And I agree with you Byrdseyeblue...Lipscomb is indeed a whore.

oh indeed...

lol

Lots of good posts on this thread. Belmont has the most impressive resume up to this point, but that is to be expected with their experienced guard play. I don't think Belmont will win the conference, and I am not so sure that they will finish second. I think the other teams will catch up to them pretty quickly in conference play. Gardner Webb has really surprised me, and will be tough to beat. I still think the league title is very much a tossup at this point. There are a lot of teams that will find their groove in conference play. I think that there are tiers of play but I don't think it is as compartmentalized as some of you have described the league.

Tier One (No particular order):
ETSU
Belmont
Gardner Webb
Jacksonville
Mercer

Tier Two (No particular order):
Kennesaw
Campbell
Stetson
Lipscomb

Tier Three (No particular order):
USC-Upstate
FGCU
North Florida

The only difference that I see from my preseason predictions is that Gardner Webb has taken a step forward so far this year and moved up into the 1st tier, and Kennesaw has taken a step back into the 2nd tier.

Even so, I think that Kennesaw is going to get it turned around here in the near future. We are struggling to find an identity at this point, but it doesn't take long to get the ship righted in low-major ball. One game could change the outlook of our entire season. I still think we match up well with everyone in the conference and could contend for the regular season title. We could also just as easily end up .500 for the 3rd straight year, but considering the circumstances of most Division I transplants that wouldn't be so bad (just look at North Florida, USC-Upstate, and Florida Gulf Coast if you need any examples :) )

KB, I'd move Gulf Coast up to Tier 2. Already has road wins at Bethune-Cookman, UMES, and FIU...not great teams, but this isn't bad for a D-1 newby. I'll bet Upstate will get a few conference wins, too.

Make a Tier 4 for UNF!

Lipscomb may surprise you by conference time

Just like every year, I'm sure the conference tournament will be different from the regular season. Belmont has won both tournaments when coming in seeded #2. ETSU seems to always be the toughest competition for us in the league (although Lipscomb has some how edge wins in the most recent Battle of the Blvd.'s).

Belmont, ETSU and Mercer are the only teams that will make a push worthy of our bid to the Big Dance. Obviously bias, I'll take Belmont to make their third straight NCAA appearance with an upset in the first round.

BelmontSuperFan Wrote:Belmont, ETSU and Mercer are the only teams that will make a push worthy of our bid to the Big Dance.

I think that's right.
The DII schools clearly aren't ready to compete for the top of the conference. (They aren't eligible either, so just as well).

Stetson is just plain bad.

Campbell still isn't quite there yet. I'm ready for a Camel break out season one of these years. But I don't think they've had a winning record in over a decade. Get that new arena and things will fall into place.

Lipscomb is no threat...

JU looks weak without their senior stud from last year

And Gardner Webb is 4th and always a threat. Not to be taken lightly.

I'd be a little wary of jacksonville, I thinl they are playing some good fundamental basketball and when their shots are hot they'll play with anyone in the A-sun

There's something to be said about peaking at the right time. At this point though ETSU, Belmont, Jacksonville and Mercer are the best four. The transition teams are killing the RPI, and Stetson is looking at basketball about Paul Stanton looked at football in the 90's.

ETSU is not even close to peaking...time will tell if they reach their potential.