Next Year Predictions

[TNMSUFAN]

1. Wichita St
2. Indiana St.
3. MO State - return a lot plus Gulley
4. N Iowa
5. Bradley
6. Evansville
7. S Illinois
8. Illinois St
9. Drake

[isumvc1]

1-WSU-May have a 14-2 type season.
2-InSU-I don't think they finish this high in the end
3-UNI-Tuttle and Mitchell's team now. Jeremy Morgan is the real deal.
4-Bradley-Geno has finally flushed most of Les's garbage
5-Missouri State-Talented, not sold on coaching
6-Evansville-Marty-Ball will be down, but they always play really hard
7-SIU-Year 2 is always harder than year one.
8-IlSU-Last one out please turn off the lights
9-Drake-Be interesting to see what the roster actually looks like in November. Uncertainty abounds.

INS will be picked 2nd in the preseason poll, but there is no way we'll end there. We'll get off to a good start, then our players will get "tired" (as has been the tradition the past 2 seasons, and we'll finish 5th at best. We'll tank the last 8-10 games of the MVC season to drop from a 2nd place start. Count on it. Losing RJ will also hurt, but not as bad as I had originally thought.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

1. WSU
2. Missouri State
3. Indiana State
4.UNI
5. SIUC
6.Bradley
7. Evansville
8. Drake
9. Illinois State

I think both Missouri State and Southern Illinois are big time sleepers on a national level. Really think both will drastically overachieve. SIUC will be good enough for some tournament and I expect Missouri State to be in a fight for an NCAA berth.

[Sir Sci]

1. WSU
2. Missouri State
3. Indiana State
4.UNI
5. SIUC
6.Bradley
7. Evansville
8. Drake
9. Illinois State

I think both Missouri State and Southern Illinois are big time sleepers on a national level. Really think both will drastically overachieve. SIUC will be good enough for some tournament and I expect Missouri State to be in a fight for an NCAA berth.

As much as I would like to pick the Bears for #2, I really think that UNI will get #2 with Indiana State competing with them for that spot. Missouri State, I think, will be the #4 team.

SIU will improve, but I don't think they will finish above Bradley.

I guess my predictions are:

1. WSU
2. UNI
3. Ind St
4. Mo St
5. Bradley
6. Evansville
7. SIU
8. Drake
9. Ill St

[rlh04d]

1-WSU-May have a 14-2 type season.
2-InSU-I don't think they finish this high in the end
3-UNI-Tuttle and Mitchell's team now. Jeremy Morgan is the real deal.
4-Bradley-Geno has finally flushed most of Les's garbage
5-Missouri State-Talented, not sold on coaching
6-Evansville-Marty-Ball will be down, but they always play really hard
7-SIU-Year 2 is always harder than year one.
8-IlSU-Last one out please turn off the lights
9-Drake-Be interesting to see what the roster actually looks like in November. Uncertainty abounds.

I'd probably go with this one. WSU's going to have a hard road coming off this season, with everyone in the conference shooting for us every night out, but we'll definitely be the most talented, experienced, and deepest team in the conference. No excuse not to win other than not playing hard, and I don't think Marshall will allow that. Early will be the favorite for POY, and Cotton should almost be guaranteed to make all-defensive team. Kadeem Coleby might grab newcomer of the year if he can be a decent stand-in for Hall -- he was second in the Sun Belt in blocks per game and first in FG% two years ago, so he has the results in the past.

Indiana State, UNI, and Bradley as the next tier. UNI lost ... what, three of their four best players? They'll be solid, but I don't really see them as making a NCAA run next year -- let's be honest, this is the year they were supposed to be good, not next year. I expect Indiana State to at least put together a tournament resume ... don't know if it'll be good enough, though. And I think Bradley will be the most improved team.

Missouri State has good players. Evansville has a good coach. SIU, IlSU, and Drake can battle for Thursday night.

I think best case scenario for the Valley is for Wichita State to run rough-shod over everyone and get a great NCAA seed, Indiana State to squeak into the tournament, and UNI or Bradley to go lights out in time for St. Louis to steal the automatic bid. Not saying that'll happen, but that's the best case scenario I see for maximizing NCAA shares.

[jackwagon]

1. WSU- Cant really add much to the discussion. They are clear cut number 1. Team will have a really solid starting 5 and some decent depth. Only potential downfall is the frontcourt is not as experienced and productive as years past. That was a huge advantage for WSU over valley teams the last 3-4 years and this next year its less certain . The transfer big Coleby looks to be solid but unproven at this level. Looking at his stats he never played big time competition so im expecting 8-10 points a game from him. Other then him White and Lufile are serviceable at best coming back. Beyond that they will rely on true freshmen bigs or JC guys. It is always a roll of the dice with trusting that combo with big minutes but I trust Marshalls track record with JC kids. WSU should be a sure fire number one valley team and top 25 team all year.

2. Indiana State - Return everyone but Mahurin from an NIT team. Also adds 6-11 285 JC center who medically redshirted this past year. No clue if he is good but he will be the biggest guy in the valley. Probably hoping he can add some physical play. Their freshman class looks pretty decent and a redshirt kid came pretty highly regarded. Good height and depth on this team along with experienced producers like Odum and Arop should carry this team to a 2nd place finish and maybe NCAA berth. The way they flatlined at the end of the year is concerning though.

3. UNI- Tuttle and Mitchell is a good place to start building a team for next year. Those two plus the coaching of Jake should be enough for a top half finish. Bohannon should be a solid starter by next year as well. Maybe panther fans can elaborate more but it looks like the frontcourt is pretty darn bare other than Tuttle. A bunch of true FR and unproductive returning players is not usually a good combo in the frontcourt. If UNI can put pieces around those two they could be tough.

4. Missouri State- Marshall and Thurman lead the bears to a top half finish. They might find some tough sledding early being the focal points of the other teams scouting and those teams having a year of tape on them but those two have big time games. I think the supporting group is better too. Factor in some solid recruiting and Gulley coming back and you have a much improved bears team. Not ready for title contender status though. Best players are too young and still no frontcourt depth.

5. Bradley- Walt Lemon is a stud. Losing the two bench players that are transferring will hurt an already thin roster. I like Pickett and Prosser as solid post guys but not a ton else to like coming back. Lemon, the post duo and some decent recruits should be enough to get them to 5 in a weak valley though.

6. SIU- Why is everyone picking them so high? Isn't Desmar Jackson gone? I see conflicting reports on whether he is or is not coming back. If he is back then move them up to 5 and close to 4. If he is not then you have Beane and Pendelton as solid young guards but what else are people basing these high rankings on? The recruiting class is good but a bunch of decent freshmen and those two will not finish in the upper half. Daniels was a big loss as he was the only post player on the roster worth a damn.

7. Evansville -- The big foreign guy needs to have a breakout year or this could be a bit high. Balentine is a good young guard and Wing came on strong late but not a lot to work with for marty for next year. Colt Ryan and that senior class will be sorely missed.

8. Drake- Weak with loss of Clarke, Simons, Mason, and HInes. King and Carter jr are solid pieces to go with Van Deest but much more needed. New coaching staff will take some adjusting too as well. I have a feeling drake fans will be more pleased at years end then they have been the last 3-4 years though.

9. Illinois State- Complete dumpster fire. Looked for positives but nothing of real value returns. Bryant Allen is probably the only rotation quality guy coming back. Recruiting is good but nothing near enough to replace what was lost. This is going to be a long year for ISU-R. Redbird nation will be Carmichael Kicking everything in sight im afraid.

[TheDrake]

I have no idea how good we'll actually be, but i really like the staff that Coach Giacoletti is putting together. Even with the loss of Simons, Mason, Clarke, and Hines, I think it's highly possible that Drake places higher this year than they did last year. IF (and that is a big if) no more players transfer I could see us finishing as high as 5th. The Valley is going to be down next year and Drake will hopefully have a major upgrade in coaching with what is still a decent roster. Then again we've never seen the guy coach a game and he could very well end up being Phelps 2.0 With that being said

1. Wichita State
2. Indiana State
3. Bradley
4. UNI
5. Missouri State
6. Drake
7. Southern Illinois
8. Evansville
9. Illinois State

[bleach]

1. Wichita St
2. Indiana St.
3. MO State - return a lot plus Gulley
4. N Iowa
5. Bradley
6. Evansville
7. S Illinois
8. Illinois St
9. Drake

This.
Shox are obvious #1 and Sycs return the most proven players.
Bears gain more than they lost and have good talented youth.
UNI might be good but not enough proven to base it on.
Braves are a clear #5.
The rest have very little to be excited about.

[Valleyball]

I can't figure out what people are seeing at SIU. Is it just the second year under a new coach. The recruits aren't bad, but aren't stars are they? I think they will be about the same again.

I have nothing against SIU and I like Barry, but I don't see it.

[TNMSUFAN]

I can't figure out what people are seeing at SIU. Is it just the second year under a new coach. The recruits aren't bad, but aren't stars are they? I think they will be about the same again.

I have nothing against SIU and I like Barry, but I don't see it.

Losing Daniels was a killer because they now only return 2 of their top 5 scorers but Jackson 15pts and Beane 9pts is a decent place to start...could see them last again though especially if they don't get front court help