Who will be the preseason favorite in 2011-12?

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

Ok gonna toot the trees horn in a way here...does anyone think this ISU Blue team is very comparable skill set wise to that UNI team? Both of those teams were very defensively oriented and really didnt get tons of respect when it came to the "eye test"

No. Not at all.

That UNI team won the Valley championship in addition to Arch Madness.

[dgreenwell3]

Correct me if I am wrong but didnt Indiana State have the best field goal percentage defense in the Valley this season? Or did I make up that statistic in my mind. Also we held MSU to 31 percent from the field on the day on sunday...I thought that was a pretty indicative of how our defense plays. Tough and hard-nosed...I want to see how we do against a guy who really takes the ball to the hoop tho.
Not saying at this moment ISU is exactly like UNI but has that type of potential down the road...

[BirdmanBB]

Correct me if I am wrong but didnt Indiana State have the best field goal percentage defense in the Valley this season? Or did I make up that statistic in my mind. Also we held MSU to 31 percent from the field on the day on sunday...I thought that was a pretty indicative of how our defense plays. Tough and hard-nosed...I want to see how we do against a guy who really takes the ball to the hoop tho.
Not saying at this moment ISU is exactly like UNI but has that type of potential down the road...

For the valley's sake, I hope you are right. We need a few teams to get to that level every year. Not just 1.

[sect.3purple]

I wear "the purple shades" ....proudly, I might add...but I believe the Aces will be in the top 2-3 of the MVC this next year. Ryan is underrated, and he will return surrounded by Harris, Cox, Jones, Jahr, Taylor, and some good, at least on paper, recruits. Evansville always plays hard (have to, as that is how we can defeat teams we "shouldn't) .....couple that effort with some real talent and the team should finish strong. I don't think we will be rated high in pre-season polls, but that doesn't bother me. We just have to do what we did this year and claw our way up the ranks. New arena, new talent, new enthusiasm....all point toward a UE team that is on the upswing.

[sect.3purple]

Oh, yeah....I also believe that we WILL get two teams into the NCAA tourney this year. I think the Bears will go dancing, too. We are all too pessimistic on this site.....the MVC may not be as strong this year, but we still should be getting the conference regular-season champs in!

[dgreenwell3]

Yeah, I think next year with Jake Kitchell coming out of his redshirt next year PLUS Gant and Khristian smith...our team is only going to go up...

[BirdmanBB]

Oh, yeah....I also believe that we WILL get two teams into the NCAA tourney this year. I think the Bears will go dancing, too. We are all too pessimistic on this site.....the MVC may not be as strong this year, but we still should be getting the conference regular-season champs in!

The NIT was bought out by the NCAA so that they had a place to put the conference champs who don't make it. Just saying.....

[UNIFanSince1983]

The difference between UNI last year and ISU this year is the inside play. While Ali hit the big shots Jordan and Adam Koch were what led us throughout the year. We were big man oriented and that helps in the tournament especially against the Power schools. I do not see that sort of Big man for Indiana State.

[dgreenwell3]

It's in the pipes with Justin Gant and Jake Kitchell...I think Carl Richard can be a handle if his jumpshot is falling...

[sycamorestateofmind]

It's in the pipes with Justin Gant and Jake Kitchell...I think Carl Richard can be a handle if his jumpshot is falling...

Why don't you just see how Indiana State fares outside the MVC before you start comparing us to teams that have done really well both in the MVC and outside of the MVC. We got hot at the right time and good PG play is going to keep you in games in March - it's been that way for sometime now. We had the best PG in March, not really a big surprise we won the thing. Let's just wait and see how things play out before we start crowing this team. It makes it more fun for me to cheer when people hate on my team, keep the hate alive!