New and not so too-early predictions

[freddycat68]

1. UNI. Green is the best player in the conference, and Jacobson has UNI back.
2. MSU. Can't sleep on them--they will gel and be ready by MVC play.
3. Loyola. I hate the head-to-head-to-head "game," but LUC beat an awful St. Joe's team that beat BU.
4. BU. I'm a BU fan and grad, but I can't put BU higher after the awful games against NW and SJU, Maryville notwithstanding. Nice win against KSU, but KSU is gonna lose a lot of games.
5. Evansville. Sorry to say the UK game seems like a one-off. ECU is way worse than NW or SJU.
6. Drake. Nice record against a soft sked.
T7. Valpo. Not as bad as advertised. Can't differentiate between them and ISUr.
T7. ISUr. See above, except they are as bad as advertised.
9. ISUb. Could EASILY finish higher--just hard to see who above them will drop lower.
10. SIU. Ya know what? They're scrappy and competitive. But a year or 2 away.

[spoon]

Won’t disagree with your rankings... but I will say that using Saint Joseph’s as a barometer for Bradley is really dumb. An away game opener is never something to use As a season-long indicator. Go back to Wardkes first season, when they beat a decent Ball State team at home and then went 4-27. Openers shouldn’t count for much.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Between their ball movement, defense, and plays coming off timeouts, Northern Iowa looks like a well-oiled machine in midseason form. Lockdown defender in Isaiah Brown. Sharpshooter in Trae Berhow. Threat to take over any game in AJ Green. Top rebounder off the bench in Pickford. Quickness and speed off the bench in Kimmons. On and on. This team just checks the box for every role you want. The players understand their roles and play cohesively.

Preseason, I would’ve said the lack of a Koch or Tuttle inside prevents this team from reaching peak Panther levels but Phyfe and his backup Dahl have taken major strides. Credit Jacobson and staff for developing those two. No elite penetrator like Washpun but that’s really the only hole I can nitpick.

Pete Gillen raved about UNI in the Bradley/Memphis telecast last week as did Bill Walton tonight. Not hard to see why.

Just don’t have a letdown in one of the sport’s toughest environments Thursday or let other coaches in on the end-of-game press secret, and this has the potential for a special year in Frostbite Falls.

1 UNI
2 MSU - talent will gel, Ford should flip PGs
3 ISUb - liked this team since summer, pick to surprise
4 BU - Jekyll and Hyde
5 LU - this year = 2017, next year = 2018
6 UE - record is directly correlated with SC/DW’s shots and playing time
7 DU - hasn’t shot like last year, Tremell needs to regain last year’s form
8 VU - never write off a team with an elite player who makes everyone better
9 ISUr - development year, Fisher’s inefficiency has caused reevaluation
10 SIU - development year

[freddycat68]

Won’t disagree with your rankings... but I will say that using Saint Joseph’s as a barometer for Bradley is really dumb. An away game opener is never something to use As a season-long indicator. Go back to Wardkes first season, when they beat a decent Ball State team at home and then went 4-27. Openers shouldn’t count for much.

You might be surprised, but I agree it's really dumb. Having said that, St. Joe's is AWFUL, and Northwestern is even worse. So I see those, taken together, as a real blemish. As usual with this conference, I don't see a lot of separation. I think any team in the top 5 could finish anywhere from 1 to 5, and a team in the bottom 5 could crash the top 5. On balance, it looks like the Valley might be a little better than expected.

[goramblers2011]

My predicted final rankings (not so much a current 'power ranking'):

1. UNI
2. Bradley
3. Loyola
4. MSU
5. ISUb
6. Drake
7. Valpo
8. Evansville
9. ISUr
10. SIU

[municup14]

My predicted final rankings (not so much a current 'power ranking'):

1. UNI
2. Bradley
3. Loyola
4. MSU
5. ISUb
6. Drake
7. Valpo
8. Evansville
9. ISUr
10. SIU

Considering how we play on the road,I agree with the Aces finishing around6,7,or8

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

UNI
Drake
Evansville
Missouri State
Bradley
Loyola
Valparaiso
Illinois State
Indiana State
Southern Illinois

[Mikovio]

Northwestern doesn't look so awful with the win over Providence and blowing out Boston College. St. Joe's is the real anchor and we'd better get em back next year.

1. UNI
2. BU
3. MSU
4. LU
5. UE
6. DU
7. ISUb
8. VU
9. ISUr
10. SIU

[Blers]

1

1. UNI. Green is the best player in the conference, and Jacobson has UNI back.

UNI is far and away the best team in the valley this season, but I don't think AJ Green is the best player in the valley by any stretch. He hit a big shot last night but his efficiency numbers (at times due to poor shot selection) and his 1.2 assist/turnover ratio are leave a lot of room for growth. He still reminds me of Milton Doyle, who had a ton of talent, but probably did too much on his own. I’d take Freeman over any day over Green at this point, especially with the value added on defense. Doesn’t mean he can’t catch up though, he’s definitely got the talent!

I think the real key to UNI is Berhow. Stop him and force Green to work on your own and you have a chance. His two worst games were West Virginia (loss) and UNCO (overtime win). Oh, and he’s currently shooting 55% from 3…70% (!!!!!) in his last 6 games.

1. UNI- As mentioned, so sound, lots of options, Brown is also an elite defender. They have everything a team could want.

2. MSU- They could easily fall, but I still think their talent level will keep them afloat, finally closing out a game (against an OK Murray State) could be a big boost for confidence. Tough schedule should help.

3. Valpo- I’m willing to say this is probably too high. But I honestly really like what this team has. Nice wins over Toledo and Central Michigan, played Cincy tight. The Fazekas injury was probably a blessing to build depth with Clay and Gordon. Only concern is post presence against some tough bigs in conference.

4. LU- I can’t emphasize enough how excited I am for next season. And this year would look a whole lot better with 1 extra second of good defense against Colorado State. They have led well into the second halves of every game this year (in the double digits against UCF and CSU) with the exception of Furman. The talents there, just need to learn how to close out games and come back. The Clemons addition could be big; was great at Ball State.

5. BU- They still kind of remind me of the LU from last year. I feel like they press a little too hard sometimes, and I’m not sold on their depth. Brown has been ROUGH shooting the ball (28% from the field). I do like their top 5 guys still though, and wouldn’t be shocked to see them carry the team much higher.

6. Drake- They’ve been playing okay, against okay teams (like mentioned, I don’t think Murray State is great this year). Still, I respect the pieces and the coach.

7. ISUB- If I was basing this on only this year I’d be way higher on them, really tough schedule, lots of options on offense, getting hot at the right time. I’m only hesitant because I feel like the last few years they’ve had great non-cons only to falter in conference play, but maybe this is the year!

8. UE- The Kentucky win was incredible, and they’re headed in the right direction, but close wins 3 of their last four wins were under 6 points against Morgan State (3OT), IUPUI, and Western Illinois. Williams is a monster, KJ Riley is great, Cunliffe is a weapon, just need a bit more depth IMO and they’re definitely on the right track.

9. ISUR- Just need time, I love how scrappy they are, team culture is better, just got to develop talent, I agree I’ve been kinda disappointed by Fisher…

10. SIU- Domask, Jones, great freshman adds, Benson adds something inside, with McGill and then Cook back in the lineup before too long, they’re going to steal some wins.

[achrist70]

1

1. UNI. Green is the best player in the conference, and Jacobson has UNI back.

UNI is far and away the best team in the valley this season, but I don't think AJ Green is the best player in the valley by any stretch. He hit a big shot last night but his efficiency numbers (at times due to poor shot selection) and his 1.2 assist/turnover ratio are leave a lot of room for growth. He still reminds me of Milton Doyle, who had a ton of talent, but probably did too much on his own. I’d take Freeman over any day over Green at this point, especially with the value added on defense. Doesn’t mean he can’t catch up though, he’s definitely got the talent!

I think the real key to UNI is Berhow. Stop him and force Green to work on your own and you have a chance. His two worst games were West Virginia (loss) and UNCO (overtime win). Oh, and he’s currently shooting 55% from 3…70% (!!!!!) in his last 6 games.

1. UNI- As mentioned, so sound, lots of options, Brown is also an elite defender. They have everything a team could want.

2. MSU- They could easily fall, but I still think their talent level will keep them afloat, finally closing out a game (against an OK Murray State) could be a big boost for confidence. Tough schedule should help.

3. Valpo- I’m willing to say this is probably too high. But I honestly really like what this team has. Nice wins over Toledo and Central Michigan, played Cincy tight. The Fazekas injury was probably a blessing to build depth with Clay and Gordon. Only concern is post presence against some tough bigs in conference.

4. LU- I can’t emphasize enough how excited I am for next season. And this year would look a whole lot better with 1 extra second of good defense against Colorado State. They have led well into the second halves of every game this year (in the double digits against UCF and CSU) with the exception of Furman. The talents there, just need to learn how to close out games and come back. The Clemons addition could be big; was great at Ball State.

5. BU- They still kind of remind me of the LU from last year. I feel like they press a little too hard sometimes, and I’m not sold on their depth. Brown has been ROUGH shooting the ball (28% from the field). I do like their top 5 guys still though, and wouldn’t be shocked to see them carry the team much higher.

6. Drake- They’ve been playing okay, against okay teams (like mentioned, I don’t think Murray State is great this year). Still, I respect the pieces and the coach.

7. ISUB- If I was basing this on only this year I’d be way higher on them, really tough schedule, lots of options on offense, getting hot at the right time. I’m only hesitant because I feel like the last few years they’ve had great non-cons only to falter in conference play, but maybe this is the year!

8. UE- The Kentucky win was incredible, and they’re headed in the right direction, but close wins 3 of their last four wins were under 6 points against Morgan State (3OT), IUPUI, and Western Illinois. Williams is a monster, KJ Riley is great, Cunliffe is a weapon, just need a bit more depth IMO and they’re definitely on the right track.

9. ISUR- Just need time, I love how scrappy they are, team culture is better, just got to develop talent, I agree I’ve been kinda disappointed by Fisher…

10. SIU- Domask, Jones, great freshman adds, Benson adds something inside, with McGill and then Cook back in the lineup before too long, they’re going to steal some wins.

I agree with you that the key to UNI's success is when others are doing more, it was last year also, I am not sure we won more than 3 games when AJ was our leading scorer. But, he has been playing off of the ball more this year, and became much better with finding other teammates. I would take AJ everyday over Freeman, and it isn't even close.