Official 2012-13 MVCfans.com prediction - 5th Place

[BirdmanBB]

Wsu is not Evansville. Wsu may have lost experience, but there has been an upgrade in talent level.

I'm not touching the Evansville part, but the remainder of your quote seems to beg credibility just a bit. You lost all-conference caliber players in Ragland, Stutz and Murry. To say that the guys coming in will be more talented from day one would appear to be pretty optimistic to say the least; and, if true, would leave WSU with no excuses if it doesn't win the league title outright.

As to the poll in this thread, I am surprised it is this close.

Without a doubt. If WSU has better talent than last year, then we should be voting them first. I voted for WSU to finish fifth just because I think the Aces will finish higher than that, and apparently there are others who think the same.

I voted for WSU again and agree.

[sixth ace]

I voted Evansville again..3rd time's the charm?

You're afraid of 4th place for your panthers?

[Wufan]

Wsu is not Evansville. Wsu may have lost experience, but there has been an upgrade in talent level.

I'm not touching the Evansville part, but the remainder of your quote seems to beg credibility just a bit. You lost all-conference caliber players in Ragland, Stutz and Murry. To say that the guys coming in will be more talented from day one would appear to be pretty optimistic to say the least; and, if true, would leave WSU with no excuses if it doesn't win the league title outright.

As to the poll in this thread, I am surprised it is this close.

Without a doubt. If WSU has better talent than last year, then we should be voting them first. I voted for WSU to finish fifth just because I think the Aces will finish higher than that, and apparently there are others who think the same.

To clarify for snaggletooth; VanVleet is a talent upgrade over Ragland, but not this year. Armstead is probably a better PG, but neither can shoot/score like Ragland. Wiggins is more talented than Kyles. Early is bigger and more athletically gifted than Murry and Smith, and he possesses the same skill sets. We don't have a replacement for Stutz but we did add a large bodied athlete in Lufile. All that said, the previous group was successful on the court and despite the size/talent influx, the lack of experience might be too big of a hinderance to overcome.

The pieces are there. The known quantities are severely lacking.

[ihsi]

On paper I think WSU is the pick here, but my gut says they'll be in the conference race so I went with Evansville.

[Snaggletooth]

The pieces are there. The known quantities are severely lacking.

If everything was known then these preseason prediction threads wouldn't be more wrong than right. How many time does the preseason favorite actually win? There is always that suprise team who exceeds preseason expectations.

Really, if you want to decide who is likely going to Finish better wsu or evansvile - then break the two teams down and see how they match up by position to position and by depth.

[ihsi]

The pieces are there. The known quantities are severely lacking.

If everything was known then these preseason prediction threads wouldn't be more wrong than right. How many time does the preseason favorite actually win? There is always that suprise team who exceeds preseason expectations.

Really, if you want to decide who is likely going to Finish better wsu or evansvile - then break the two teams down and see how they match up by position to position and by depth.

Position by position matchups might impact the two times they play each other, but if we're talking about the league race it's different. Ryan scores at a rate that no one on WSU or many other teams can so you have to consider that too. If Evansville can give him some support the Aces could exceed expectations.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Neither is my answer.

I pick the Purple Aces to vie for the championship, say 2nd. Too much two guard, who is headed for the NBA.

I pick the Shockers to struggle to avoid a play-in game, but to no avail. Say 9th.

[Snaggletooth]

Position by position matchups might impact the two times they play each other, [/qoute]

Please - if you come to the determination that Evansville has more talent and dept than WSU, I think it safe to say they will likely finish ahead of WSU.

Ryan scores at a rate that no one on WSU or many other teams can so you have to consider that too.

1 trick ponies can be shut down. WSU during their time in the abyss had Jason Perez who could light things up - and we saw how that worked. Well coached teams will find away to limit him or take advantage of the parts of their weakness.

If Evansville can give him some support the Aces could exceed expectations.

And what team couldn't say the same thing?

[Snaggletooth]

Neither is my answer.

I pick the Purple Aces to vie for the championship, say 2nd. Too much two guard, who is headed for the NBA.

I pick the Shockers to struggle to avoid a play-in game, but to no avail. Say 9th.

Your becoming a slacker - we haven't had a luncheon since last spring.

[Wufan]

Position by position matchups might impact the two times they play each other, but if we're talking about the league race it's different.

And that is why WSU fans are excited. On paper we match up well with every team in the Valley. The problem is that no one has seen these horses in action under Marshall and there is a high liklihood of error in evaluation. Couple that with the fact that we, as fans, are all overly enamoured with our own players and tend to discount the competition, and WSU is a real quagmeyer. Drake is also in that category where as UNI, CU and ISUr are all known and talented across the board.

OTOH, I think many have forgotten how superior CU and WSU were to the rest of the Valley last year. Five teams have third place stuck in their heads and expect to be improved, when in actuality 6 teams were incapable of finishing over .500 despite a good team on paper. Why should I believe that ISUr is any better than a 9-9 club after losing their FOY PG and HC? Why will UNI win more than they lose since they brought in no new starters?

Food for thought.