2024-25 Preseason picks

[BUBraves2006]

I don't care if the Valley is down, there's no way we would be ranked in the "80s" with a record like that.

[Da Coach]

Evan Miyakawa, who does a good job with his analytic formula, has posted his 2024-25 preseason report - Main website - https://evanmiya.com/
Team ratings - https://evanmiya.com/?team_ratings (select Missouri Valley in conference window to see MVC ranking- shown below)

[Da Coach]

Here are the Evan Miyakawa player ratings - https://evanmiya.com/?player_ratings
Select Missouri Valley in the conference window to see his top ranked MVC players - Bradley has 3 of the top 7 (Deen, Hannah, Davis), and 5 of the top 17 players. I personally believe he has Zek Montgomery rated too low at #16.
Corey Thomas (ranked #86) and Connor Dillon (ranked #87) are ranked absurdly low, but probably because they have no Division I records for his formula to give a true measure of their rating.
Note that if you click on the header for the first 2 statistical columns (on the website, not here) you'll see that he has Duke Deen rated by far the top offensive player in the MVC and Darius Hannah is easily the top defensive player.

[Da Coach]

Kenpom.com just released his 2024-25 preseason rankings - https://kenpom.com/

MVC-
93) Bradley
112) Murray State
115) Northern Iowa
133) Drake
147) Southern Illinois
160) Indiana State
170) Belmont
195) Illinois State
204) Evansville
2018 ) Valparaiso
2019) Missouri State
2020) UI-Chicago

[Da Coach]

Kenpom.com just released his 2024-25 preseason rankings - https://kenpom.com/

MVC-
93) Bradley
112) Murray State
115) Northern Iowa
133) Drake
147) Southern Illinois
160) Indiana State
170) Belmont
195) Illinois State
204) Evansville
2018 ) Valparaiso
2019) Missouri State
2020) UI-Chicago

Of course, preseason rankings don't mean a lot. But realistically, it will be very difficult for the MVC to get more than 1 team in the NCAA Tournament.
For example-
All 18 Big Ten and all 14 Big 12 teams are ranked higher than Bradley
Every member of the five Power Conferences (Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, SEC, Big East) are ranked higher than Bradley except these five- # 96 Vanderbilt, # 99 Stanford, # 113 Boston College, # 135 Cal, and # 166 DePaul.

[Afreck2430]

Matt Norlander of CBS sports released his top 100 and 1 teams and has Bradley at 48.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/college-basketball-rankings-cbs-sports-top-100-and-1-best-teams-for-the-2024-25-season/

[Da Coach]

Matt Norlander of CBS sports released his top 100 and 1 teams and has Bradley at 48.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...024-25-season/

Note that he has 3 MVC teams in his Top 100+1- In addition to Bradley at # 48, UNI is # 80 and Murray State is # 96.

And Matt Norlander gives a bit more respect to the MVC than the Kenpom's formula did. Kenpom had all 18 Big Ten teams ranked higher than Bradley. Norlander has 8 Big Ten teams ranked below Bradley in his Top 100+1- Wisconsin is # 58, Northwestern is # 64, USC is # 77, Iowa is # 82, Penn State is # 95, and Nebraska is # 101, plus 2 others did not even make the Top 101 list. Minnesota and Washington.

[Da Coach]

Here is the first preseason pick that does not have Bradley # 1. A blogger on X.com with only 168 followers picks Murray State # 1, and Bradley # 2- https://x.com/BBBackdoorBeats/status...92779866632651

1. Murray St
2. Bradley
3. Northern Iowa
4. Southern Illinois
5. Belmont
6. Illinois St
7. UIC
8. Indiana St
9. Valparaiso
10. Missouri St
11. Drake
12. Evansville

I don't see Drake finishing 11th either.

[Da Coach]

College basketball blogger ranks the top 25 mid-majors - https://x.com/nlorensensports/status...63620083863680
Bradley is # 14. No other MVC team is in the top 25.
A couple upcoming opponents- Santa Clara is # 11 and San Francisco is # 15.
Loyola, who Bradley demolished in last year's NIT is # 19.
A couple other teams that Bradley beat last year- Utah State is # 12, and UAB is # 21

[Dubl R 1]

Princeton #10. Possible early matchup with them.

[Da Coach]

CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 - https://collegeinsider.com/mens-mid-major-top-25
Bradley is # 4
Northern Iowa is # 7
Murray State and Drake also received votes. Indiana State received one vote.

[Da Coach]

And another Mid-Major Top 25 from a twitter-blog - https://x.com/MiniHoopsAlert/status/1850915932580769988

Bradley is # 19. Note in the comments that he agrees that he might have Bradley too low.

[LittleBrave]

Joe Lunardi’s preseason bracketology has Bradley in the Sweet 16, losing to Kansas.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/1f4ikww/joe_lunardi_2025_ncaa_tournament_preseason/

https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBask...ason/#lightbox

Man if we play Kansas, I feel good about it! BU is 2-0 all time vs the Kansazz JayHawks.

[LittleBrave]

Note that he has 3 MVC teams in his Top 100+1- In addition to Bradley at # 48, UNI is # 80 and Murray State is # 96.

And Matt Norlander gives a bit more respect to the MVC than the Kenpom's formula did. Kenpom had all 18 Big Ten teams ranked higher than Bradley. Norlander has 8 Big Ten teams ranked below Bradley in his Top 100+1- Wisconsin is # 58, Northwestern is # 64, USC is # 77, Iowa is # 82, Penn State is # 95, and Nebraska is # 101, plus 2 others did not even make the Top 101 list. Minnesota and Washington.

I think this is pretty close to accurate and hopefully where these teams will end up at season's end (of course any higher would be a bonus!)

[LittleBrave]

If Bradley is not one of the best 50 teams this season, then 1) very little contribution from our newcomers 2) Our returning players regressed or suffered key injuries

This team has the potential to be very special - possibly better than the MVC Champs 2 seasons ago...and I'm believing it to be!