Official 2018-19 MVCfans.com Prediction - Champion

by **MVCfans** » October 21st, 2018, 6:28 am

Each week we will open a poll for users to predict the end of season finish for the MVC 2018-19 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.

Illinois State was recently selected as the likely 3rd place finisher (results: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5092 )

Week 9 - Who will finish in 1st place during the 2018-19 MVC mens basketball season?
-You are choosing the team that you believe will win the MVC regular season.

Official MVCfans.com - Predictions:
10th Place - Evansville
9th Place - Drake
8th Place - Missouri State
7th Place - Indiana State
6th Place - UNI
5th Place - Valparaiso
4th Place - Bradley
3rd Place - Illinois State
2nd Place -
1st Place -

**Sponsor**

by **Red** » October 22nd, 2018, 1:03 pm

I voted SIU just to mix things up a little bit.

by **MVCfans** » October 23rd, 2018, 7:00 pm

MVCFANS.COM 2018-19 PRESEASON PREDICTION

Official MVCfans.com - Predictions:
10th Place - Evansville
9th Place - Drake
8th Place - Missouri State
7th Place - Indiana State
6th Place - UNI
5th Place - Valparaiso
4th Place - Bradley
3rd Place - Illinois State
2nd Place - Southern Illinois
1st Place - Loyola

by **Redbirds4Life** » November 2nd, 2018, 7:59 am

1. Loyola
2. Southern Illinois
3. Illinois State
4. Bradley
5. Northern Iowa
6. Indiana State
7. Valparasio
8. Evansville
9. Missouri State
10. Drake

I think Loyola has to be the clear-cut favorite, they bring back the best big man and the LB PoY in the MVC from last season. SIU/ISU is a coin flip, I give the edge to SIU, due to Illinois State not being able to stay out of the Pantagraph's police blotter (As a Redbird fan, this is soooo frustrating). Bradley should continue to make strides with the group they have and be right there with the two above them. After that, I think Jacobson is really good and props them up, but this might be the last time I give him the benefit of the doubt. The best player in the valley is Barnes, should be enough for 6th. Hopefully the Dirty Dan and the boy stay out of trouble and cut down the nets the first weekend in march, but we will see.

by **ahunte1** » November 4th, 2018, 9:19 am

Redbirds4Life wrote:1. Loyola
2. Southern Illinois
3. Illinois State
4. Bradley
5. Northern Iowa
6. Indiana State
7. Valparasio
8. Evansville
9. Missouri State
10. Drake

I think Loyola has to be the clear-cut favorite, they bring back the best big man and the LB PoY in the MVC from last season. SIU/ISU is a coin flip, I give the edge to SIU, due to Illinois State not being able to stay out of the Pantagraph's police blotter (As a Redbird fan, this is soooo frustrating). Bradley should continue to make strides with the group they have and be right there with the two above them. After that, I think Jacobson is really good and props them up, but this might be the last time I give him the benefit of the doubt. The best player in the valley is Barnes, should be enough for 6th. Hopefully the Dirty Dan and the boy stay out of trouble and cut down the nets the first weekend in march, but we will see.

This is about there I am. I think 4-6 will be pretty tight. I could easily see UNI 4th with their new look offense. And as long as Loyola cuts down the nets the SECOND weekend in March, ILSt can do whatever they want the first weekend!

by **Adunk33** » November 5th, 2018, 11:40 am

ahunte1 wrote:
Redbirds4Life wrote:1. Loyola
2. Southern Illinois
3. Illinois State
4. Bradley
5. Northern Iowa
6. Indiana State
7. Valparasio
8. Evansville
9. Missouri State
10. Drake

I think Loyola has to be the clear-cut favorite, they bring back the best big man and the LB PoY in the MVC from last season. SIU/ISU is a coin flip, I give the edge to SIU, due to Illinois State not being able to stay out of the Pantagraph's police blotter (As a Redbird fan, this is soooo frustrating). Bradley should continue to make strides with the group they have and be right there with the two above them. After that, I think Jacobson is really good and props them up, but this might be the last time I give him the benefit of the doubt. The best player in the valley is Barnes, should be enough for 6th. Hopefully the Dirty Dan and the boy stay out of trouble and cut down the nets the first weekend in march, but we will see.

This is about there I am. I think 4-6 will be pretty tight. I could easily see UNI 4th with their new look offense. And as long as Loyola cuts down the nets the SECOND weekend in March, ILSt can do whatever they want the first weekend!

HAHA! Southern Illinois might be pissed if the Birds cut down their nets on the first Saturday in March...

by **Birdfan2018** » November 5th, 2018, 8:18 pm

Adunk33 wrote:
ahunte1 wrote:
Redbirds4Life wrote:1. Loyola
2. Southern Illinois
3. Illinois State
4. Bradley
5. Northern Iowa
6. Indiana State
7. Valparasio
8. Evansville
9. Missouri State
10. Drake

I think Loyola has to be the clear-cut favorite, they bring back the best big man and the LB PoY in the MVC from last season. SIU/ISU is a coin flip, I give the edge to SIU, due to Illinois State not being able to stay out of the Pantagraph's police blotter (As a Redbird fan, this is soooo frustrating). Bradley should continue to make strides with the group they have and be right there with the two above them. After that, I think Jacobson is really good and props them up, but this might be the last time I give him the benefit of the doubt. The best player in the valley is Barnes, should be enough for 6th. Hopefully the Dirty Dan and the boy stay out of trouble and cut down the nets the first weekend in march, but we will see.

This is about there I am. I think 4-6 will be pretty tight. I could easily see UNI 4th with their new look offense. And as long as Loyola cuts down the nets the SECOND weekend in March, ILSt can do whatever they want the first weekend!

HAHA! Southern Illinois might be pissed if the Birds cut down their nets on the first Saturday in March...

sorry, but if I had to pick betweem Phil Fayne and Cameron Krutwig to start for the Redbirds, I'm taking Phil Fayne. And just about every preseason magazine, CBSSports, and others have Phil Fayne 1st team all-MVC.

by **Jsnhbe1Birds** » November 6th, 2018, 5:24 am

The regular season starts today. My final predictions are:

Loyola
Illinois State
Southern Illinois
Northern Iowa
Bradley
Valparaiso
Indiana State
Missouri State
Drake
Evansville

by **BCPanther** » November 6th, 2018, 9:11 am

My Final Predictions--

Loyola 14-4
Illinois State 13-5
UNI 12-6
Southern Illinois 11-7
Bradley 11-7
Indiana State 9-9
Valparaiso 8-10
Drake 5-13
Missouri State 4-14
Evansville 3-15

Valpo over Evansville
Missouri State over Drake

Loyola over Missouri State
SIU over Bradley
Illinois State over Valpo
UNI over Indiana State

Loyola over SIU
Illinois State over UNI

Illinois State over Loyola

Loyola and Illinois State to the NCAA Tournament
UNI and SIU to the NIT

Flame away.

by **Blers** » November 6th, 2018, 9:47 am

Birdfan2018 wrote:sorry, but if I had to pick betweem Phil Fayne and Cameron Krutwig to start for the Redbirds, I'm taking Phil Fayne. And just about every preseason magazine, CBSSports, and others have Phil Fayne 1st team all-MVC.

Fayne vs. Krutwig is always a fun debate. If we're going based on preseason hype though i'll take the player on the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Preseason watch list (and the USA today preseason All-American).

Advanced stats favor Krutwig in most cases (defensive rebound %, win shares, box score +/-), they have similar fg % with Krutwig barely having an edge, Krutwig is a better passer (twice as many assists) and I would argue has more polished footwork. His game is usually mind over matter, great positioning and playing angles, he was not the most athletic big man and could be exploited at times on defense by quick guards. Though he's really slimmed down as of late and is moving a lot better.

Faynes athleticism and length however always needs to be taken account; he can play above the rim. The athleticism allows him to suck up a lot of rebounds, where he averages one more per game than Krut (though it should be noted Loyola rarely crashes the offensives glass). Faynes physical gifts also give him an advantage defending the rim. Obviously Fayne also scored more (at times out of necessity) given ISU's team last year; with that he also played 6 more minutes a game.

Head to head Fayne took game 1, Krutwig took game 2 and I would say game 3 was a tie. Krutwig has more room to grow only entering his sophomore year while Fayne at this points a grizzled vet.

Obviously we're both a lil biased. Both are great players.