A look back: The 2017-18 preseason MVC poll

[Da Coach]

Here is the 2017-18 Preseason MVC Poll from last October-

http://mvc-sports.com/news/2017/10/20/arch-madness-missouri-state-picked-to-win-mvc-mens-basketball.aspx

Interesting to note that a lot of voters put Valparaiso ahead of Bradley.
And the most obvious discrepancies from the actual current MVC standings are:
>Drake picked 10th, but now sitting in 3rd place
>UNI picked 2nd, with a bunch of 1st place votes and now sitting in 9th place only 1 game ahead of Valpo
>Missouri State picked 1st with 30 of the 40 first place votes, but now sitting in 6th place with a losing record
>Valpo picked 6th, but now buried alone in last place
>SIU picked 5th, but now in sole possession of 2nd place and still within striking distance of 1st place
>Bradley picked 7th, but now tied for 4th

I think this year's preseason poll might be the most inaccurate one I can recall. But I am not knocking the media people or the SID's, because I don't think we fans did much better.
Here were a few predictions from us fans-

https://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=27196

[BU212121]

Very interesting to see right now.

Overall, considering how tight the league is. The voters did ok.

They missed bad on Drake and UNI (but most did)

I think by seasons end we will be saying Missouri State might be the most dangerous non Loyola team in STL.

SIU and ISU right behind.

Bradley and drake will probably be the 5th and 6th most looked at teams.

While valpo is not very good, I think they have gotten better as the year has progressed and I actually think they will be very solid next year. I’m almost surprised by their progress. (I think the high pre-season ranking was based primarily on the previous years success)

Anyone who doesn’t play Thursday has a legit shot to win this year. And I could see a Thursday team stealing a game on Friday if the matchup is right.

STL will be a blast.

[Da Coach]

Missouri State relies heavily on their top 6 players, and gets little from their bench. Teams that play a short rotation like MSU are a bit susceptible in the tournament when you play at least 3 games in 3 days.
Also, Missouri State is currently in 6th place, only 1 game ahead of the 7th place team, with games against Drake, Bradley and UNI left. They are the one team that appears relatively safe now, but which could still drop into those Thursday games.

[ihatetea]

Alize Johnson and Klint Carlson have to be the most disappointing players for their fan bases. Both have the talent to be player of the year candidates yet neither has the consistency to be worth final consideration imo

[BU212121]

Missouri State relies heavily on their top 6 players, and gets little from their bench. Teams that play a short rotation like MSU are a bit susceptible in the tournament when you play at least 3 games in 3 days.
Also, Missouri State is currently in 6th place, only 1 game ahead of the 7th place team, with games against Drake, Bradley and UNI left. They are the one team that appears relatively safe now, but which could still drop into those Thursday games.

No way Missouri State drops to play in with that schedule.


They are probably in the 4-5 game but could manage a 3 seed if ISU doesn??™t get healthy.

[Da Coach]

... Missouri State is currently in 6th place, only 1 game ahead of the 7th place team, with games against Drake, Bradley and UNI left. They are the one team that appears relatively safe now, but which could still drop into those Thursday games.

No way Missouri State drops to play in with that schedule...

Probably not, that is why I said they are relatively safe and that it is only a mathematical possibility.

But Missouri State has already lost once to Drake, were blown out by 20 points at Bradley, and they edged UNI at home, but will have a tough time winning in Cedar Falls.