CSNbbs

Any thoughts?

NMSU ranked number one again? These guys have no clue and are underrepresenting the "top" of the WAC. No nothing fools...

With the newness of this version of the WAC I don't think anyone can with any real confidence has a clue.

We all think NMSU will back to normal but that normal didn't have SFA ACU SHST an LU in the mix before
Most are writing off ACU b/c their HC left
SFA was the best offense of any now WAC school last year
GCU has question marks in how they will perform w/o Mit and Ale
UVU lost a ton of talent and it will be seen if Aimaq can reproduce like he did last year with what appears to be less talent and all eye on him now.
Seattle has never had issues offensively with Hayford there it's always been can they rebound and play defense consistently
CBU is going to have talent again and I think some are discounting them and I feel they have the opportunity to be good this year.
Texas 4 bring quality to the league but their question as a whole is will they have enough in the tank for Vegas with how much more traveling there is compared to the SLC for league games.

DSU UTRGV CHIST TSU should round out the bottom tier with TSU having the chance to imo maybe place 8th maybe.

I think its going to be fun and interesting to see how all this unfolds, just a few more months until we find out.

(08-03-2021 12:22 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote: [ -> ]Any thoughts?

The top 3 look about right. Would have thought CBU would end up higher and Seattle lower.

They have UTRGV ranked appropriately based on the facts in evidence. Only hope is that we have a lot of unknowns and something unexpected might happen.

(08-03-2021 12:51 PM)Lopes87 Wrote: [ -> ]With the newness of this version of the WAC I don't think anyone can with any real confidence has a clue.

We all think NMSU will back to normal but that normal didn't have SFA ACU SHST an LU in the mix before
Most are writing off ACU b/c their HC left
SFA was the best offense of any now WAC school last year
GCU has question marks in how they will perform w/o Mit and Ale
UVU lost a ton of talent and it will be seen if Aimaq can reproduce like he did last year with what appears to be less talent and all eye on him now.
Seattle has never had issues offensively with Hayford there it's always been can they rebound and play defense consistently
CBU is going to have talent again and I think some are discounting them and I feel they have the opportunity to be good this year.
Texas 4 bring quality to the league but their question as a whole is will they have enough in the tank for Vegas with how much more traveling there is compared to the SLC for league games.

DSU UTRGV CHIST TSU should round out the bottom tier with TSU having the chance to imo maybe place 8th maybe.

I think its going to be fun and interesting to see how all this unfolds, just a few more months until we find out.

You are right. I am just being petty and silly. I don't think the new school posters have much respect for NMSU and their BB history. Especially after the season NMSU just had. I think the existing schools know all too well what NMSU is but are curious as to how things will play out since the WAC has had a major upgrade and facelift.

(08-03-2021 12:59 PM)edinburger Wrote: [ -> ]

(08-03-2021 12:22 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote: [ -> ]Any thoughts?

The top 3 look about right. Would have thought CBU would end up higher and Seattle lower.

They have UTRGV ranked appropriately based on the facts in evidence. Only hope is that we have a lot of unknowns and something unexpected might happen.

I agree. At a minimum, I would swap ACU and Seattle. I also think CBU should be higher. I'm so excited for this new WAC. I think the basketball is going to be phenomenal.

(08-03-2021 12:51 PM)Lopes87 Wrote: [ -> ]With the newness of this version of the WAC I don't think anyone can with any real confidence has a clue.

We all think NMSU will back to normal but that normal didn't have SFA ACU SHST an LU in the mix before
Most are writing off ACU b/c their HC left
SFA was the best offense of any now WAC school last year
GCU has question marks in how they will perform w/o Mit and Ale
UVU lost a ton of talent and it will be seen if Aimaq can reproduce like he did last year with what appears to be less talent and all eye on him now.
Seattle has never had issues offensively with Hayford there it's always been can they rebound and play defense consistently
CBU is going to have talent again and I think some are discounting them and I feel they have the opportunity to be good this year.
Texas 4 bring quality to the league but their question as a whole is will they have enough in the tank for Vegas with how much more traveling there is compared to the SLC for league games.

DSU UTRGV CHIST TSU should round out the bottom tier with TSU having the chance to imo maybe place 8th maybe.

I think its going to be fun and interesting to see how all this unfolds, just a few more months until we find out.

All good points. I don't think the Regular Season Conference Champ is going to go through the league unscathed, no matter who it is. There is a lot more competition with the new members, and you better come with your "A" game night in and night out or you will get beat by the top third (half?) of the conference. I love it, and it is what I have been looking forward to for a while! I'm stoked for basketball. There are going to be good teams in the league that don't win the regular season or the tournament. Those that do, are going to have to really earn it.

GO AGGIES!!!

(08-03-2021 03:39 PM)NMSUIndyAg Wrote: [ -> ]

(08-03-2021 12:51 PM)Lopes87 Wrote: [ -> ]With the newness of this version of the WAC I don't think anyone can with any real confidence has a clue.

We all think NMSU will back to normal but that normal didn't have SFA ACU SHST an LU in the mix before
Most are writing off ACU b/c their HC left
SFA was the best offense of any now WAC school last year
GCU has question marks in how they will perform w/o Mit and Ale
UVU lost a ton of talent and it will be seen if Aimaq can reproduce like he did last year with what appears to be less talent and all eye on him now.
Seattle has never had issues offensively with Hayford there it's always been can they rebound and play defense consistently
CBU is going to have talent again and I think some are discounting them and I feel they have the opportunity to be good this year.
Texas 4 bring quality to the league but their question as a whole is will they have enough in the tank for Vegas with how much more traveling there is compared to the SLC for league games.

DSU UTRGV CHIST TSU should round out the bottom tier with TSU having the chance to imo maybe place 8th maybe.

I think its going to be fun and interesting to see how all this unfolds, just a few more months until we find out.

All good points. I don't think the Regular Season Conference Champ is going to go through the league unscathed, no matter who it is. There is a lot more competition with the new members, and you better come with your "A" game night in and night out or you will get beat by the top third (half?) of the conference. I love it, and it is what I have been looking forward to for a while! I'm stoked for basketball. There are going to be good teams in the league that don't win the regular season or the tournament. Those that do, are going to have to really earn it.

GO AGGIES!!!

With the new WAC, I think it is going to be a really long time before we see a team run the table, if at all. Think of all the success NMSU has had over the last 10-15 years and they only did it once, in a watered down conference and it took buzzer beaters and other close calls to do it.

Top 3 look good. 4-8 is a toss up. Bottom tier looks good enough.

This new WAC is pretty deep. Even when we were in the WAC.1 I don’t think we were this deep. Whoever ends up in the top 6 by the end of the year has a solid team. This is going to be a fun year to watch. Here are some old standing from 2006-2008 with the WAC.1. It was a 2 bid league one year and the next year had 4 teams sharing the regular season champs.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/con.../2007.html

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/con.../2008.html

The question mark for NMSU is the point guard position; and how it effects the rest of the Aggie starting line up. NMSU returns four starter but have added Teddy Allen; who has proven to be an impact player at his previous stops. Will Jans make room for him in the starting line; moving Jabari Rice to the point? Or will Jans disrupt last season's chemistry by inserting a new player or two into the starting line up?

These rankings give a lot of respect to Bryce Drew as a recruiter and a coach. Unlike like NMSU and SFA which returns 4 starters, GCU only returns one starter. Drew will depend on the growth of his returning bench and the talent of his incoming recruiting class. The only returning Lopes bench player I feel confident can (will) start this season is Gabe McGlothan. The rest will needs to battle with the newcomers for playing time.

I think SFA will be the most formidable basketball program (initially) of the Texas Four. The Lumberjacks return four starters plus a number of bench players. The key question is can they find a player who can replace Cameron Johnson's scoring. Either Keller will look to the bench in Nigel Hawkins... or possibly JC newcomer Jules Moor?

I would put NMSU, GCU, and SFA at the top of the WAC. However, I am intrigued with a number of other WAC schools; as I think there are a number of schools who could get on a roll and battle for a WAC Championship... UVU, CBU, ACU, SHSU, SU. UVU has Aimaq and Woodbury; CBU has very good perimeter shooting; ACU has some very tenacious guard play; SHSU returns four starters and added a few players who could make an immediate impact; Seattle U. returns all five starters.

I think UVU will be tough next year. They lost Overton, but gained a lot too. And I'm pretty sold on Connor Harding being a very solid addition that brings a lot. If they are indeed finish in 4th, it would most likely be in a pretty tight race near the top.

I don't know what to predict of GCU. Based on the knowns, I'd have them behind UVU, and if Seattle is as good as I expect, probably behind the Hawks as well. But I probably haven't followed GCU recruits as closely as some. Its nothing about their recruits as much as the question marks and the challenge of lots of new players.

If I were to place SUU in this field, I would put them around 5th.

UTech will be a lot better, but I think they're picked about right here. I think they'll have a higher conference winning % than last year, knock off a few higher teams, and keep a lot more games a lot closer, even if it doesn't result in a stellar conference record.

Cal Baptist is hard to place. They could end up just about anywhere. But Rick Croy has had CBU in the thick of things from day 1 and I dont see a big step backwards. It feels like they have been around a long time, and as competitive as they have been, its hard to believe they just finished their 3rd year in D1.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Chicago go out on a high note with a little momentum. Not a great season, but more conference wins than they have been getting and a season that gives at least some hope of a new conference looking their way.

Sadly, I think RGV is going to be a major rebuild and that this season will be really rough. I would be shocked if they finish above 12th.

NMSU, SFA, and GCU are the favorites. I will put ACU, CBU, and SU as "Dark Horses". Tarleton and Dixie still need another year or 3 to really be competitive. Chi St and UTRGV are the bottom feeders and everyone else is will fight for a winning record.

(08-03-2021 07:08 PM)Trod0 Wrote: [ -> ]This new WAC is pretty deep. Even when we were in the WAC.1 I don’t think we were this deep. Whoever ends up in the top 6 by the end of the year has a solid team. This is going to be a fun year to watch. Here are some old standing from 2006-2008 with the WAC.1. It was a 2 bid league one year and the next year had 4 teams sharing the regular season champs.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/con.../2007.html

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/con.../2008.html

Good stuff, TRod. These are the kind of standings I expect to see in the new WAC. 3-4 teams batting for titles. 4 loss conference champs will be the norm.

IIRC, 2008 was Menzies first year and he lost the WAC tourney title in triple OT to Boise State. I remember this because I watched it in person.

(08-04-2021 07:49 AM)PojoaquePosse Wrote: [ -> ]

(08-03-2021 07:08 PM)Trod0 Wrote: [ -> ]This new WAC is pretty deep. Even when we were in the WAC.1 I don’t think we were this deep. Whoever ends up in the top 6 by the end of the year has a solid team. This is going to be a fun year to watch. Here are some old standing from 2006-2008 with the WAC.1. It was a 2 bid league one year and the next year had 4 teams sharing the regular season champs.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/con.../2007.html

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/con.../2008.html

Good stuff, TRod. These are the kind of standings I expect to see in the new WAC. 3-4 teams batting for titles. 4 loss conference champs will be the norm.

IIRC, 2008 was Menzies first year and he lost the WAC tourney title in triple OT to Boise State. I remember this because I watched it in person.

oof I was there for that one too. Heartbreaker for sure. That game was the pre-party event to my brothers bachelor party. We made up for the loss with beer and neked ladies though. So wasn’t a total loss on the night.

Depending on how the conference tourney is run, 1-4 will be happy to end up in any of those slots come the end of the year. Five through eleven are looking to be better than the pre-season expectation of others. But what really matters for the conference in the long run are quality non-conference wins. When the bottom of the conference is defeating teams from the American, C-USA, Sunbelt and other conferences on a regular basis then the WAC will be exciting. Was the SFA over Duke a couple of years ago a great win? Yes, but it didn't make much difference in the opinion of most basketball analyst as far as the SLC was concerned because too many other SLC teams were playing a lot of lower classification schools and not defeating other D-1 non-conference schools. I agree it is highly unlikely that any school goes undefeated in conference play. But at the same time it would be great if the bottom team took the top team to the final minute.

My general feeling from those on this board and elsewhere is that there is a clearly defined top tier of New Mexico State, Grand Canyon and Stephen F. Austin.

Abilene Christian is a 'tweener' (as someone else mentioned, people have written them off due to a new head coach?). And then there's a second tier which can include ACU but generally includes a group of Utah Valley, Sam Houston, Seattle and Cal Baptist.

The next tier is the transitioning schools (Dixie State, Tarleton) along with schools with new head coaches (Lamar, UTRGV and Chicago State) that aren't named ACU.

If Seattle U plays defense they will be a tough out but since Hayford has been there they have never played enough defense to beat quality teams on the regular. They really hope to out score you. It hasn't worked to this point and I don't see it happening anytime soon either.

Pistol, you don't think McMillian and Stone for GCU will be better than they were as freshman?

(08-04-2021 12:01 PM)Lopes87 Wrote: [ -> ]If Seattle U plays defense they will be a tough out but since Hayford has been there they have never played enough defense to beat quality teams on the regular. They really hope to out score you. It hasn't worked to this point and I don't see it happening anytime soon either.

Pistol, you don't think McMillian and Stone for GCU will be better than they were as freshman?

Yes I think they McMillian and Stone have a lot of potential and will be much improved. Stone looked really good before his injury. And, McMillian started clicking late in the season. However, I think Holland Woods will start along side Blacksher initially. I might be way off base though.

Just my guess...
Lopes Starters
PG: Jovan Blacksher Jr.
SG Holland Woods II
SF: Walter Ellis or Taeshon Cherry
PF: Gabe McGlothan
C: Yvan Ouedraogo

(08-04-2021 06:26 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote: [ -> ]

(08-04-2021 12:01 PM)Lopes87 Wrote: [ -> ]If Seattle U plays defense they will be a tough out but since Hayford has been there they have never played enough defense to beat quality teams on the regular. They really hope to out score you. It hasn't worked to this point and I don't see it happening anytime soon either.

Pistol, you don't think McMillian and Stone for GCU will be better than they were as freshman?

Yes I think they McMillian and Stone have a lot of potential and will be much improved. Stone looked really good before his injury. And, McMillian started clicking late in the season. However, I think Holland Woods will start along side Blacksher initially. I might be way off base though.

Just my guess...
Lopes Starters
PG: Jovan Blacksher Jr.
SG Holland Woods II
SF: Walter Ellis or Taeshon Cherry
PF: Gabe McGlothan
C: Yvan Ouedraogo

That centers name is way too close to Ivan Drago for GCU not meme it.