WE ALL MADE THE LIST! Not much separation from 1&2. Then 5-6 and 8-10
54 Illinois State
For those scrolling through this and wondering where Final Four darling Loyola-Chicago's at, don't worry, we're not too far off now. But guess what? Illinois State's going to be the best team in the Missouri Valley this season. Milik Yarbrough might be the toughest matchup in the conference and Phil Fayne is arguably a top-five MVC player. Dan Muller, now in year seven in Normal, Illinois has knocked on the NCAA tourney door thrice before. In 2019, he enters the room.
63 Loyola
And finally we've come to the beloved Ramblers. I tried not to let last season's run influence my ranking too much; if anything, perhaps I've overthought this. But Porter Moser (who couldn't schedule up the way he hoped) did lose key starters from last season's dream team. Returning is reigning MVC POY Clayton Custer (13.2 ppg, 4.1 apg). Cameron Krutwig, a sophomore with a game out of 1962, is back. So is Marques Townes (11.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg), who I think becomes this team's best player this season.
97 SIU
Hybrid forward Armon Fletcher is going to keep SIU in company with Illinois State and Loyola-Chicago in the Missouri Valley. The Salukis return 83 percent of their minutes from a 20-win team that held its own often on the road. A lot of potential in Carbondale.
118 Bradley
I suspect the Braves will have a good season but will have poor non-conference numbers that will drag it down lower in the ratings systems vs. how good the team actually should be. Won 20 games a season ago. I think it matches or betters that in 2018-19. Darrell Brown is the best smallest player in the MVC.
132 INST
Jordan Barnes is one of the five best players in the Valley. The Sycamores open their conference season with road games against Illinois State and Loyola-Chicago. That's a rough hand to be dealt, but this group should land above .500 in conference play.
153 UNI
We're in for a good year of Missouri Valley basketball. I know that because I have UNI much lower than the metrics at this point, and other Valley teams clearly shape up as top-130 quality.
160 Valpo
Bakari Evelyn's a stat-getter (top-five player in the Valley, maybe?) and will pump more life into a Valpo team that was 15-17 last season but should flip that record in 2018-19.
166 Mo State
Give him three years and Ford will have Missouri State in the MVC title game. Give him five years, tops, and he'll have a job in a power conference.
186 Drake
The Bulldogs are on their third coach in three years, as Niko Medved went back to Colorado State. Fortunately Nick McGlynn stayed for his final season, which is massive for this team.
207 Evansville
Yes, former Kentucky Wildcat/NBA veteran Walter McCarty. He joins a number of former NBAers who are now running college programs. Evansville's defense will go as far as its bench depth allows.
