Thursday night teams next year

[Aargh]

IlSU, SIU, Loyola, and Drake - in no particular order.

UNI, MSU, and BU should be well clear of Thursday night. I'd give UNI the edge among those 3 battling it out for 3rd - because of Jacobsen. That guy can coach. So can Ford. Not enough infor yet on Lusk, but I have a lot more confidence in him than in Muller.

That leaves UE in 6th place. UE at least has some players used to Valley play and Valley officiating. It can take a new player in the league more than a few games to figure that out. Unfortunately, I have little confidence and absolutely no evidence that Mullser can handle what he's bitten off by trying to do a complete start over. That's usually the mark of a 3 year ramp up to respectability.

[rlh04d]

I'm going to weigh in, and IMHO ISU's Redbirds may suprise quite of few of the naysayers. Muller had his system and had Jank's freeflow players last season, and the results were a lower than predicted finish for the team.

It looks like Muller has cleaned house and now has players that will fit his system and will buy into what he's preaching. Should be interesting, but think Muller & co. really went out and recruited some athletic players that should gel into a very competitive team.

Like a earlier poster mentioned, it's hard to tell because ISU-R has so MANY new players, but I'm willing to bet that the Redbirds will be better than many predict.

ROCK IT VALLEY!!

Any chance IlSU has a foreign trip this year or anything else that will give the coaches more time with all of the new players to get things to click?

My concern with IlSU is that they do manage to get things to click by the start of conference play -- and by that point they've bombed the non-conference season so badly that they kill the conference's RPI by playing well.

It's entirely possible IlSU surprises people -- but I remember how long it took Marshall to get WSU back up after only a year removed from a Sweet 16, and Muller is not in Marshall's class as a coach. I'd consider .500 next year for the Redbirds to be a large success.

[pafan]

SIU was 10th this year. Should be worse next year.

How is this possible? Is the recruiting going that badly for Barry?

When do you return that game with Ohio Dominican?

[isumvc1]

I'll pick the 4 Illinois schools, LOL, honestly I have no idea who it'll be??

[isuredbirds92]

I'm not sure how the redbirds will fair next year. It could be very good or very VERY bad. I think BU will surprise some people. I was very impressed with Lemon and DSE last year and they seem to have recruited a decent supporting cast. I could see them being a surprise team. Not sure what to think of MSU or UNI, but I think they'll both be middle of the pack. Here's my way too early predictions.

1- WSU
2- ISUb
3- BU
4- UNI
5- MSU
6- ISUr
7- Drake
8- UE
9- Loyola
10- SIU

In the end, I think muller's guys will gel just enough to avoid Thursday. I think they could be a sleeper for an arch madness run. Considering it might take most of the year for them to hit their stride. Lots of athleticism and scoring from every position. Good or bad, should be an exciting team to watch!

[uniftw]

I'll admit I haven't really looked at each school for next year worth much out of who I remember off the top of my head...so I'll go

1.WSU

T2. ISUB/UNI



4. Bradley
5. MSU

6. Evansville

7. Loyola
8. ISUr
9. Drake
10. SIU

[Aargh]

My concern with IlSU is that they do manage to get things to click by the start of conference play -- and by that point they've bombed the non-conference season so badly that they kill the conference's RPI by playing well.

Conference RPI is absolutely irrelevant in this variation of the MVC. There isn't enough muscle left in the MVC that games in the MVC will matter for an NCAA bid. A team will have to earn an at-large in OOC play or win the auto bid to get into the NCAA's. Winning in conference will be about as significant as winning in the Southland.

About the only chance for multiple bids next year is if WSU and InSU absolutely rip up their OOC schedules, lose no more than 2 or 3 games in conference play, and meet each other in the finals in St. Louis.

Conference RPI never matters in a one-bid conference. The MVC is so close to being a one-bid league that we may as well consider the Valley a one-bid league. There's no way to build an NCAA resume in conference play. It has to happen in OOC and then any team with at-large hopes has to win 15 or 16 games in conference play.

And not lose to an IlSU team that blows their OOC schedule before putting anything resembling a team on the court.

[saluki762]

SIU was 10th this year. Should be worse next year.

How is this possible? Is the recruiting going that badly for Barry?

When do you return that game with Ohio Dominican?

Recruiting is not good although I think that should have been the expectation for SIU fans and I think we got a steal in O'Brien if he is here for 4 years.

We lose Early, Lindsay and Surles. As bad as KBS was, he was our only point guard. I see no way we improve this year. I think we get some shocking wins in conference just like WSU last year but what BH inherited is at minimum a 4-5 year turn around and without supreme luck, SIU is a 10th place team this year and a Thursday team for at least 3 more years.

[achrist70]

1. Wichita


2. Indiana State
3. Northern Iowa

4. Bradley

5. Missouri State
6. Southern Illinois


7. Evansville
8. Loyola
9. Illinois State
10. Drake

[Redbird Recon]

As I look around the MVC, I've got to ask, who thinks they will have a better squad this year than last year?

13 win Creighton is replaced by a 5 win Horizon team.
12 win Wichita should win more games and benefit from a weak Valley.
11 win Northern Iowa returns two good ones, but the supporting cast is suspect.
10 win Evansville has Balentine, but the backcourt holes are gapping. Major drop.
9 win Indiana State should be better. Arop has a chance to be great.
8 win Illinois State...
7 win Bradley lost a lot. That team was terrible with DSE hurt down the stretch. He's gone.
7 win Drake ???
7 win Missouri State should be better. Gulley could return in a BIG way. Good young talent.
6 win Southern Illinois seemed to be playing catch-up all recruiting season. Toss up.

High-horse Shocker fans may very well be right. I see a bad league. That gives me hope for ISU-red.