clpack Wrote:At this point, I'd pick Nevada and USU above any MWC team, but it wouldn't be at all surprising if one or two teams from the MWC stepped up and turned out to be every bit as good. With exception of Air Force, the top MWC teams have a lot of roster turnover. Potential slow starts as they readjust could really hurt their conference ranking and make it difficult to get more than one tourney bid...we can only hope, anyway. :)
FWIW, Collegehoops.net (CHN) ranks WAC & MWC teams as:
<47. Nevada
55. Air Force
64. Utah St.
72. UNLV
75. Hawaii
79. Utah
92. New Mexico
108. TCU
113. LaTech
What have you heard about Welch? In CHN's <a href='http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/preview/2005/55.htm' target='_blank'>Air Force preview</a>, they indicate he's out until "at least the middle of December." With essentially the same lineup as last year, you'd figure AFA would be fairly predictable (very good, but not great). If Welch doesn't come back, they could slip to mediocre.
UNLV loses three key players (Blankson, Beck, Blassingame). They have some highly touted recruits, but odds are that it will take time for them to gel. SG Umeh should pick up some scoring load. Joel Anthony is a guy I was really impressed with, and think could be poised for a breakout year.
Utah loses both Bogut AND Jackson...ouch!
So Nevada and USU get UNLV and Utah, respectively, in November. Coming so early in the year, I really like the odds in both games. However, I'm willing to discuss this house bet.
Here's mine...
Keep in mind, the picture doesn't do it justice. What's your's like?
Not only does Utah lose Bogut and Jackson but they lost Justin Hawkins and Calbert Chaney. Way to go, NewMags! Way to raid the best BB program in the MWC of one of its best players!
Utah returns two starters in Drisdom (6-3 215 Sr) and Markson (6-7 198 Sr). They also lost their new recruit, Misha Radojevic, to injury. He was likely to be their starting PF.
Now they are looking at the following line-up:
Ricky Johns 6-3 190 Jr. (JC transfer)
Tim Drisdom 6-3 215 Sr.
Jonas Langvad 6-11 236 Jr. (primarily a perimeter type player)
Bryant Markson 6-7 198 Sr (a light weight PF who will get beat on the boards by larger PFs)
Chris Jackson 6-11 245 Sr (A very slow and awkward player)
They've been talking about starting their redshirt frosh, Luke Nevill 7-1 250. Even if they do play Nevill, he's a freshman and will in all likelihood play like a freshman.
Tim Drisdom isn't a great outside threat, so their outside shooting will not open up their inside game. Mark Jackson was the guy who they counted on for this aspect of their game. I'm sure Ricky Johns will have a hard time adjusting to D1 ball as most JC transfers do. Markson was eaten alive last year by Nelson and Harris when the Utes played Utah St. Bogut was left to fend for himself in the middle (he did a good job of it, but was in for a losing battle without help). They don't have Boguy this year to make up for their lacking an inside game. Who'll pick up the slack? Jackson? no. He hasn't shown any promise up till now. He's been plagued by back problems for quite some time. Jonas Langvad is a soft European type player. He has a lot of room to improve.
Meanwhile Utah St returns 4 out of 5 starters from last season, a season in which they clobbered Utah by 26 points. Utah St also had one of its best recruiting classes in history.
Who will you pick? As for me and my house, we'll pick the Aggies! :)
Props to Nevada on the preseason respect!
It will be fun to see a team come into the Spectrum and give the Aggies a run for their money. Looking forward to it!