It's interesting that the coaches and media are in such agreement here: the picks are identical for 1 through 5 (UTC, Wofford, Mercer, ETSU and Furman), for 7 (Samford), and for 9 and 10 (Citadel and VMI). The only thing that they disagree on is whether Western Carolina or UNCG gets 6 or 8.
There seems to be unanimous feeling that Furman's tournament run to within 3 points of the SoCon championship was a mirage - both polls rate them 5, despite the fact that Furman returns everybody of importance, and all the teams above them have significant losses (#1 seed UTC only loses one, but Ronrico White was by far the best ballhandler on a team with turnover problems. And their coach is gone, too). Only 1 lonely media guy rates them first - an entirely reasonable choice to me. Wonder where he's from? I guess a last-in-conference 5-13 will cut into your respect.
The polls were pretty prescient at the top last year, agreeing that Wofford should be 1st, UTC 2nd, ETSU (pre Giplay's injury) 3rd, and Mercer 4th.
http://www.etsubucs.com/mbasketball/news...ason-team/ Wofford, UTC and Mercer did indeed finish 1-3, while post-Giplaye ETSU slipped from a pre-season 3rd to 5th. But then both UTC and Mercer were knocked off by 5-13 Furman. And Furman came within 3 points and an injury to Kris Acox of beating Wofford and winning it all.
That's all that really matters in a 1 bid league. Getting ready for 4 days in Asheville. Although we'd all like to see a lot more than a big late season run.
Still, early reports from practice are a reminder of how much we have to learn about the Bucs. Will we have .292 three point shooting from the point or .500 shooting? Will we have dominating defensive front court play... or not? And how different will the team look in February from what we see in October and November?
The top teams in the SoCon almost all face bigger changes this year. So the polls may be less reliable. And the ups and downs may be greater as new guys get broken in.
We will be living in interesting times. Installment two plays tonite