Poll: Who finishes 9th?

by **DUBulldog** » October 22nd, 2021, 12:35 pm

The fans on this board have picked Illinois State for 10th.

Who do you think will finish 9th?

This poll will run until 10/25 afternoon.

**Sponsor**

by **Loyola_Fan** » October 22nd, 2021, 12:56 pm

I'm pretty low on Indiana State. I think they're going to have problems running their offense with D2 athletes in the MVC. Tyreke Key is a lock for his third consecutive first team selection and maybe he'll make me look stupid, but I just think there are going to be problems with both the scheme and the athletes in the scheme. I think Evansville, Valpo, and Bradley all have enough returning experience or talent that they will be better.

by **IllinoisState** » October 22nd, 2021, 1:09 pm

People are a lot higher on Evansville than I imagined they would be.

by **BCPanther** » October 22nd, 2021, 1:14 pm

I mean, honestly, you can throw the Top 4 in a hat, slot SIU into 5th place no man's land and then toss the bottom 5 in a hat and you'll come just as close as we are with our 'informed' opinions.

by **VUGrad1314** » October 22nd, 2021, 1:19 pm

I largely agree but I think people are underrating Evansville and possibly Valpo. Maybe I'm underrating SIU but I think SIU is in the same tier as the rest of the 5-8 or 9 schools. Valpo has brought in a lot of talent in the portal and their class looks good but of course with that many new pieces it's hard to tell how well they'll all fit together. Evansville though has a ton of returning talent and they're well coached. I would not be surprised to see them finish 5-6 and avoid Thursday. It will be a heck of a fight to stay out of Thursday among many of these teams. I'll keep repeating this: The top one or two Thursday teams are going to be really tough in their Friday matchups. I don't expect them to win but they won't go quietly.

by **jsaluki080** » October 22nd, 2021, 8:06 pm

gotta go with Evansville. They never fail to disappoint.

by **acecard1** » October 22nd, 2021, 8:50 pm

jsaluki080 wrote:gotta go with Evansville. They never fail to disappoint.

Apparently you slept through last season.

by **SalukiWorld** » October 23rd, 2021, 3:13 am

IllinoisState wrote:People are a lot higher on Evansville than I imagined they would be.

Evansville has 5 Seniors starting, I know their defense and depth are a concern but I think Lickliter will get the most out of this team again.

I have Indiana State 9th but they're one of those teams that could easily surprise depending on how their fast-paced system works in the Valley. I just don't think there's enough talent here outside of Key to put them above 9th. They have 3 D2 transfers that are probably going to get minutes.

by **SalukiWorld** » October 23rd, 2021, 3:22 am

VUGrad1314 wrote:I largely agree but I think people are underrating Evansville and possibly Valpo. Maybe I'm underrating SIU but I think SIU is in the same tier as the rest of the 5-8 or 9 schools. Valpo has brought in a lot of talent in the portal and their class looks good but of course with that many new pieces it's hard to tell how well they'll all fit together. Evansville though has a ton of returning talent and they're well coached. I would not be surprised to see them finish 5-6 and avoid Thursday. It will be a heck of a fight to stay out of Thursday among many of these teams. I'll keep repeating this: The top one or two Thursday teams are going to be really tough in their Friday matchups. I don't expect them to win but they won't go quietly.

Think you're underrating SIU. Really think they're in their own tier after the top 4 tier. In a normal season without Seniors returning, they'd be getting some Tournament buzz but they're kind of stuck this year but have the chance to build some momentum into that buzz for next year when all the Seniors graduate from other schools. They're bringing back like 93% of their minutes from last year and filled in the holes that they did have.

by **BCPanther** » October 23rd, 2021, 7:36 am

SalukiWorld wrote:
VUGrad1314 wrote:I largely agree but I think people are underrating Evansville and possibly Valpo. Maybe I'm underrating SIU but I think SIU is in the same tier as the rest of the 5-8 or 9 schools. Valpo has brought in a lot of talent in the portal and their class looks good but of course with that many new pieces it's hard to tell how well they'll all fit together. Evansville though has a ton of returning talent and they're well coached. I would not be surprised to see them finish 5-6 and avoid Thursday. It will be a heck of a fight to stay out of Thursday among many of these teams. I'll keep repeating this: The top one or two Thursday teams are going to be really tough in their Friday matchups. I don't expect them to win but they won't go quietly.

Think you're underrating SIU. Really think they're in their own tier after the top 4 tier. In a normal season without Seniors returning, they'd be getting some Tournament buzz but they're kind of stuck this year but have the chance to build some momentum into that buzz for next year when all the Seniors graduate from other schools. They're bringing back like 93% of their minutes from last year and filled in the holes that they did have.

That's exactly where I'm at on SIU. I think they're REALLY good (Top 100) but just not up there with the 4 that all have a chance to be Top 50 or better.

As for Evansville, I think the lack of talent catches up this year with a regular schedule. They don't have the chance to beat on you and slow the game to a crawl and make you defend for 28 seconds on every possession for back to back days this year and that's going to expose them some.