2012-13 discussion

[GrandpaBear]

Not counting CU or ISUred, who do you think challenges next year? Can UNI finish top 3? Will Wichita State drop as far as MSU did after losing seniors?

[Wufan]

Still a little early to tell. Not all transfers have announced and spring committments are just getting going.

Some very good teams next year.

Drake w/o Rice will certainly lose some ground as a pre-season top 4, but they are deep and it may not matter that much.

UNI should be improved.

Evansville is mid-pack (5th plus or minus 2 spots) and MSU should be right there as well.

I think WSU is more likely to challenge the top two than to be a play-in team.

[PorkTornado]

I think WSU will struggle early with so many new faces becoming contributors, but will be a team you don't want to see at the end of the year. Definitely not a play in team.

CU
ISU-R
UNI
WSU
E'Ville
MSU
Drake
ISU-B
Bradley
SIU

[Jays26]

I think WSU will struggle early with so many new faces becoming contributors, but will be a team you don't want to see at the end of the year. Definitely not a play in team.

CU
ISU-R
UNI
WSU
E'Ville
MSU
Drake
ISU-B
Bradley
SIU

I'll assume you don't mean Arch Madness.

[Village Jay]

1) Creighton - If defense improves at all, Top 15 team. Antoine Young offense prowess will be missed a ton but he was one of the reasons the Jays weren't good defensively. I would feel even better if the Jays had an established Nick Porter/Johnny Mathies/Ben Walker Guard type player who could get to the rim off the bounce. That's what Antione brought more than anything.
2) UNI - I trust Jacobsen more than I do Jankovich even though I like Jank a lot. I think UNI will be more battle tested in their nonconference and will give CU more fits because of familiarity. I am expecting Tuttle to add strength and weight to improve his game.
3) Illinois St - watch out Valley if ISU red plays defense like it did in the Valley Tourney and Offense like it did in the NIT. Chemistry really seemed to bond in those 5 games and had Stanford the NIT Champs on the ropes.
4) Drake - In a hungry Van Deest but their out of Rice. Too bad for the Valley - with Rice, Drake could have been a borderline top 25 team and the MVC could have been looking at 4 bids again. I still think Drake is good enough, especially at home to overcome the loss of Rice. I compare this situation a bit to Creighton losing Terrell Taylor for Kyle Korver's senior year. I think Drake will overcome his loss, but it's the really big games that Rice's talent will be missed the most.
5) Indiana St - I am counting on a healthy Jake Odum for a top 5 finish, but will he ever be 100%? He is still a heck of a player even if not. The trees really played pretty good defense last year; they had to since they couldn't score for much of the early valley season. I think the defense pays dividends.
6) Wichita St - I hate to say it, but Marshall is a talented coach who will have his talent playing well enough to stay out of Thursday. He has a system that works and he finds players that fit that system. I didn't think they would be that good having to replace Turley & Blair but they proved me wrong. But man - they lost a lot of experience. Besides I want them to finish here so they aren't on CU's side of the bracket in St Louis. Young, well coached teams are scarey by year end.
7) Evansville - I think Creighton exposed them in the tourney; but they seem to cover up their lack of inside presence with smoke and mirrors somehow. It's hard to bet against a senior Colt Ryan and some other grittey guard play, but your point guard should not lead you in rebounding. Colt Ryan can't do it all and no Denver Holmes means Thursday.
8) Missouri St - Lusk seemed to lose the team late and foregoing post season is a bad sign. Only reason to do that is that you are scrapping the plan you had and focus is now entirely on recruiting. Recruiting in the Valley takes time and development.
9) Southern Illinois - Barry's back!!! Too bad he doesn't have much to work with. It will be a frustrating few years before he guts SIU's mojo going again. All things considered (lack of money to spend) I thought this was a heck of a hire for SIU.
10) Bradley - They were pitiful last year and their best player graduated. At least they come into the year with experience without playing with Brown due to his end of year injuries. 3 years in a row in the cellar - Bradley say it isn't so. I saw nothing that makes me believe otherwise.

[BirdmanBB]

1) Redbirds
2)Jays
3)Panthers

[Ricardo del Rio]

Shockers are rebuilding.

Probably in the bottom tier. I'd guess 9th. Lost too much talent.

[AndShock]

If we finish behind ISUb I will light my nuts on fire.

[TrueBlueJay]

If we finish behind ISUb I will light my nuts on fire.

Shocknuts roasting on an open fire...

[Kyle]

My predictions:

1) MVC will get 3 bids; CU, ISUred, and UNI
2) One of the three above will advance to the S16
3) Jank will bolt to a mediocre high major program
4) WSU will win the NIT and fans will be glad they didn't make the dance

and

1) CU
2) ISUred
3) UNI
4) WSU
5) Evansville
6) Drake
7) MSU
8) ISUblue
9) BU
10) SIU