Too soon to start making predictions for '23-'24?

[usmcsaluki]

1. Drake
2. UNI
3. Bradley

Who knows about the rest.

[sivert]

1. Drake
2. UNI
3. Bradley

Who knows about the rest.

In favor of Drake #1:
Return Coach DD. He always seems to knit his guys together and get the best of a team.
Return Tucker DeVries, Darnell Brodie, Nate Ferguson, and Connor Enwright.
Gaining a good PG.

Not in favor of Drake #1:
Losing:
Roman Penn Guard 6'0"
- #1 on assist% in MVC. 18th nation for A:TO and over 25 Ast%
- All-time leader in assists at Drake.
- All-time leader in Assist% at Drake.
DJ Wilkins. 5 year starter. All-time leader in 3-pt makes.
- All time leader in career minutes played.
- All time leader in 3-pt makes.
- #5 all time in career Assists at Drake.
Garrett Sturtz
- 60.8 EFg% #130 in the nation, (‘20 #11 Nation, ‘21 #500, ‘22 #123, ‘23 #130 #3 in the Valley)
- All time leader in D-Rebounds at Drake.
- All time leader in Total-Rebounds at Drake
- #5 in steals at Drake.

Those three guys had a huge impact on their team. Huge.

Drake fans can explain what they're getting in transfers to fill those gaps. But they are big shoes to fill.

[BCPanther]

I'll take a shot...

1-UNI
2-Drake
3-Bradley
4-Missouri State
5-Belmont
6-Indiana State
7-Murray State
8-Illinois State
9-UIC
10-Southern Illinos
11-Evansville
12-Valpo

POY-DeVries
DPOY-Leons
COY-Jacobson
NCOY-Atin Wright, Drake

First Team-
DeVries
Born
Leons
Tyson
Clay

Second Team-
Wright
Swope
Perry
T Anderson
I Rivera

Third Team-
Avila
Burford
Wood
Moore
Heise

[siudawgs]

1. Drake - Counting on Brodie consistently playing like the beast he was in March. Need transfers to click
2. UNI - If they can tighten up their defense, have enough pieces to win league
3. Indiana State - I like the blend of returnees, newcomers and coaching, though Gray's eligibility in question?
4. Missouri State - Would probably pick them higher if not for track record of not maximizing talent
5. Belmont - Might have league's best big three (Tyson, Gillespie, Davidson) but depth is my main question
6. Bradley - Could contend, but pretty reliant on some transfers who (mostly) have not proven themselves
7. SIU - Obvious scoring question marks, but there is a lot of length and athleticism to work with
8. Illinois State - Not sold yet on their PG play or post situations, but definitely on the upswing
9. UIC - Like their transfer guards (if healthy), Okani and I think Jones will be among league's most-improved
10. Murray State - There were some red flags w/this roster last year, and not sure they've added enough
11. Evansville - Feels good to not pick the Purple Aces last ... they need to be much more competitive
12. Valpo - Expect them to play hard for Powell but the roster is very much under construction

I think Cade Tyson could give DeVries a run for his money for Valley POY, with Born also in the mix.

[JustPlainNormal]

In my opinion:

UNI
Drake
Bradley
ISU blue
Belmont
Missouri State
ISU red
Murray State
SIU
UIC
Evansville
Valpo

[jturner38]

Top
INSU, Drake, Bradley, UNI, Belmont

Middle
Missouri State, Murray State, Illinois State

Bottom
SIU, UIC, UE, Valpo

[Bulldog4life24]

Right now I see it like this, with a smaller split between top and 2nd than the others

Top
INSU, Drake, UNI

2nd:
Bradley, Belmont, Missouri State

3rd:
Murray State, Illinois State, SIU

Bottom
UIC, UE, Valp

I could see Bradley moving up, Bears moving down (potentially up but still not sold on Ford), and ISUr could make it interesting depending on gel, etc.

As Others have said, I think Belmont's big 3 are maybe best 1 or 2 groups in the league, but I'm unsure where they go for production on their bench.