Updated Conference Predictions

[Dean Wormer]

With the non-con coming to an end this week, and the opportunity to see every team get some games in, I thought it would be fun to see how different we would predict the conference standings as compared to the beginning of the season.

Drake has been the nicest surprise so far, and the Sycamores have been greatly improving as the season progresses. You could place the Illinois schools in any order, but I will give the slight nod to Loyola with Custer and the experience. Evansville and MSU are in rebuilds, but I gave UE the edge with some nice wins over Ball State, UWGB, and a solid road game at Murray. UNI and Valpo have both been nothing short of disappointing so far.

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

[BCPanther]

Loyola--No bad losses, experience will win out
Southern Illinois--If Fletcher comes back
Drake--I still think they'll come back to earth some, but Norton makes a big difference
Bradley--A year older hasn't necessarily meant a year better
Illinois State--Still lots of talent, still maddeningly inconsistent
Indiana State--House of Cards built on statistical anomalies, might crash hard
UNI--Most disappointing team in the league. Should be far, far better. AJ Green is legit
Missouri State--Toss Up with UNI, Ford is doing a nice job just a couple bodies short
Evansville--Needs more time to get his guys. They play hard for him.
Valpo--This appears to be a coaching issue. Talent and results don't match

[musiccitybulldog]

I have been watching Drake basketball since 1966. The Bulldogs had a really good team in 2007-08.
My opinion thus far, this is the best team I have seen since 1968-69. DeVries could possibly be the best Drake coach since Maury John.

I have been impressed with Indiana State, Barnes is a shooter.
Southern Illinois with Lloyd, Pippen, Barry and Fletcher will win a lot.
Loyola will be in the mix as Custer, Porter and Krutwig know how to get it done.

I believe Evansville will get a lot done and make a lot of progress.

[bleach]

Loyola
SIU
Drake
Trees
Braves
Redbirds
MSU
Aces
UNI
Valpo

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

8-10 AT BEST for the Redbirds. They finish with a losing record at 16-17 in the Friday game after winning the Thursday game. Milik immediately starts serving his prison inevitable prison sentence for something else stupid he does and ISU is no longer there gor him after the game. Might as well get s jump start. Lack of chemistry because of him.

[mvfcfan]

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

[ACECARD]

1. Loyola until somebody beats them.
2. Drake could very well be 1st.
3. Indiana State a player short.
4. SIU who the hell knows what they will do.
5. Illinois State could be better than this.
6. Bradley don't like the offense.
7. Evansville don't bet a lot of money on this.
8. N. Iowa might be a little better.
9. Mo. State not this year.
10. Valpo wait till next year.

[goramblers2011]

Drake with the most impressive non-conf. Many (including myself) had them as a PIG team. My revised prediction:

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

[Adunk33]

1- INST - Williams and Neese appear to be fitting in seamlessly. I'm not sure they will have the first seed headed into STL but they could very well be playing Sunday. They've surely impressed me in the noncon.
2- Drake - Wow, who saw this coming. Nick Norton, a native of Bloomington IL, has been exactly what the Dr. ordered for the dogs.
3- Loyola - Despite some struggles and games they should have one, they still went to the Final 4 last year. The key for them will be to see Krutwig take that next step. He has not regressed at all but I'd like to see some progression from the young fella and I'm sure we will.
4- SIU - Hung around Buffalo twice, Kentucky, and Murray State, took down SLU, but lost to Winthrop at home. They've show flashes of being able to hang with some good teams, but haven't gotten over the hump.
5- Redbirds- There may be some bias in this pick. The Redbirds have been horrible this noncon. They have shown zero signs of playing defense and seem to really lack "give a sh*t" mentality. Into the last game of the noncon at UCF, Muller has had to "play guys that wanted to be in there." In the past when coach has done that with this team, the attitude has seemed to be not "Man, I let my team down," and more of "See, you can't win without me." I hold out some hope because Muller teams tend to get it together a few games into conference season. They will not be a Thursday night team.
6- Bradley - They looked pretty good at the start of the noncon with the wins against Penn State and SMU, but the loss to IUPUI, Eastern Illinois, and the slide by of SE LA they were trending downward.
7- Missouri State - Dana Ford has done some great things there in his short time. He's recruiting well, like he does everywhere and I wouldn't be surprised for them to stay off Thursday.
8- UNI -
9- Evansville
10- Valpo.

So here's the thing, no one knows what is going to happen. Regardless of where the teams finish I think this is going to a really close race and tiebreakers will be relevant once again.
1- +1 game
2- minus 1 game (all from first)
3- minus 3 games
4- minus 3 games
5- minus 4 games
6- minus 4 games
7- minus 4 games
8- minus 5 games
9- minus 6 games
10- minus 8 games

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

My true predictions

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