CBSSports.com preseason ranking of all 358 D1 teams

[Da Coach]

CBSSports.com writer Matt Norlander posts a preseason ranking of all Division I teams each year.
Here is the 2021-22 season's version- Today's article lists teams 201 to 358. Tomorrow he will post 101-200, and the top 100 on Thursday:
https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...021-22-season/

There are only 3 MVC teams in the rankings below 200. I am a bit surprised to see him rank Illinois State considerably lower than Evansville and everyone else.

210. Valparaiso: Valpo's been in the Missouri Valley for four seasons and is yet to finish above .500 in league play. Good shot to break that streak this season. Oh, we have a moniker change, and it's laughably awful. Valpo used to be the Crusaders. Now they are the Beacons. I'm not kidding. Beacons. WHY.

219. Evansville: Jawaun Newton and Shamar Givance coming back for Todd Lickliter's team means it's likely the Purple Aces will be able to pick off a foe here or there in the top half of the Missouri Valley. One of the toughest scouts in the league.

255. Illinois State: Critical year ahead for the biggest Chicago Bears fan that's a head coach in college hoops. (As a Bears fan, I've gotta mention it.) Dan Muller's Redbirds are trying to avoid a third straight sub-.500 season for the first time in program history.

[Da Coach]

CBSSports.com's Matt Norlander posts his next installment in his ranking of all 358 D1 teams.
Here was the first installment, #358-#201
https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...021-22-season/

And the latest- #200-#69
https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...021-22-season/

MVC teams- again, the MVC not getting much respect-
#72 Drake
#111 Northern Iowa
#114 Missouri State
#147 Bradley
#163 Southern Illinois
#187 Indiana State

Looks like Loyola is the only one remaining in the top 68.

72. Drake: There was a push for the Bulldogs to earn an at-large bid following a 25-4 season; the committee rewarded Darian DeVries' team. Drake gets Roman Penn and Tank Hemphill back -- that's enough for me to slot this Valley fan fave into the No. 2 hole in the conference. DeVries' son, Tucker, a freshman, was the best high school player in Iowa last year.
111. Northern Iowa: The Panthers have wonderful news in that A.J. Green -- who might be the best player in the Valley when he's at 100% -- is indeed at 100% after suffering a hip injury in December 2020. The Valley should have a compelling top half, with UNI trotting as a dark horse.
114. Missouri State: The coaches in the Valley know that Missouri State -- again -- has the talent to do something that rattles every team's cage. The question is if Dana Ford can keep his team together from November through March. With Gaige Prim and Isiaih Mosley back from a 17-7 club, this team should get four or five more wins than last season.
147. Bradley: Not quite experienced enough as a group to truly qualify as a Missouri Valley dark horse. The Braves were one of the abysmal teams at drawing fouls last season, so expect a huge change in behavior -- because Brian Wardle's teams are normally not contact-averse or 3-point-reliant.
163. Southern Illinois: Bryan Mullins' four-guard offense will return to form, as Marcus Domask is back after a stress reaction in his left foot. The Salukis stumbled without the dynamic wing, going 5-13 in league play. Lance Jones also can ball a bit.
187. Indiana State: After 11 seasons, the Greg Lansing era is over and now Josh Schertz -- who comes via Division II Lincoln Memorial, where he won 85% of his games in 13 seasons -- steps in and has an archetypal point guard (Tyreke Key) to run the show.

[PhiAlphaBoy]

I think Norlander is generally accurate here, but I think almost everybody is undervaluing Valpo this season. I like their coach and think he finally has the talent to possibly be this season's surprise team. And I don't really get all the love for Indiana State with a new coach and many new players.

[Da Coach]

The final installment of CBSSports.com's Matt Norlander's listing of all 358 Division I teams is posted-
https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...021-22-season/

The only remaining MVC team, Loyola, comes in surprisingly high at #28:
28. Loyola Chicago: The best mid-major team of 2021 (finished top-20 in most predictive metrics) will again be in the mix to win an NCAA Tournament game or two. The Ramblers made the Sweet 16 as an underseeded No. 8 and the only people they lost of consequence are coach Porter Moser and team MVP Cameron Krutwig. Those are huge losses, natch, but the school promoted from within, giving 30-year-old Drew Valentine a job he's naturally built for. Valentine managed to retain the rest of the roster, led by Lucas Williamson, who personifies how disciplined and dogged this defensive unit is. Williamson will have Marquise Kennedy, Keith Clemons and Aher Uguak flanking him. Braden Norris could be the best shooter in the MVC. LUC is a near-lock to boast a fifth straight season of at least 20 wins.

#28 places Loyola ahead of the majority of Power 6 Conference teams in D1, and miles ahead of anyone else in the MVC. I agree they will probably be picked #1 in the MVC poll next week, and should be one of the top 2 MVC teams at the end. But IMO, I do not see them being a Top 30 team nationally, nor such a dominant runaway unbeatable top team in the MVC this season. Krutwig was too valuable to that team, and with him gone, their perimeter players and penetrators will not be as effective. Plus a new coach, and the other teams like Drake, Missouri State, and UNI who all have loads of returning players including multiple 5th year "bonus-year" returnees will likely lead to more losses than last season.
Last season, Loyola finished only 1 game ahead of Drake in the 2020-21 MVC standings when they had Krutwig, had no significant player injuries, and were at full strength for the entire season. But, Drake played much of the MVC season without their top 2 scorers (Shanquan Hemphill & Roman Penn), and still finished just 1 game behind Loyola, thanks to Bradley upsetting Drake in the last game of the season (2/27/21) at Carver Arena.

Final CBSSports ranking of MVC-
#28 Loyola
#72 Drake
#111 Northern Iowa
#114 Missouri State
#147 Bradley
#163 Southern Illinois
#187 Indiana State
#210 Valparaiso
#219 Evansville
#255 Illinois State

The newest member of the MVC, Belmont, was ranked #38-
38. Belmont: The legendary Rick Byrd is rightfully going into the College Basketball Hall of Fame next month. Byrd took Belmont from NAIA status, transitioned it to Division I, got Belmont into the Atlantic Sun, then the OVC, and positioned the program to be alluring enough to join the Missouri Valley. (That's happening next year.) That's happening next year. Why am I bringing all this up? Because there have been some great Bruins teams over the past 15 years, but none have entered a season with as much potential as this year's roster under Casey Alexander. Belmont has 97% of its points back from a 26-4 ensemble that was idiotically snubbed from the NIT. Grayson Murphy (10.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 5.8 apg) is a dark horse All-American candidate. Center Nick Muszynski should be an efficient terror for the four-out offense that will lord atop the OVC.

[BUfan17]

Wow no way Loyola should be ranked that high. I agree, I think losing Krutwig will be a huge loss. They have some good players but IMO Krutwig made Loyola into what they currently are.

[Tommy]

Wow no way Loyola should be ranked that high. I agree, I think losing Krutwig will be a huge loss. They have some good players but IMO Krutwig made Loyola into what they currently are.

Thank you! And losing Porter Moser is no small thing, either! To assume this new coach is just going to take over where he left off is insanity!

[Da Coach]

...
Final CBSSports ranking of MVC-
#28 Loyola
#72 Drake
#111 Northern Iowa
#114 Missouri State
#147 Bradley
#163 Southern Illinois
#187 Indiana State
#210 Valparaiso
#219 Evansville
#255 Illinois State

Here is another ranking of all 358 Division I teams, this one on the Sports Illustrated website by Kevin Sweeney, a college basketball writer who blogs mostly about mid-majors.
https://www.si.com/college/2021/11/0...am-daily-cover

Here is where he has the MVC teams, and he seems to be a little kinder to the MVC with his ranking-
#32 Loyola (1st in MVC)- Porter Moser left for the job in Norman, but don’t expect Loyola Chicago (No. 32) to go anywhere—particularly with super senior and defensive stalwart Lucas Williamson leading the way. The vibes out of East Lansing seem positive, raising optimism that Tom Izzo’s
#53 Drake (2nd in MVC)- Few, if any, teams in college basketball are older than Drake(No. 53), which will start two sixth-years, two fifth-years and a fourth-year who helped lead last year’s Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament.
#73 Missouri State (3rd in MVC)
#76 Northern Iowa (4th in MVC)- Star guard AJ Green is healthy after missing most of last season with a hip injury, a huge boon for Northern Iowa (No. 76) and its hopes of competing atop the MVC.
#131 Valparaiso (5th in MVC)- Valparaiso(No. 131), a quartet of names Big Ten fans may recognize (Wisconsin’s Kobe King, Trevor Anderson and Joe Hedstrom; Michigan State’s Thomas Kithier) will look to help push the newly renamed Beacons forward.
#140 Southern Illinois (6th in MVC)
#144 Bradley (7th in MVC
#162 Indiana State (8th in MVC)- Indiana State’s(No. 162) new coach Josh Schertz has built his career at the D-II level by pushing the pace. It has certainly worked at Lincoln Memorial, where Schertz won 83% of his games over 13 years and averaged over 90 points per game last season.
#197 Illinois State (9th in MVC)- Illinois State(No. 197) has been in or near the MVC basement for two years running, and turns to Tennessee State transfer Mark Freeman to help stabilize another young roster.
#220 Evansville (10th in MVC)

[64NIT]

Here is another ranking of all 358 Division I teams, this one on the Sports Illustrated website by Kevin Sweeney, a college basketball writer who blogs mostly about mid-majors.
https://www.si.com/college/2021/11/0...am-daily-cover

Chicago State isn't #358 in this ranking? Interesting.

[Da Coach]

Chicago State isn't #358 in this ranking? Interesting.

Almost as surprising as ranking Illinois State 9th in the MVC, and not 10th!

[Da Coach]

Another blogger ranks all 358 Division I teams.

https://bustingbrackets.com/2021/11/04/ncaa-basketball-ranking-358-d-programs-2021-22-season/

I will try to save you from a lot of scrolling and clicking through an endless slideshow.
Here is how he ranks the MVC teams-
#33 Loyola
#65 Drake
#108 Missouri State
#120 Northern Iowa
#136 SIU
#169 Evansville
#174 Bradley
#187 Indiana State
#205 Illinois State
#242 Valparaiso

[Da Coach]

This is what he has to say about Bradley...

174. Bradley Braves – Last Season Ranking: 104

Conference: Missouri Valley

I was high on Bradley last year given that they had won the Missouri Valley the last two seasons. They started out the year well last year and then went on to lose 12 out of their last 15 games. That losing streak ended any hopes the Braves were going to have of making the NCAA tournament. Bradley was not a good offensive team last year at all, they were a bad shooting team from deep and they only shot about 14 free throws per game, which is one of the worst numbers in the country.

The Braves lost a lot of production from last season but were able to add a pass-first point guard. They didn’t do much to address the shooting woes, or really the lack of quality depth on the team. Bradley looks like a middle-of-the-pack Missouri Valley team. Rienk Mast should be the team leader this season.