They have three socon teams in the rankings and Furman winning the Socon. So neither ETSU or UNCG is in their top 144 which I found interesting. While both teams lost key players I still feel that either team or both will finish top 3.

Furman #98 http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14994
Mercer #109 http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14946
Samford #137 http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/14861

Another notable is NKU at #88 http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/15026

Samford is the team that scares me this season. I respect Padgett very much as a coach and the team has been together long enough to have good chemistry. I think they are the best combination of team/coach. However, I don't think that there will be much separation between Samford, Furman, Mercer, and ETSU. I look for the SoCon to have another solid season in the conference RPI rankings. It doesn't surprise me that these national publications aren't picking up on us when we have so much turnover and our potential weakness inside. And who cares if they don't pick us- let's go out and win the ball games and the rest will take care of itself.

I do agree that it's hard to pick us high in the preseason because of our high turnover rate but Forbes has proved both seasons that it doesn't matter. They had us at 138 last year which turned out to be way off since we finished in the top 80.

Saban is dead on in his rant about preseason predictions. When throwing out Furman and Sanford as faves just b/c they return nearly everybody - remember CHatt from last year. Strange things can happen.

It will be interesting to read Blue Ribbon's SoCon analysis for this year. BR's Chris Dortch seems to have a pretty good handle on the league. I think the digital version comes out in mid-late September.

I like this story! I didn't realize Mercer was 5th in the nation in free throw shooting last year. That's such a critical factor to winning games. Wofford was also very high at 7th nationally.

As it was already mentioned, people won't place ETSU very high because of the high player losses. Forbes is a proven recruiter, so I wouldn't make that same mistake. Of course, this style is the highest risk/reward in the entire SoCon. One bad recruiting cycle and the whole system crashes. I don't think that's going to happen this year, but that's the nature of Forbes style.

(08-23-2017 12:19 AM)MercerFan Wrote:  I like this story! I didn't realize Mercer was 5th in the nation in free throw shooting last year. That's such a critical factor to winning games. Wofford was also very high at 7th nationally.

As it was already mentioned, people won't place ETSU very high because of the high player losses. Forbes is a proven recruiter, so I wouldn't make that same mistake. Of course, this style is the highest risk/reward in the entire SoCon. One bad recruiting cycle and the whole system crashes. I don't think that's going to happen this year, but that's the nature of Forbes style.

Mercerfan,

Do you know WHICH Dominican Republic National Team Mercer played on August 2???

The Bears website notes that on August 2, 2017, Mercer beat "the Dominican Republic National Team" 89-75. However the article is not specific as to "which" National Team Mercer played. http://mercerbears.com/news/2017/8/2/men...89-75.aspx

In addition to a Senior National Team, the DR fields 2 age group National Teams: a U/18-U/19 team, http://www.latinbasket.com/Dominican-Rep...asp?Age=18
and a U/16-U/17 team, http://www.latinbasket.com/Dominican-Rep...asp?Age=16

The Citadel was very specific in noting that they played (and lost to) the U/19 team. http://www.citadelsports.com/news/2017/8...-trip.aspx

Which team did Mercer play?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

(08-23-2017 01:00 PM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  

(08-23-2017 12:19 AM)MercerFan Wrote:  I like this story! I didn't realize Mercer was 5th in the nation in free throw shooting last year. That's such a critical factor to winning games. Wofford was also very high at 7th nationally.

As it was already mentioned, people won't place ETSU very high because of the high player losses. Forbes is a proven recruiter, so I wouldn't make that same mistake. Of course, this style is the highest risk/reward in the entire SoCon. One bad recruiting cycle and the whole system crashes. I don't think that's going to happen this year, but that's the nature of Forbes style.

Mercerfan,

Do you know WHICH Dominican Republic National Team Mercer played on August 2???

The Bears website notes that on August 2, 2017, Mercer beat "the Dominican Republic National Team" 89-75. However the article is not specific as to "which" National Team Mercer played. http://mercerbears.com/news/2017/8/2/men...89-75.aspx

In addition to a Senior National Team, the DR fields 2 age group National Teams: a U/18-U/19 team, http://www.latinbasket.com/Dominican-Rep...asp?Age=18
and a U/16-U/17 team, http://www.latinbasket.com/Dominican-Rep...asp?Age=16

The Citadel was very specific in noting that they played (and lost to) the U/19 team. http://www.citadelsports.com/news/2017/8...-trip.aspx

Which team did Mercer play?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

I tried to look into myself, but I couldn't get any info of which team it was. I guess we'll never know :)

(08-29-2017 01:08 PM)MercerFan Wrote:  

(08-23-2017 01:00 PM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  

(08-23-2017 12:19 AM)MercerFan Wrote:  I like this story! I didn't realize Mercer was 5th in the nation in free throw shooting last year. That's such a critical factor to winning games. Wofford was also very high at 7th nationally.

As it was already mentioned, people won't place ETSU very high because of the high player losses. Forbes is a proven recruiter, so I wouldn't make that same mistake. Of course, this style is the highest risk/reward in the entire SoCon. One bad recruiting cycle and the whole system crashes. I don't think that's going to happen this year, but that's the nature of Forbes style.

Mercerfan,

Do you know WHICH Dominican Republic National Team Mercer played on August 2???

The Bears website notes that on August 2, 2017, Mercer beat "the Dominican Republic National Team" 89-75. However the article is not specific as to "which" National Team Mercer played. http://mercerbears.com/news/2017/8/2/men...89-75.aspx

In addition to a Senior National Team, the DR fields 2 age group National Teams: a U/18-U/19 team, http://www.latinbasket.com/Dominican-Rep...asp?Age=18
and a U/16-U/17 team, http://www.latinbasket.com/Dominican-Rep...asp?Age=16

The Citadel was very specific in noting that they played (and lost to) the U/19 team. http://www.citadelsports.com/news/2017/8...-trip.aspx

Which team did Mercer play?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

I tried to look into myself, but I couldn't get any info of which team it was. I guess we'll never know :)

A box score would tell us, as you could match up the DR players with the appropriate team.