Preseason Rankings/1st Team

[BuBrave2006]

I'd go:

1. Loyola
2. UNI
3. Bradley
4. Indiana St
5. Southern
6. Missouri St
7. Drake
8. Valpo
9. Illinois St
10. Evansville

AJ Green (POY)
Roman Penn
Elijah Childs
Austin Phyfe
Cameron Krutwig

I give Loyola the nod over UNI due to having everyone back. Both teams are right there and I won't die on that hill if anyone wants to put UNI at 1, although I think Bradley will be a lot closer than people are probably expecting.

I love Roman Penn and think he deserves a first team spot, although I expect people will probably vote Tyreke Key on. Personally, I think Key is a bit overrated and I think Penn does more for his team, but another one that I think is close and not a hill I would die on.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

UNI
Loyola
Bradley
Indiana St.
Drake
Southern IL.
Missouri St.
Illinois St.
Valpo
Evansville

[BCPanther]

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

Green (POY)
Krutwig
Childs
Phyfe
Key

[Blers]

Loyola - Return everyone that mattered, add a high level shooters to give Krut the most space he's had since his freshman year, a deep bench that's proven it at the D1/Valley level (Kennedy, Norris, and Kaifes all could start IMO)
UNI- I think both two teams will contend for at-larges, just more questions for UNI on the depth front... Especially if one of their big 3 goes down. Haldeman and Brown were SO important to their success in my opinion and I don't know who fills their roles.
ISUb- I think losing Brown might be addition by subtraction; seemed like a great kid who just couldn't get it cooking his later two years like many would have projected. I really like what they return, but who's running point?
BU- Childs is a POY candidate. Lots of new pieces with a lot of talent. Do they have enough time to gel this season?
SIU- I could see them sliding up to the three spot. They're gonna grind it out and play everyone tough, i feel like they could be similar to the 17-18 Bradley team.
Drake- Love Penn. Devries seems to get the most out of his talent. I just don't know what they have in size.
MSU-In what was a pretty loaded freshman class for the valley, I think Isaiah Mosley will end up in the top 2-3 of the bunch. I'll be curious to see what Prim brings in year two, and how much he can play (only averaged 21mpg).
Valpo- JFL was a massive loss. I love Clay, I think he'll be a big time player for years to come... short on proven talent for now though.
ISUr- Mullers last year? Horne and Reeves are a great backcourt... just such young team coming off a few weird years.
Evansville- I feel really bad for Evansville fans. The coaching change last year did make them a lot more competitive come February... but I think they have to really beef up their talent over time.

Krutwig (POY just because he's a senior and been in the top 3 the last two years)
Green
Childs
Phyfe
Key

[siudawgs]

1. Loyola - Very interested to see how Moser divvies up minutes with this deep squad. Really wish there was a full non-con schedule for them to do some damage.
2. UNI - Great ‘Big 3’ ... some of the youngsters will have to come through to solidify the rotation.
3. Bradley - I’d like to see Bradley do it for a full season ... they appear to have the pieces to be a handful.
4. Indiana State - Probably the best interior duo in the league and hopefully Key makes amends for sleepwalking his way through the Arch Madness clunker.
5. SIU - Salukis potentially have a Big 3 of their own in Domask, Jones and Harvey. Bench is young, but Salukis are more talented than last year’s overachievers.
6. Drake - Still pissed about Robbins transferring. Bulldogs should play some effective small ball, though.
7. Missouri State - New-look team has some talent but Bears have a lot to prove after last year’s underachieving.
8. Valpo - Not sure what to think about this program. Arch Madness run was nice, but not sure Lottich earned that extension yet.
9. Illinois State - Program has turned pretty dysfunctional. Last gasp for Muller?
10. Evansville - It would be nice to see the kids who endured last year have some success, but that’s a tall order.

First-team prediction: Green, Key, Childs, Phyfe, Krutwig
Second team: Kennedy, Penn, Mosley, Domask, LaRavia
Third team: Jones, Berhow, Clay, Kingsby, Prim
Honorable mention (point is, the talent is pretty deep this year!): Clemons, Horne, Harvey, Hall, Murphy
Let’s hope we get as full of a season as possible, as safely as possible.

[Blers42]

1) Loyola
2) UNI
3) Bradley
4) Southern
5) Indiana St.
6) Missouri St.
7) Drake
8) Valpo
9) Illinois St.
10) Evansville

POY: Krutwig

[Salukimadness86]

1) Loyola
2) UNI
3) Bradley
4) Southern
5) Indiana St.
6) Missouri St.
7) Drake
8) Valpo
9) Illinois St.
10) Evansville

POY: Krutwig

Agree with all of the above, although I could see the Salukis surprising again and jumping to 3rd.

[VUGrad1314]

I think people are sleeping on Valpo pretty hard. I find it hard to believe we're a definite Thursday team even with the loss of JFL. I know it's a massive loss but we have a great class coming in and I think our offense will be very balanced. If Krikke and Clay take a step forward I think a top 5-6 finish is very likely. I see Valpo in the 4-7 range but maybe I'm biased and overly optimistic.

[BEARZ77]

I think people are sleeping on Valpo pretty hard. I find it hard to believe we're a definite Thursday team even with the loss of JFL. I know it's a massive loss but we have a great class coming in and I think our offense will be very balanced. If Krikke and Clay take a step forward I think a top 5-6 finish is very likely. I see Valpo in the 4-7 range but maybe I'm biased and overly optimistic.

I think it's more a reflection of the fact there is so little to differentiate teams 5-9 in the league. Even Illinois State who most are picking 9th has legitimate talent to contend for the top half. So many things will contribute to who among that group can be consistent enough to challenge for that upper half; 1] roster turnover; 2] who handled the odd off season and distractions best; 3] who can get a schedule together that prepares their team for MVC play; 4] who escapes the duration of the year mostly injury and covid impacted free, are just some of the things that can vary drastically this year.

I can easily see any of the fans of teams in that group in the middle being optimistic about their team challenging for the upper half, and being defensive about being projected a PIG . Not that different from most years, but the circumstances effecting it are .

[Blers]

I think people are sleeping on Valpo pretty hard. I find it hard to believe we're a definite Thursday team even with the loss of JFL. I know it's a massive loss but we have a great class coming in and I think our offense will be very balanced. If Krikke and Clay take a step forward I think a top 5-6 finish is very likely. I see Valpo in the 4-7 range but maybe I'm biased and overly optimistic.

I agree with a lot of what Bearz77 had to say. I guess I haven't heard a ton about the new talent. And while the new talent is great, it's going to be young. Who's expected to help Clay carry the weight of this team? Freeman led the team in points, REBOUNDS, and steals. Fazekas was so important with his ability to stretch the floor (49% from 3!!)...Kiser was the do it all glue... So there are a lot of questions that'll have to be answered.

Mcmillan was improved, but as a junior he was still fouling at an alarming rate which kept him under 18 minutes a game... the seniors Robinson(23.1mpg), Gordon(17.9mp), and Morgran (9.1mpg) averaged a combined 50.1 minutes a game and only 13.3 points... No hate! Just curious to hear how you think it'll look.