College Sports Madness Top 144 Countdown

[tornado]

The 2018-19 countdown has begun...

144 Grambling
143 Illinois - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16349
142 South Alabama
141 Wright State
140 NC Central
139 Grand Cayon
138 Temple
137 Stanford
136 Weber State (Cancun Challenge team)
135 Wagner
134 Hartford
133 East Tennessee
132 Utah
131 Radford
130 Tulsa
129 NORTHERN IOWA- 6th in the MVC - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16379
128 VCU
127 UNLV
126 Troy
125 San Francisco

..so five more MVC teams in the top 124...

Predictions anyone? Here's my predictions of what THEY WILL SAY - not necessarily of what will happen....
I am thinking their MVC top five will be Loyola (in the 20's), ISU (close behind- maybe 30's), SIU (40's), Bradley (70's) and InSU (around 100)

[Mikovio]

Valpo has some good recruits and might be up there.

Loyola 20s
ISU 50s
SIU 60s
BU 70s
Valpo 90s

Personally I think ISU (140 in Kenpom, 6th luckiest) is overrated and SIU (Thik Bol seems to be overlooked in a lot of these things) is underrated.

[jturner38]

Not sure why Valpo is being considered to take that big of a leap this year? from last place to 5th. I just don't see that at all. They will improve for sure but not enough for 5th.

[Da Coach]

A couple of Valpo's new players have to sit out this season after transferring from other schools, so I don't see them competing in the top half of the MVC in 2018-19. But in 2019-20 I can see them making a jump up. They could be pretty good with their transfers becoming eligible in 2019-20 (Nick Robinson & Eron Gordon).

[BUSongwriter]

It would be outstanding if the MVC had four -- even five?!?! -- teams in the Top 100. That would give our schedule six or eight games that would look good to the Selection Committee should we win our share.

I really hope these and all Valley teams do well in the non-con to put us in this kind of position.

[tornado]

124 Kent State
123 Iowa State
...

[Mikovio]

Maybe they're a year away with Robinson and Gordon sitting out but Valpo this year adds two pretty highly rated recruits in Providence's Ryan Fazekas and Whitney Young's Javon Freeman.

[Da Coach]

Ryan Fazekas might help Valpo a little, but he was only a 3.0 ppg scorer and 1.1 rpg rebounder in his final season at Providence and hasn't played since the 2016-17 season, and he barely played in the second half of that season.[LINK] Javon Freeman will probably play a fair bit out of necessity as a freshman, but I do not see these two, or their other new player Daniel Sackey, making up what they lost from last season.

Valpo lost their best player, top scorer, top rebounder, and All Defensive team member Tevonn Walker (14.8 ppg & 4.8 rpg), Max Joseph, who started 21 of 32 games (7.3 ppg & 4.2 rpg), and Joe Burton (11.5 ppg & 38% from three) who was a starter until he left mid-season last year. Burton might have been more valuable than some thought. They were 9-3 before he left, and 6-14 after he left the team.

[Mikovio]

Fazekas started 12 games as a frosh for Providence and dealt with a myriad of injuries his 2 years. Was a 4 star per ESPN.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/ct-ptb-valparaiso-marquette-ryan-fazekas-st-0425-20170424-story.html

[tornado]

Bradley had a couple ghuys who were once 4-Star guys (Shaw, Foster)


continuing the CSM Countdown...

123 Penn State

122 UC-Davis - picked #2 in the Big West - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16391


UC Davis Aggies

2018-2019 Overall Rank: #121
Conference Rank: #2 Big West

After a few rough seasons, UC Davis has emerged as a very dangerous team in the Big West under Coach
Jim Les. Three times in the last four years the Aggies have reached either the NIT or the NCAA Tournament.
In 2017-2018, UC Davis won the regular season title, but were upset by Cal State Fullerton in the semifinals
of the conference tournament and had to settle for a trip to the NIT. Once again the Aggies have the talent to
get to the postseason and this time they will hope for another trip to the NCAA Tournament instead of the NIT.

2017-18 Record: 22-11, 12-4
2017-18 Postseason: NIT
Coach: Jim Les
Coach Record: 109-115 at UC Davis, 263-255 overall

Key Departed Players:
Chima Moneke, Forward, 18.4 ppg
Michael Onyebalu, Guard, 5.8 ppg
Arell Hennings, Guard, 3.2 ppg

Key Returning Players:
TJ Shorts II, Senior, Guard, 14.8 ppg
Siler Schneider, Senior, Guard, 13.9 ppg
Garrison Goode, Senior, Forward, 4.8 ppg
AJ John, Senior, Forward, 7.9 ppg
Joe Mooney, Junior, Guard, 6.5 ppg
Rogers Printup, Junior, Guard, 3.8 ppg
Colin Russell, Senior, Forward, 1.7 ppg
Delveion Jackson, Sophomore, Guard, 1.3 ppg

Key New Players:
Stefan Gonzalez, Junior Guard, Transfer from St. Mary’s
Gio Nelson, RS Freshman, Guard
Matt Neufeld, Junior, Center, Transfer from Saint Louis
Jonah Underwood, Junior, Forward, Transfer from San Jose City
Cameron Ba, Freshman, Guard
Caleb Fuller, Freshman, Guard
B.J. Shaw, Freshman, Guard
Damion Squire, Freshman, Guard

Projection:
TJ Shorts II came to UC Davis last season after a couple years at the junior college level and immediately
became the conference’s best player. The 5-9 senior averaged 14.8 points, 4.4 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9
steals. He won the Big West Newcomer and Player of the Year Awards and will look to add the latter to his
resume once again. Siler Schneider adds another quality scoring threat to the backcourt. With Joe Mooney
and Rogers Printup back, the backcourt has plenty of options. The potential concern is in the frontcourt
where Chima Moneke needs to be replaced after averaging 18.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. AJ John
and Garrison Goode are the most productive frontcourt players returning, but the Aggies also bring in Matt
Neufeld, a transfer from Saint Louis, and junior college transfer Jonah Underwood to help bolster the unit. As
long as the frontcourt can at least be serviceable without Moneke, the backcourt will be able to carry UC
Davis back towards the top of the Big West.

Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT

By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 72.3 (217th in nation, 4th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 67.9 (61, 2)
Field-Goal Percentage: 46.4 (78, 2)
Field-Goal Defense: 42.5 (86, 4)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.5 (283, 4)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 37.2 (74, 2)
Free-Throw Percentage: 71.6 (159, 4)
Rebound Margin: -2.1 (273, 6)
Assists Per Game: 12.2 (281, 8 )
Turnovers Per Game: 13.0 (183, 4)

[Mikovio]

We also had a 4 star in Cunningham who has had a good college career. There??™s also this 4 star Clayton Custer guy who transferred into the conference. But it??™s certainly no guarantee.

[tornado]

Cunningham has one year left to solidify his legacy - but so far he's been hampered by injuries

Marcellus Sommerville was also rated 4-Star back in 2001

[tornado]

Countdown continues...

#119 Lehigh
#118 Charleston
#117 Northern Kentucky
#116 Georgia Southern - another likely Bradley opponent this season - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16400

[Mikovio]

#112 Valparaiso

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16410

[tornado]

Thanks-
the other ones in between...

#115 St. John's (8th in Big East)
#114 Minnesota (10th in Big Ten)
#113 South Carolina (13th in SEC)

#112 Valparaiso - 5th in MVC - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16410
..but remember - there were several reputable publications that picked Valparaiso 5th LAST YEAR - LINK, and EVEN FOURTH!!
Some even picked them 2nd!!!!
instead they were dead last -

but one of their players, Jaume Sorolla, is back in Canarias training and just told the media there he expects Valpo to win the MVC Championship *