140 - Indiana State - 7


I'll update this when I see another. They're at 107 now. So they have the Valley looking fairly strong with 6 more to go.

I somehow missed one

109 - Drake - 6

Personally, I'm not sure Drake can finish that high with the loss of Rice and the big guy who missed last season and whose name escapes me at the moment.

I'm slacking a bit, but I'll get there

96 - Evansville - 5

Evansville will be Evansville. They'll be scrappy and win some games they shouldn't. But with the lack of size inside and the loss of Holmes to help support Ryan, they're going to struggle.

We know who the top 4 will be, it's just a question as to the order and how high they'll be ranked on here.

(07-30-2012 10:42 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  I somehow missed one

109 - Drake - 6

Personally, I'm not sure Drake can finish that high with the loss of Rice and the big guy who missed last season and whose name escapes me at the moment.

Van Deest. He's supposedly bulked up to 250+ which is a big jump for him. Always felt as if UNI was able to abuse him with their big guys despite his height. May be tougher now.

Simons makes a nice weapon as well.

The question is will they find a PG who can distribute and can Phelps get the heck out of the way and not screw things up.

I think the loss of Rice may be addition by subtraction.

(08-09-2012 09:26 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  I'm slacking a bit, but I'll get there

96 - Evansville - 5

Evansville will be Evansville. They'll be scrappy and win some games they shouldn't. But with the lack of size inside and the loss of Holmes to help support Ryan, they're going to struggle.

We know who the top 4 will be, it's just a question as to the order and how high they'll be ranked on here.

I agree, their lack of an inside game will be tough to overcome. I liked what I saw of Sawvell last year, just don't know if there is enough beyond him to hold up against some of the other Valley schools. But they have Colt and with the 3-point line, there's always a shooters chance.

Nice to see 5 schools get inside the top-100

(08-09-2012 02:08 PM)TC4TC Wrote:  

(07-30-2012 10:42 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  I somehow missed one

109 - Drake - 6

Personally, I'm not sure Drake can finish that high with the loss of Rice and the big guy who missed last season and whose name escapes me at the moment.

Van Deest. He's supposedly bulked up to 250+ which is a big jump for him. Always felt as if UNI was able to abuse him with their big guys despite his height. May be tougher now.

Simons makes a nice weapon as well.

The question is will they find a PG who can distribute and can Phelps get the heck out of the way and not screw things up.

I think the loss of Rice may be addition by subtraction.

We'll see about Rice, but I wonder if Simons can have the same impact he had last year without him. Now all focus can be on him. Van Deest is a nice player, and if he's bulked up, that's even better. And having a guy that size will definitely help. But I'm not sure they have the PG to make things happen and not sure what they'll be like without Rice. He was a guy that could create by himself and open up others. Simons is a nice player, but I'm just not sure he can do much without help from others.

(08-09-2012 02:11 PM)TC4TC Wrote:  

(08-09-2012 09:26 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  I'm slacking a bit, but I'll get there

96 - Evansville - 5

Evansville will be Evansville. They'll be scrappy and win some games they shouldn't. But with the lack of size inside and the loss of Holmes to help support Ryan, they're going to struggle.

We know who the top 4 will be, it's just a question as to the order and how high they'll be ranked on here.

I agree, their lack of an inside game will be tough to overcome. I liked what I saw of Sawvell last year, just don't know if there is enough beyond him to hold up against some of the other Valley schools. But they have Colt and with the 3-point line, there's always a shooters chance.

Nice to see 5 schools get inside the top-100

Sawvell is a nice player, but he lacks size. I think he'll get abused and worn down without more inside help. Especially when he's facing the Top 4 teams in the conference. I'll also be curious to see how Ryan does without Holmes. I don't think some realized how big a factor he was for the Pimps. They need Cox to step up and play a bigger role and help Ryan out.

We're through 90 and nobody else listed yet. I would think it'll be a few weeks before we see another Valley team on the list. I'm not sure where number 4 will come in, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's UNI and they'll be in the 60-70 range. I think they're better than that, but trying to guess where they'll put them. I'd then guess that WSU will be number 3 and be in the 45-55 range, followed by ISU in the 30-40 range and then CU in the 15-25 range.

84 - Wichita State - 4

I'm surprised to see any of the top 4 this low as I think all four could be top 50 at the end of the year. Not completely surprised to see Wichita picked 4th, but I'll be shocked if they really do finish there.

(08-20-2012 09:23 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  84 - Wichita State - 4

I'm surprised to see any of the top 4 this low as I think all four could be top 50 at the end of the year. Not completely surprised to see Wichita picked 4th, but I'll be shocked if they really do finish there.

I would agree that this was "worse case scenario"

(08-20-2012 02:43 PM)Ictjay Wrote:  

(08-20-2012 09:23 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  84 - Wichita State - 4

I'm surprised to see any of the top 4 this low as I think all four could be top 50 at the end of the year. Not completely surprised to see Wichita picked 4th, but I'll be shocked if they really do finish there.

I would agree that this was "worse case scenario"

I get that to some degree. We had some turnover, but we did the previous year as well. If we end up here, we've had a horrid year.

We just hit number 60 and still have three remaining MVC schools to go.

56 - Illinois State - 3

I have to admit that I'm surprised once again that they've apparently put UNI ahead of ISU.

(09-17-2012 11:10 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  56 - Illinois State - 3

I have to admit that I'm surprised once again that they've apparently put UNI ahead of ISU.

I'm not surprised that UNI got nudged ahead considering the coaching change and loss of Moore. If UNI ends up many more spots ahead of the Redbirds on this list, I will be more surprised. I think both teams should be around the top 50 and challenging for at-large chances.

47 - Northern Iowa - 2

I hope UNI can be as good or better than this prediction...

(09-25-2012 11:08 AM)SubGod22 Wrote:  47 - Northern Iowa - 2

I hope UNI can be as good or better than this prediction...

I agree. Within 10 spots of Illinois State is fair as well, though I think both can finish higher in the end.

Pretty good write up but they missed a word when they described Austin Pehl as "an experienced senior who has been very productive." I think 'not' should have been added at least once in there.

Yeah, I didn't recall him being a big deal.

I do think there are four very good teams in the Valley this year that are capable of raising hell and doing damage. I also wonder how high they'll rank CU. It should be a couple more weeks before we find out though. I don't see them not being in the top 30 and could be in the top 20.