Early MVC Predictions

[ACECARD]

Unless everybody else has improved drastically, I see Bradley in the top half of the conference.

They certainly aren't a Thursday team, and probably in the top half.

[Blers]

What's tough this year is from the outside looking in, I don't know how many teams got worse. Illinois State sure, but they reloaded pretty well. I really feel that no matter how this season shakes out, there's going to be one team playing on Thursday that wouldn't have been playing on Thursday most other years. If i had to guess a lot of conference records from the 3 to 7 seed hovering around 9-9

[BCPanther]

What's tough this year is from the outside looking in, I don't know how many teams got worse. Illinois State sure, but they reloaded pretty well. I really feel that no matter how this season shakes out, there's going to be one team playing on Thursday that wouldn't have been playing on Thursday most other years. If i had to guess a lot of conference records from the 3 to 7 seed hovering around 9-9

9-9 for 3rd only happens if you have two teams that win 16 or 17 league games and that isn't happening this year. 14-4 is a lock to win and 13-5 might get a share. You'll get distribution similar to this-

14-4
13-5
12-6
11-7
9-9
9-9
7-11
6-12
6-12
3-15

The more I've thought about it is there are only two coaches in this league that have proven the ability to win double digit games consistently in the league regardless of talent. While I don't like some of the character issues that Muller has brought in over the years (and that's an institutional problem in general at Illinois State), I think he knows what he's doing on the bench. Jacobson is Jacobson, it looks like he went and got 12 guys from the bar getting off the bus and yet, somehow, he wins a lot more than he loses.

I just can't imagine Lusk or Moser doing enough to get the 13 or 14 wins its going to take to win a title. you're basically assuming that Missouri State is going to double their win total or that Loyola can add 6 wins to what they did last year while losing Milton Doyle and several other talented players thou. Even if you assume you're trading two Wichita losses for two Valpo wins (which isn't a given) that seems like a stretch to me.

This is year two of the classic Ben Jacobson cycle where he's typically got an NIT level team that can sneak in and win in StL and I think Muller is going to be better than we're giving him credit for.

I'm revising my previous thoughts--
1-UNI
2-Illinois State
3-Loyola
4-Missouri State
5-Southern Illinois
6-Bradley
7-Valparaiso
8-Indiana State
9-Drake
10-Evansville

[Old School MVC]

I have been holding out for my Early predictions, but with the season quickly approaching I figured I need to make my picks.

1.) MSU - Lusk can't possibly screw this up can he?
2.) Loyola - I can't believe I am picking them this high either, but they have a lot of talent, and hopefully when they start winning they can create a HUGE home court advantage.
3.) ISUr - They seem to struggle in the out of Conference, but seem to have things firing on all cylinders when the conference season rolls around.
4.) UNI - Same as the Redbirds, but they still seem to struggle until late January before things start to click.
5.) Valpo - They have a winning tradition in the Summit, so let's see if the Valley is really that much better.
6.) SIU - They should be better than this, but they sometimes lose their way during the season.
7.) Bradley - They have a lot of returning players coming back, but not sure if that translates into wins.
8.) ISUb - The bottom 3 is a toss up, but the Sycamores beat the Illini in a scrimmage so they will get the nod.
9.) Drake - Showed some signs of life last year.
10.) Evansville - This could be Marty's farewell tour.

[Redbirds4Life]

1. Northern Iowa - I like the returners on this roster, probably the best coach in the league. 13-5

2. Missouri State - AJ is a beast, but maybe it's just me but I think this team just feels like when the Birds had Osiris, is he enough to get this team over the hump with a below average coach, I say no. - 12-6

3. Illinois State - If the Birds have a good year, then we can say Dirty Dan is a good coach. I am still not convinced, even though I want to be. Lost a ton, but still enough there to hang around and be a tough team. 11-7

4. Southern Illinois - Is 4th enough for Barry to keep his job? 10-8

5. Bradley - I would love to pick them higher, but I think they have a good coach and are on the way back up. Team got better throughout the year, not as many wins, but still were generally competitive. 10-8

6. Loyola - Am I the only one who doesn't think this team is that good? Not as if they were that good last year in a down league. I can't believe that Porter will know what to do with that recruiting class either. I guess this is where I am going out on a limb. Ingram is a stud, and maybe I have them low, but I think that SIU and Bradley are just better. 9-9

7. Drake - 6-12 - Drake will win 2 games they shouldn't, other than that, same old Drake

8. Valpo - 6-12 - No clue about Valpo, usually a good program, but I am guessing this is a year to get acclimated

9. Evan - 4-14, bye bye Fat Marty

10. ISUb - 4-14, poor Brenton Scott

[BirdsEyeView]

1. Northern Iowa - I like the returners on this roster

You say this after they lost their leader in 5 statistical categories from last year.

6. Loyola - Am I the only one who doesn't think this team is that good? Not as if they were that good last year in a down league.

Yet say this too.

Reminder...
UNI was 9-9
Loyola 8-10


People are drunk on Ben Jacobson. Great coach, his roster is average.

[AndShock]

I feel like I could fill this out any other day and the predictions would come up different every time.

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

[BradleyFan71]

1. Northern Iowa - I like the returners on this roster, probably the best coach in the league. 13-5

2. Missouri State - AJ is a beast, but maybe it's just me but I think this team just feels like when the Birds had Osiris, is he enough to get this team over the hump with a below average coach, I say no. - 12-6

3. Illinois State - If the Birds have a good year, then we can say Dirty Dan is a good coach. I am still not convinced, even though I want to be. Lost a ton, but still enough there to hang around and be a tough team. 11-7

4. Southern Illinois - Is 4th enough for Barry to keep his job? 10-8

5. Bradley - I would love to pick them higher, but I think they have a good coach and are on the way back up. Team got better throughout the year, not as many wins, but still were generally competitive. 10-8

6. Loyola - Am I the only one who doesn't think this team is that good? Not as if they were that good last year in a down league. I can't believe that Porter will know what to do with that recruiting class either. I guess this is where I am going out on a limb. Ingram is a stud, and maybe I have them low, but I think that SIU and Bradley are just better. 9-9

7. Drake - 6-12 - Drake will win 2 games they shouldn't, other than that, same old Drake

8. Valpo - 6-12 - No clue about Valpo, usually a good program, but I am guessing this is a year to get acclimated

9. Evan - 4-14, bye bye Fat Marty

10. ISUb - 4-14, poor Brenton Scott

You may want to rethink the math here.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

He doesn't realize for every win their is a loss. So, the outcome must be 90-90. Right now he has 85 wins which is impossible unless games get cancelled..

[Redbirds4Life]

1. Northern Iowa - I like the returners on this roster, probably the best coach in the league. 13-5

2. Missouri State - AJ is a beast, but maybe it's just me but I think this team just feels like when the Birds had Osiris, is he enough to get this team over the hump with a below average coach, I say no. - 12-6

3. Illinois State - If the Birds have a good year, then we can say Dirty Dan is a good coach. I am still not convinced, even though I want to be. Lost a ton, but still enough there to hang around and be a tough team. 11-7

4. Southern Illinois - Is 4th enough for Barry to keep his job? 10-8

5. Bradley - I would love to pick them higher, but I think they have a good coach and are on the way back up. Team got better throughout the year, not as many wins, but still were generally competitive. 10-8

6. Loyola - Am I the only one who doesn't think this team is that good? Not as if they were that good last year in a down league. I can't believe that Porter will know what to do with that recruiting class either. I guess this is where I am going out on a limb. Ingram is a stud, and maybe I have them low, but I think that SIU and Bradley are just better. 9-9

7. Drake - 6-12 - Drake will win 2 games they shouldn't, other than that, same old Drake

8. Valpo - 6-12 - No clue about Valpo, usually a good program, but I am guessing this is a year to get acclimated

9. Evan - 4-14, bye bye Fat Marty

10. ISUb - 4-14, poor Brenton Scott

You may want to rethink the math here.

Good Call, but you get the idea