Way too early, knee-jerk re-ranking

[mvfcfan]

Everyone has shown signs of being good and everyone has shown signs of being bad. It's still early but I like what I have seen so far. I think whoever makes the NCAA tournament will be a tough out no matter who they play.

[ValleyFAN]

I still think that Missouri State will gel and start playing some good basketball by the time conference play starts. Having watched every Valley team play so far the Bears talent is the best I have seen.

Playing Xavier close on the road was a good start, and they may have pulled it out if not for some weird calls. We'll see what Bears team shows up against stiff competition in Charleston this week!

[achrist70]

It is way too early to do this but here is how I see it

Evansville- They have a signature win for the conference, do I think that they will stay there? No, but it's where they need to be right now.
UNI- They haven't loss, and while it hasn't always looked pretty the team is much better with Phyfe. The ODU win will look good at the end of the season.
Missouri State- You can tell the talent is there, if the coaching is there to match they will be tough.
Bradley- Slow start, and may be inconsistent, but I think they will have 11+ conference wins.
Drake- Really tough to truly evaluate this team, beat cupcakes, and lost handily to their only tough opponent, but I think DeVries will get things going.
Illinois State- I'm not high on the Redbirds, but they look better then the teams I have below them.
Valpo- I think they are pretenders now, but 3-1 is a nice start.
Loyola- What I have seen from them, I haven't been impressed, not I expect them to improve and move up, but we will see how good of a coach Porter is without Mullins on staff.
SIU- I think highly of Mullins, but it will take time with a complete rebuild.
Indiana State- Played a good schedule, but until they win I have to put the trees in the 10 spot.

[DUBulldog]

Can't really judge my Bulldogs just yet. As somebody mentioned above, beat cupcakes easily, lost big in only game against tough competition. But, Bulldogs lost even worse to Colorado early in the non-con last year and things seemed to work out ok.

It's also worth pointing out that Drake has been without 3 of the top 4 interior players for the entire season thus far. Murphy (suspension) will be back next week; Ernst (back injury) is also rumored to be coming back next week. Nate Ferguson (back injury) is week to week. If it goes much longer, they might end up redshirting him, although 'dogs are already redshirting two other freshmen.

Noah Thomas also missed the last game with a minor injury, but should be back quickly. I think he could have played last night, but they knew they wouldn't need him. With the way Joe Yesufu played last night, Thomas might find himself the 3rd string point guard after starting all of last season. More likely, he'll be the second string shooting guard behind Wilkins.

[Eville Ways]

Here's the latest Eville Ways power rankings.

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

[usmcsaluki]

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

[E-Villan]

Here's the latest Eville Ways power rankings.

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

and we lost by 2 to SMU, 59-57. Time to jerk the knee and revise....


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

[sivert]

Knee-jerk or whiplash? Shots just weren’t falling.

[just ducky]

Knee-jerk or whiplash? Shots just weren’t falling.

Shots were not falling for a reason. The SMU defense and rebounding handcuffed much of what the Aces wanted to do. Several Valley teams have defensive personnel similar enough to SMU that Evansville will see a bunch of teams switching everywhere, mixed with bits of true zone. I'll try to watch this one again tomorrow to see what I might have misinterpreted.

[freddycat68]

This thread is nonsensical. There is no reason to doubt the preseason predictions at this point. Yeah, BU lost to St. Joe's and Loyola beat St. Joe's, but those were away and home, respectively, and BU hasn't lost at home to a team like Coppin State. UE won a great game at UK, but then lost at home to a bad SMU team. MSU has been up and down, but still has the most talented team in the Valley. UNI barely got by some outfit called Northern Colorado and ISUr has a long way to go before they establish themselves as a contender. In 2 weeks we'll have a better idea, but as of now it's still MSU, BU, DU, LU, and UNI as the teams to beat, UE and ISUr as promising teams with more to prove, and ISUb, VU, and SIU needing to win a LOT before joining the conversation.