Next Mid-Major Power?

by **Redhawk** » May 23rd, 2017, 7:05 am

Interesting comments in an article suggesting what 5 teams might be the next Mid-Major Power:

1: Rhode Island
2: MTSU
3: Saint Mary's
4: ISUr
5: Vermont

http://bustingbrackets.com/2017/04/17/n ... or-powers/

Both the Mountain West and Missouri Valley have been struggling, and the annual challenge between the two conferences may need a shake up with the Shockers departing. Former perennial tournament teams like New Mexico, UNLV, and Northern Iowa have declined. This will open up the door for a new program to take over the top spot.

ISU has had plenty of transfer success and younger players will have chances to develop under coach Dan Muller. The departure of three seniors will hurt, but the Redbirds have proved they have a great player development staff. While the team hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in since 1998, the MVC is wide open and Illinois State should be at the top of the conference.

**Sponsor**

by **uniftw** » May 23rd, 2017, 7:22 am

Declined?

Rofl.

1 year removed from back to back NCAA second round appearances, top 10 ranking, etc... and declined to the point of not mentioning as anything other than a relic.

Pack it in Jake. Time to end the program.

One losing season in 17 years. Just take us out back and put a bullet in us.

by **mule** » May 23rd, 2017, 7:33 am

Redhawk wrote:Interesting comments in an article suggesting what 5 teams might be the next Mid-Major Power:

1: Rhode Island
2: MTSU
3: Saint Mary's
4: ISUr
5: Vermont

http://bustingbrackets.com/2017/04/17/n ... or-powers/

Both the Mountain West and Missouri Valley have been struggling, and the annual challenge between the two conferences may need a shake up with the Shockers departing. Former perennial tournament teams like New Mexico, UNLV, and Northern Iowa have declined. This will open up the door for a new program to take over the top spot.

ISU has had plenty of transfer success and younger players will have chances to develop under coach Dan Muller. The departure of three seniors will hurt, but the Redbirds have proved they have a great player development staff. While the team hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in since 1998, the MVC is wide open and Illinois State should be at the top of the conference.

Interesting that the author is a graduate of Illinois State.

by **Bjhracer** » May 23rd, 2017, 7:43 am

Kind of discredits the article. UNI should have made the list. But then again it is just someone's opinion and a radon for them to write about their school. You could have 10 different writers write this story and all 10 would have a different list.

by **uniftw** » May 23rd, 2017, 8:13 am

mule wrote:
Redhawk wrote:Interesting comments in an article suggesting what 5 teams might be the next Mid-Major Power:

1: Rhode Island
2: MTSU
3: Saint Mary's
4: ISUr
5: Vermont

http://bustingbrackets.com/2017/04/17/n ... or-powers/

Both the Mountain West and Missouri Valley have been struggling, and the annual challenge between the two conferences may need a shake up with the Shockers departing. Former perennial tournament teams like New Mexico, UNLV, and Northern Iowa have declined. This will open up the door for a new program to take over the top spot.

ISU has had plenty of transfer success and younger players will have chances to develop under coach Dan Muller. The departure of three seniors will hurt, but the Redbirds have proved they have a great player development staff. While the team hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in since 1998, the MVC is wide open and Illinois State should be at the top of the conference.

Interesting that the author is a graduate of Illinois State.

It is interesting that a team that hasn't been to an NCAA tournament in 20 years is considered a potential "next-mid major power", yet one with a 2 NCAA trips in the last 3 years, a top 10 ranking, wins in both NCAA tournaments, a S16 in the last decade, the larger basketball budget, better coach, more established coach, etc... is considered declining.

by **BirdsEyeView** » May 23rd, 2017, 8:32 am

Regardless of the clear bias, let's hope the next mid-major power comes from our conference and not any other one.

by **Redhawk** » May 23rd, 2017, 9:09 am

I didn't realize the writer was an ISU grad so yes there is obvious bias.

As far as UNI's "decline" their conference records the last two years have been
11-7 and 9-9 in a weaker MVC. Will they be better this year with virtually the
same roster minus Morgan? That's where experience and great coaching could be the
determining factor. Would I say UNI is poised to be next Mid-Major power.
Not with the current roster.

With ISUr...Muller has stated that this could be his best recruiting class ever and he still
has one or two spots to fill. He has also had a better conference finish in each of his 5 seasons
so his coaching acumen and program are trending up. It's not outlandish to say that he is building
a strong program at ISUr!

by **uniftw** » May 23rd, 2017, 9:45 am

Redhawk wrote:I didn't realize the writer was an ISU grad so yes there is obvious bias.

As far as UNI's "decline" their conference records the last two years have been
11-7 and 9-9 in a weaker MVC. Will they be better this year with virtually the
same roster minus Morgan? That's where experience and great coaching could be the
determining factor. Would I say UNI is poised to be next Mid-Major power.
Not with the current roster.

With ISUr...Muller has stated that this could be his best recruiting class ever and he still
has one or two spots to fill. He has also had a better conference finish in each of his 5 seasons
so his coaching acumen and program are trending up. It's not outlandish to say that he is building
a strong program at ISUr!

Take the damn shaded glasses off.

Illinois State loses literally 75% of their production from last year. I've done the math. Posted it here. Muller is turning his entire roster over every 2 years or so. There's no continuity there. I'm not making that number up. It's like 70-75% of your stats from last year are gone, across the board.

Brag about "WE HAVE FRESHMAN AND TRANSFERS AND BLAH BLAH BLAH". When was the last time a team, leaning on freshman/transfers dominated the MVC? Want a clue for how well it goes - outside of Baker and Van Vleet - who were guided by upper classmen? UNI, just last season.

True freshman starting at point guard
Redshirt freshman starting at shooting guard
True freshman seeing significant minutes at the wing and 2 spot
Redshirt freshman seeing a bulk of the minutes at the 4/5 the second half of the season after he came back from knee surgery.
CC transfer seeing majority of reserve minutes at PG

It doesn't end well.

Oh, and a big reason for last seasons issues? Wyatt Lohaus went out injured. No, he's not a major stat guy but he brings something beyond that to the team. Kid is a winner. What do I mean by that? He is 140-21 in games he's played in since his freshman year of high school. That's only an 87% winning percentage. 13 of those losses were in one year. You take out 15-16, he's 117-8 for 93.6%. UNI missed him a lot last year. You'll see a massive difference in the team this year with him back.

Muller can't keep his talent.
He can't keep his talent out of the police blotter.
His APR scores indicate he can't really keep his players on pace to graduate either. It's why Teddy didn't have a choice for another year (not that he would have used it). The only condition was he needed to be on pace to graduate in 5 years. He wasn't. His APRs are trending down every single year. The most recent was 945. Down from 955, from 956 from 973 The rate he's going he's going to see scholarship losses or a post season ban within the next 2 or 3 years.

Nice cut off to take out the 16-2 conference record by UNI. Sly. Or the fact that Illinois State is 3 years removed from 9-9 and sub .500 conference records.

You talk about UNI's record against a "weaker" MVC and then brag about Illinois State's record. Maybe that's because of a weaker MVC.

It's brought up every single time but name me the last time UNI had a star. I mean a true star. Maybe Wes. Tuttle, sure. When was the last time you looked at the UNI roster and went "Yup, that team is going win a lot."? Never.

Jake/UNI have been hearing the same exact detractions for 15 years now.

Here's the difference. Illinois State has produced flashy players. UNI has produced a program known for winning.

It's not outlandish to say Jake has already built a strong program at UNI!

by **Jsnhbe1Birds** » May 23rd, 2017, 10:06 am

I think St. Mary's is always an option but I truly believe it will be Grand Canyon U. Dan Marjele as head coach, great atmosphere already bringing in decent recruits even at their low level, and bundles of money.

by **PurpleAcesFootball** » May 23rd, 2017, 11:23 am

No offense to the blogger who posted that on BustingBrackets, but those kind of posts irritate the he!! out of me.

They are basically well thought out message board posts. However they appear on what appears to be a sports news site and it gives them a sense of legitimacy. And I wonder why my students have trouble deciphering fact from opinion.

PSA: There are 319 fan blogs, who all masquerade as legitimate sports news sites:
http://www.sbnation.com/blogs