College Sports Madness' 2017-18 Top 144 Countdown

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... #128 UC-Davis - ...

#127 South Dakota State - Summit Champion - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14883

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#126 Manhattan
#125 LaSalle - 9th place team in A-10!
#124 Idaho

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#123 Kent State - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14891
#122 Illinois 13th in Big Ten -

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14893

#121 San Francisco - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14895

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They got the #2 MVC team Missouri State at #120!!
..so they will have only one MVC team inside the top 120 teams - this is gonna be interesting...
Will it be Valparaiso or will it be SIU or Loyola?? (one of the only MVC Previews out so far does have Loyola at #1 - LINK)

Valpo was the only current MVC team that had an RPI better than 140 last year except ISU who CSM has already predicted at 4th
HOWEVER - without Alec Peters, they were a noticably weaker team...
They went 1-3 without Alec, losing to Northern Ky, a bad Milwaukee team and then getting blown away (82-57) in the NIT by a mediocre Illinois team
If they have Valpo predicted at #1 - it kinda stings the Valley - as the newcomer from the Horizon gets picked to win the supposedly stronger MVC!

#120 Missouri State

it will be interesting - they have grad transfer JT Miller pegged as starter at shooting guard...mainly based on his scoring numbers, but that's a bit deceptive...
.......... he hits only a little over 40% overall and 25% from 3-pt with a 49/73 Assist to Turnover Ratio...(remember, he's playing against defenses in the absolute WORST conference in the nation (32nd out of 32).

He came from Howard - one of the worst teams in the MEAC (with a 339 RPI) - whose strength of opponents was also one of the worst in all of DI (334)
..unless I am missing something - I just can't see him beating out shooting guards like Jarrid Dixon, Ryan Kreklow, Greg Williams

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#119 Memphis - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14899

#118 - Albany - where BU's Alex Foster transferred -- http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14903
"Alex Foster figures to make a bigger impact in the frontcourt this year.
The 6-8, 240 pound forward spent one season at Bradley where he averaged
2.1 points and 1.1 rebounds in 19 contests. Prior to that he was at Texas Tech
....finally Foster should be able to see some major playing time.....like Foster starting at the five."

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#117 - Boise State - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14907
#116 - New Mexico State (they have Zach Lofton & Johnathon Wilkins) - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14910

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#115 Elon - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14916

#114 - Tennessee - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14925

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It has to be Loyola. Personally, I have Missouri State over Loyola but we'll see.

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wouldn't surprise me if they pick Loyola but...
they were an 8-10 team that loses Doyle who led them in scoring, assists, steals, blocks, minutes played, free throws, FT pct., and was a close 2nd in rebounds

Loyola - as we all know - finished just one game ahead of Bradley last year but we were playing better in the stretch and went deeper into the MVC Tourney then they did - and of course we don't lose anyone from last year like they do...

but I acknowledge it is hard to prove any one team is the only choice for 1st in this year's Valley...

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#113 UC-Irvine - comes in just ahead of UC-Davis (#12 - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14931

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#112 Louisiana (Lafayette)

#111 Colorado State

#110 Yale (remember - they are ranking all these team ahead of NINE MVC teams - so they think these guys all could finish 2nd in the MVC!

#109 Mercer

#108 George Mason - #8 in A-10!

#107 Fairfield

#106 UNC-Asheville

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#105 Clemson

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#104 Grand Canyon (the lose a lot from a RPI=124 team) http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14961
#103 UNLV (coming off total rebuild but not much firepower) http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14964

I cannot imagine these guys are considerably better than all but one MVC team

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#102 Utah - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14967

#101 Buffalo - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14970

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wouldn't surprise me if they pick Loyola but...
they were an 8-10 team that loses Doyle who led them in scoring, assists, steals, blocks, minutes played, free throws, FT pct., and was a close 2nd in rebounds

Loyola - as we all know - finished just one game ahead of Bradley last year but we were playing better in the stretch and went deeper into the MVC Tourney then they did - and of course we don't lose anyone from last year like they do...

but I acknowledge it is hard to prove any one team is the only choice for 1st in this year's Valley...

#100 LOYOLA

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14979

They have Loyola as #1 team in the MVC and winning the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament
..so they think not one MVC team will finish under #100

I find this interesting since Loyola finished 2016-17 at 8-10 and 5th place, but lose their stud (Milton Doyle) plus multiple other lesser contributors in Kirby, Granic, Chastain, Lisha, Smith, Burt, & Cvorovic
Also - one of their top newcomers expected to contribute, juco Adarius Avery - is out with shoulder surgery..

Bradley was only 1 game back at 7-11 but return everyone yet get no cred at all from CSM... oh well........


#99 Nebraska - 12th in Big Ten - so they're thinking no team in the MVC would finish in the Top 12 of the Big Ten

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14987