Next Year's Predictions

[georgethedog]

I realize that other MVC schools are still recruiting and that
stituations can change,but I'll take a stab at the order of
Finish for 2007-2008.

(1) SIU. Tony Young and Jamal Tatum graduating will hurt
them somewhat,but they still have Falker,Shaw,and Mullins
coming back.They also have Fay as an incoming recruit.
SIU is the #1 preseason pick in my book until they are knocked
off.

(2) Bradley. The best point guard in the Valley returns for
his final season.Jeremy Crouch and Tyrone Cole Scott should
provide effective 3 point shooting for Bradley.David Collins
and Rashad Austin should sure up the rebounding problem BU
had last year.Dearron Williams(if he qualifies)and Ray Brown
should be solid small foward types for Bradley.

(3)Creighton. With Dana Altman returning as Coach and
players such as P'Allen Stinnett(Rivals 4 star) and Chad Millard(Louisville transfer) incoming Creighton should have a solid
team next year.

(4) Northern Iowa. Coleman and Egleseder(sp) being back
for UNI next year will give them a real effective inside presence.
I also believe that Jared Joestens is back for one more year.
They also have a guy with an African like last name who was
really tough on BU last year.

(5) Illinois State. Osiris Elridge will give ISU(red) the best returning shooting guard in the Valley next year.Boo Richardson
being turnover prone at the pt. guard spot will hurt ISU though.
Also as of right now ISU doesn't have much of an inside presence.Levi Dyer should step it up some more for ISU next
year.

(6) Missouri State. Wade Knapp should give Missouri State
some more inside depth for next year.Losing Blake Ahearn and
Nathan Balyieu will hurt,but the Luaure Brothers will be back
for MSU.They also bring in Kyle Kirk and another decent guard
recruit.

(7) Wichita State. Given Wichita's current roster I would pick
them at 7th,but if they can sign Sampay,Baker,etc... then
I might move them up as high as 5th.

Who cares about the following teams.

(8 ) Indiana State
(9) Drake
(10) Evansville.
transfer

Wow, great job beyondthearc!
I thought I was the only one obsessed enought to look up all the returning and incoming players for each team to make this kind of assessment. But I pretty much agree with your assessment. My only disagreement is that I would put Missouri State ahead of UNI and ISU, as they have some talent returning, and though the MSU fans would disagree, I think Barry does get a lot out of the level of talent they usually have.

The reason that I know a decent # of other MVC teams
rosters is that I visit some of their message boards every day.I gotobluejaycafe.com,salukitalk.net,redbirdfan.com, valleytalk.net,
and the peoria journal star board every day.I visit the Drake
and UNI boards about twice a week.
Outside of the MVC I enjoy going to caazone.com and
the St. Louis University board.

I think I would have to shoot myself on pure principle if I visited those sites each day...

[amckillip]

Honestly, I don't see what everyone sees in ISUred I really think things are gonna look like

1-2 SIU
2-1 BU
(If DRuff clicks well with the new players BU is favorite)
3 CU
4-5 UNI
(I hate Coleman in the I want him on my team sort of way)
5-4 MSU
6-7 IlSU
(IMO theres not much past OE, I think opposing teams can cut down the passing lanes for Boo and make him fairly ineffective, in the two games against BU he looked like he forced passes and didn't think more than 1 pass ahead)
7-4 WSU
(If they get their talent and get their heads on straight they could be a solid team)
Then the rest:
I'll give the nod to Drake because I think there program is headed in the right direction, then InSu, and EU)

[SaintLouBrave22]

Well we all know about Bradley so I will skip them...

Key Losses-

Creighton: Tolliver, Funk, Porter

Drake: Grant, Stewart, Calvin

Evansville: Anslinger, Webster, Strickland

Illinois State: Dilligard

Indiana State: None

Missouri State: Bilyeu, Chaney, Ahearn

Northern Iowa: McKowen, Stout

SIU: Tatum, Young

Wichita State: Martin, Bradley, Wilson, Ogirri*

Now what I look at more than even these losses above are whether these key players can be replaced and what else is returning. That being said, here's my opening standings w/ what we know now.

1 BU

2 UNI

3 SIU

4 WSU

5 CU

6 UE

7 MSU

8 ILSU

9 INSU

10 DU