Official 2011-12 MVCfans.com Prediction - 8th Place

by **MVCfans** » August 15th, 2011, 6:13 am

Each week we will open a poll for users to predict the end of season finish for the MVC 2011-12 basketball season. We will work in reverse order, concluding with the predicted MVC champion chosen by our users between the last two teams remaining in week 9 (just in time for MVC media day).

Bradley was selected as the 9th place finisher (results: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1298)

Week 3 - Who will finish in 8th place during the 2011-12 MVC mens basketball season?
-You are choosing the team that you believe will finish in 8th place for this regular season. Poll open until the evening of Monday, August 22.

Official MVCfans.com - Predictions:
10th Place - Southern Illinois
9th Place - Bradley
8th Place - ......

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by **panther-state** » August 15th, 2011, 10:19 am

Gotta go with D+. I don't see them making any noise this season, and this is with the expectation that Van Deest will be healthy at some point.

by **BirdmanBB** » August 15th, 2011, 12:58 pm

I predict that one of the bottom 4 teams picked in these predicitions will be a surprise team this upcoming season.

by **DoubleJayAlum** » August 15th, 2011, 1:00 pm

BirdmanBB wrote:I predict that one of the bottom 4 teams picked in these predicitions will be a surprise team this upcoming season.

I predict that your prediction will be a widely held belief by the fanbases of the teams voted in the bottom 4.

by **BirdmanBB** » August 15th, 2011, 1:07 pm

Fairly simple. I don't see teams voted in the middle of the pack making significant enough moves in placing to warrant the term "surprise team." I think it's more realistic for a team voted in the bottom 4 to jump a bunch of spots to the middle than it is for a team in the middle to move up to the top 3 based on my personal opinion that at some point WSU and CU will seperate themselves from the rest of the valley next year.

I would expect the valley to schedule a game with those two near the end of the season that ESPN might be interested in picking up for it's wild card broadcasts.

by **SubGod22** » August 15th, 2011, 2:52 pm

I see D+ finishing here. Who knows when Van Deest will be ready to play and how long it'll take him to get into the swing of things. They're going to struggle.

by **MoValley John** » August 15th, 2011, 3:32 pm

I will study this a little harder than I did 10th and 9th. I will have my pick around March 8th.

by **DoubleJayAlum** » August 15th, 2011, 5:36 pm

To me, this is an easy slot to place Illinois St.

I'm surprised that some people are so down on Drake. They've got a lot of talent, including one of the best players in the league in Rayvonte Rice. I understand that Phelps may not be able to coach his way out of a paper bag, but talent alone should get Drake higher than 8th...

by **valleychamp** » August 15th, 2011, 6:00 pm

DoubleJayAlum wrote:To me, this is an easy slot to place Illinois St.

I'm surprised that some people are so down on Drake. They've got a lot of talent, including one of the best players in the league in Rayvonte Rice. I understand that Phelps may not be able to coach his way out of a paper bag, but talent alone should get Drake higher than 8th...

I agree. I do not think of Drake as a great team by any means but, they have at least showed some promise and some fight last year to go along with some decent prospects. I can't say the same about ISU.

by **BirdmanBB** » August 16th, 2011, 7:21 am

valleychamp wrote:
DoubleJayAlum wrote:To me, this is an easy slot to place Illinois St.

I'm surprised that some people are so down on Drake. They've got a lot of talent, including one of the best players in the league in Rayvonte Rice. I understand that Phelps may not be able to coach his way out of a paper bag, but talent alone should get Drake higher than 8th...

I agree. I do not think of Drake as a great team by any means but, they have at least showed some promise and some fight last year to go along with some decent prospects. I can't say the same about ISU.

We lost 6 games last year within 4pts and we also drew the short straw of having to play evansville in the last reg. season game in their old stadium as they were parading former players in front of the refs (29 fouls to their 17). No way we were walking out with a win in that one and the first game we played was pretty close. Jank was also able to take Missouri St. to the limit last year where we lost both games in the final 3min. We of course lose our main scoring threat from last year, but have gained considerable talent. I'm not saying you're wrong, but just saying we have an opportunity this year to turn some heads especially if most valley beat writers vote us in a similar spot. Most redbird fans expect us to be in contention in 2012-13. I just don't see that happening without a better finish than 8th place the prior season. I think there is a lot of pressure on Jank to make some sort of post season tourney this year otherwise he could be in some deep water.