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College Sports Madness Top 144 ranking

yoda said:
The season is only a little more than 3 mo away, and the Top 144 countdown on CSM has started...

So far...
- 123 is Belmont who are ranked as #4 in the MVC- https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/22965
- 108 is UNI, ranked #3 in the MVC- https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/23003

Gotta believe Bradley and Drake are #1 & 2, right?
Click to expand...

So far this projection looks directionally correct to me. Yes, BU and Drake 1, 2 in the MVC. Interesting take on Princeton, predicted 1st in Ivy league with strong returning team, rated at number 100. Makes me believe BU, with a similar profile and similar conference could land in the 80s in this piece.
 
yoda said:
Blogger site named Busting Brackets names Bradley as the #6 mid-major team to buy stock in and "positioned for big-time seasons."
https://bustingbrackets.com/posts/n...-into-entering-2024-25-season-01j3xkt2mrrx/11

The CollegeSportsMadness is down to number 98 and neither Drake nor BU listed, so I would expect, or hope, they're both in the 70-80 range.​
Click to expand...

I was thinking BU around 68 and Drake around 80...we'll see

To be hopefully optimistic, I think BU is one of the top 50 teams this season.
 
Tommy said:
umm, pretty sure an RPI #1 ranked team should be higher than 68, LB. :roll:

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OmG Tommy! I think about that often when we started so well out of the gates b4 Hick got injured vs Indy St. We sure took some licks without Hick.
Overall a great season aside from getting swept by the dang Drake Dogs. Really wanted to beat them badly after they took Arch Madness the previous year.
 
LittleBrave said:
OmG Tommy! I think about that often when we started so well out of the gates b4 Hick got injured vs Indy St. We sure took some licks without Hick.
Overall a great season aside from getting swept by the dang Drake Dogs. Really wanted to beat them badly after they took Arch Madness the previous year.
Click to expand...

Here’s to a better start this year than last!
 
yoda said:
The season is only a little more than 3 mo away, and the Top 144 countdown on CSM has started...

So far...
- 123 is Belmont who are ranked as #4 in the MVC- https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/22965
- 108 is UNI, ranked #3 in the MVC- https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/23003

Gotta believe Bradley and Drake are #1 & 2, right?
Click to expand...

well, I'm gonna guess that I am not the only one surprised by this.....
...but CSM Has MURRAY STATE, as their No. 96 team - picked 2nd in the MVC
https://collegesportsmadness.com/article/23054
 
yoda said:
well, I'm gonna guess that I am not the only one surprised by this.....
...but CSM Has MURRAY STATE, as their No. 96 team - picked 2nd in the MVC
https://collegesportsmadness.com/article/23054
Click to expand...

With all the changes year to year, it is hard to predict how teams will do. But this pick is a bit of a surprise. My guess is that the guys doing the picking based this pick more on the long-term reputation of Murray State rather than on the reality of what they have done in their 2 years in the MVC.
Murray State was a 7th place team in 2022-23 (17-15, 11-9), then fell to 12-20 last season, and 9-11 in the MVC, tied for 7th and the 8th seed in the MVC Tournament. They made a quick exit, getting annihilated by # 9 seed Missouri State 60-35 in the Thursday games.
They had a lot of turnover after last season, returning only 2 players who averaged more than 5.1 points per game, and adding a bunch of new players from the transfer portal. Maybe all the new transfers will turn out well, but it's hard to see that the changes will result in a jump to 2nd place in 2024-25.
 
another countdown - Bradley at 91 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTyymp-d_D0

(a warning - this video is terrible sound quality & visual quality - and the two guys doing the podcast
don't seem to know a whole lot about anything their spewing. Can't imagine anyone actually wanting to watch the entire 20 min,
unless you want to get a few laughs at their take of some of the Bradley players)

CSM is counting down, already at 92 with Bradley yet to be named
 
yoda said:
CSM is counting down, already at 92 with Bradley yet to be named
Click to expand...

Well this countdown now has lost some validity and maybe not all that worth the wait - with Murray in the Top 100...seems these guys don't know much about mid majors?
 
BengalFan14 said:
Bradley is listed at 86. Good? Bad?
Click to expand...

It's a joke - no way are we not in the Top 70 in any legit preseason poll.
Guess it won't matter when the season starts anyhow - always good to have others underestimate us and then we have to prove our worth.

Honestly if BU doesn't finish Top 50 (NET rankings) by season's end, I'll be disappointed.
NCAA tourney or bust should be our mentality heading into this season.
 
LittleBrave said:
I was thinking BU around 68 and Drake around 80...we'll see

To be hopefully optimistic, I think BU is one of the top 50 teams this season.
Click to expand...

Yeah - I think they have Bradley a little low....

but I was just looking at Drake's roster and I have to rethink their chances of being at the top of the MVC.
They only have ONE returning player - backup forward Nate Ferguson who averaged 3.7 ppg
Other than Ferguson only four other players even have a single minute of DI experience, & all four of them were deep subs,
single digit scorers transferring in who averaged 1 ppg or LESS or who could barely find playing time on sub-.500 squads.
Maybe their new coach can work miracles, but ...
Bradley fans kind of know what it's like to rebuild from scratch with a new coach and 13 new players.
https://godrakebulldogs.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
 
yoda said:
Yeah - I think they have Bradley a little low....

but I was just looking at Drake's roster and I have to rethink their chances of being at the top of the MVC.
They only have ONE returning player - backup forward Nate Ferguson who averaged 3.7 ppg
Other than Ferguson only four other players even have a single minute of DI experience, & all four of them were deep subs,
single digit scorers transferring in who averaged 1 ppg or LESS or who could barely find playing time on sub-.500 squads.
Maybe their new coach can work miracles, but ...
Bradley fans kind of know what it's like to rebuild from scratch with a new coach and 13 new players.
https://godrakebulldogs.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Click to expand...

Right on, Yoda. With all the talent we have returning this year, along with some solid additions, it's Valley champ or bust for us. I fully expect to win the Valley outright, as well as the MVC tournament this year and anything less will be a disappointment to me. That being said, injuries can change things quickly and we don't know who is going to back-fill that floor leader role that Hickman was for us, but that should all work itself out as we play games. Whatever the case, we have a lot of talent and a coach with a proven record, so I think we'll get a good idea of what we've got after Myrtle Beach!
 
The CollegeSportsMadness countdown had Bradley at 86 and has now counted down to 62.
The one that stands out to me most is - at Number 75 they have Missouri.
Of course, nobody knows exactly how they'll do, but Missouri was one of the worst Power-5 schools in history last year!
They went 8-24 but 0-18 in their conference! They had a weak (#174) non-conference Strength of Schedule, and beat ONLY two teams that had winning records, most of their wins coming against 250-350 NET teams. And they really lost most of their best players incl. Sean East and are rebuilding largely with DII guys & freshmen. So how can they possibly get picked well above anyone in the MVC? P-5 Privilege I guess?

Then at 74 is Pitt, the ONLY top-150 team that Mizzou did beat last year, and they're picked 12th in the ACC.
73 is Georgetown who finished 2-18 in the Big East. They lost to NET 350 Holy Cross & had to do overtime to beat NET 287 American.
Northwestern is picked 66, but I don't think they'll compete with Boo Buie gone and nobody at all like him that can score when they need it. 65 is Utah State, who Bradley beat and who lose much of their offense incl Great Osobor and are rebuilding.
 
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