Way too early 2020-21 preseason poll

[stable genius]

Tovik's 2020 projections are up. Two top 50ish teams. Not sure how accurate these tend to be but I do know that last year he said UNI would be the best team in the valley and few of us saw that coming.

[Saluki1990]

Have a link for that ?

[BEARZ77]

Just google Bart Tovik.

[ahunte1]

Have a link for that ?

http://www.barttorvik.com/?conlimit=MVC ... 2021&sort=

[siudawgs]

I was going to wait until the spring recruiting dust fully settles (for example, Southern has two open scholarships still), but what the hay:

1. Loyola. One of the most loaded MVC backcourts of recent vintage plus senior Krutwig is a really nice combination.
2. UNI. If the underclassmen can adequately support the big three, they can close the deal this year and make the NCAAs.
3. Bradley. Intriguing roster with lots of athleticism and some quality shooters. Still looking for more regular season consistency.
4. SIU. The Domask-Jones-Harvey trio will provide nice offensive punch and there is more size and depth than Mullins had to work with last year.
5. Indiana State. Some nice pieces, but I can’t get that most recent egg laid in St. Louis out of my head.
6. Drake. Wilkins seemed to take a step back last year and the Bulldogs will probably have to play a lot of small ball without Robbins.
7. Valpo. Would have been interesting to see what next step could have been with Freeman-Liberty. Damn.
8. Missouri State. Ford will have to rebuild trust after last year’s debacle. And lots of roster tumult.
9. Illinois State. The Muller era appears to be on fumes. They run a lot of bad offense.
10. Evansville. 0-18 and Williams transferring is a helluva hole to crawl out of.

[VUGrad1314]

I am certain that this will be an unpopular opinion but I think Valpo might be too low even with the loss of JFL. The player we signed to replace him (Goodnews Kpongele) looks to be a real player and our recruiting class has drawn a lot of praise. If Robinson can get healthy Clay and Krikke can take another step forward Gordon can play well and pick up the slack while being an early season leader and the class lives up to its billing (a lot of ifs I know) then Valpo can easily finish in the 4-6 range without JFL. With him I would have had us anywhere between 2nd and 4th (probably to the lower side of that).

[siudawgs]

I am certain that this will be an unpopular opinion but I think Valpo might be too low even with the loss of JFL. The player we signed to replace him (Goodnews Kpongele) looks to be a real player and our recruiting class has drawn a lot of praise. If Robinson can get healthy Clay and Krikke can take another step forward Gordon can play well and pick up the slack while being an early season leader and the class lives up to its billing (a lot of ifs I know) then Valpo can easily finish in the 4-6 range without JFL. With him I would have had us anywhere between 2nd and 4th (probably to the lower side of that).

Could be; I really like Clay, Sackey was much-improved, especially in St. Louis, and Krikke looks like a useful piece. Glad to hear there are some promising newcomers.
Conversely, I was underwhelmed by Robinson and Gordon, and the body of work under Lottich is not confidence-inspiring.

[Kyle@MOState]

Why not... I was super wrong with last year’s predictions, so might as well throw an early one out... First of all I hope we have a season, and second of all, I hope to be able to attend Arch Madness.


Top Tier, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this shake out with any order of these teams.

1. UNI
2. Loyola
3. Bradley

2nd Tier, Pretty unknown for the majority of the league.

4. SIU
5. Indiana State
6. MO State
7. Drake
8. Valpo

3rd tier, These teams will struggle to avoid Thursday night.

9. Illinois State
10. Evansville

[Majik45]

Top Tier, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this shake out with any order of these teams.

1. UNI
2. Loyola
3. Bradley

2nd Tier, Pretty unknown for the majority of the league.

4. SIU
5. Indiana State
6. MO State
7. Drake
8. Valpo

3rd tier, These teams will struggle to avoid Thursday night.

9. Illinois State
10. Evansville

I always liked the tiers approach and agree with you. I would almost break another tier off for Drake and Valpo though as it's own 3rd tier above ISUr and EU. It's very hard to lose a 1st team all MVC selection (I know technically Robbins was 2nd team) when you are not expecting them to leave during the season.

[Dawgbit]

My Prediction:

Places 1-10

Record: 0-0

Season cancelled.

Thank you Dr Fauci!