big West
21-Patriot
22-Ivy League
23-Mid-Con
24-Ohio Valley
25-Big South
26-Southland
27-Atlantic Sun
28-Northeast
29-American East
30-Mid-Eastern Atlantic
31-ASouthwestern Athletic
32-Independents
Then tnhey rank their Top 25 teams:
1-UNC
2-Florida
3-Kansas
4-Ohio State
5-Pitt
6-LSU
7-UCLA
8-Georgetown
9-Alabama
10-Duke
11-Wisconsin
12-Arizona
13-Memphis
14-Texas A&M
15-Washington
16-Gonzaga
17-Florida State
18-Marquette
19-Boston College
20-Creighton
21-Kentucky
22-Xavier
23-Nevada
24-Syracuse
25-Southern Illinois University
Then an article on why Florida won't repeat, and why UNC will win.
An article about the fine big men ni colege basketball (and Aaron Gray is the #3 guy they talk about)
The a piece on page 9 "Was the Valley for Real""
The seem to be saying "no", it was the result of effective scheduling, winning a lot of key games, and "a bit of a statistical anomaly".
......................this part bugs me...
Then on the very next page, they highlight the very best players in college basketball
--Best shooter-Lee Humphrey, Florida
--Best NBA prospect - Greg Oden
--etc....
and then they go into why ranking TWO VALLEY teams is not a stretch...including a nice picture of Nate Funk.
In the end, they have a "Buy" and Sell" and they say sell the idea that the mid-majors will do well (midmajor madness).
Then they select the field of 65 for the NCAA
Creighton is picked as the automatic bid winner, then they predict MSU, SIU, and WSU as at large bids.
Then they pick the All Americans and the best in the nation at each position. The only thing of note is that after hailing Nate Funk five pages earlier as one of the top shoting guards in the nation, then they give a whole list of 20 shooting guards, all the way down to guys like Colin Falls (Notre Dame) and Stanley Burrell (Xavier) and they leave Nate off the list!!
They also list CJ Giles (Kansas) as the #17 center---sorry guys.
Virtually no midmajor picks here, either, and NO Valley players, but they do have Brian Randle as the # 15 small forward.
Then they list the bast Frontcourts/Backcourts, etc...and no Valley mention....not even Wichita State for best backcourt (as some have proposed).
Then they do all the individual team, and go by conference, starting with their top conference, the SEC....
The Missouri Valley is on page 72
They pick the Valley:
1-CU
2-SIU
3-WSU
4-MSU
5-UNI
6-Drake
7-Evansville
8-BU
9-ISU
10-Indiana State
Here's basically what they say....
CU--they say it's the best group of players Dana Altman has had in 13 years at Creighton, and they label the X-Factor (one of the important factors) as being Nick Bahe (transfer from Kansas) as crucial playing backup point guard.
I personally think they go a little overboadr on how great all these players are, but time will tell.
SIU--everyone returns but they don't have any proven scorer
WSU--most of the team returns
MSU--will blow a lot of teams out with their scoring
UNI--new look and supposedly their guards will come through
DU--upgraded talent "quicker, bigger, and more athletic" (hey this is a near ripoff!)
UE--strong returnees
ISU--only one returning starter, new guys are "?".
Indiana State concerns for "job security" for Royce Waltman.
Here is what they say about Bradley
Outlook: Reaching the heights it did last season sets Bradley up for a big fall because the Braves have some major regrouping to do. With the departures of starters Marcellus Sommerville, Patrick O'Bryant, and Tony Bennett.....
Big hole ni the middle....Zach Andrews ..will need to raise his game, as will newcomer Matt Salley.
The backcourt can hold its own....
They will need more.............
Finally here's how they see the Valley, but the guy who writes this entire Valley section is the Omaha beat writer for creighton, Steve Pivovar.
All Conference:
1st-Funk, Tolliver, Young, Stout, Couisnadr
2nd-Ahearn, Tatum, Falker, Coleman, Wilson
POY-Funk
NOY-Eldridge
Best shooter-Funk
Best playmaker-Daniel Ruffin
Best NBA prospect-Funk
Best Defender-Young
Most Versatile-Couisnard
Most Underrated-Matt Webster
5 Impact Newcomers-Eldridge(ISU), Mekel(WSU), Morrison(CU), Bone(SIU), Eglseder(UNI)
Then they have fine coverage of high schoolers,
recruiting, juniors, sophs, etc.
They also have a lot of coverage of top jucos, and in their TOP 50 JUCO players, they do not rank any of the 3 incoming ISU jucos (Slack, Richardson, Johnson) anywhere in the Top 50.
They also list a TOP 50 for present juco sophomore, and Shang Ping is nowhere to be found.
Jamarcus Ellis is #7, Mareceo Rutledge is #17, and Matt Salley's teammate at Bronx/Monroe, Kassim Green is #40.
That's about it....if you have read this far, then here is a contest.
The first person to name in a reply post, the guy this Sporting News issue names as the very top junior college player in the nation wins this issue of the Sporting News Preview...absolutely FREE.........
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