Tis the season for prognostication. With that, I thought it might be handy to compile the various 2018-19 WAC Season Previews that seem to be coming out daily into one thread. I know there are other threads for predictions that have been out for a while, but here are some that I have seen more recently:

Three Man Weave - WAC 2018-19 Preview
Mid-Major Madness - WAC Preseason Power Rankings
Mid-Major Madness - WAC Preseason Awards
College Basketball Bonanza - 2018-19 CBB Preview Series: Western Athletic

Connor Hope's WAC Preview will also be coming down today, so I'll update when a link is available.

This should be a good year for WAC basketball. The top 4 teams seem to evenly matched and the games between them should be very competitive. The next 4 teams also seem to be evenly matched and their games will be very competitive. And then there’s Chi St. The WAC title is up in the air until we actually see how these teams play together and settle. We can predict this and that but whoever wins, their team will be the one who’s jelling the best at the end of the year. Go Aggies

I expect Chicago State to be better without Sims Jr. With him in the lineup, it seemed as though they felt they HAD to give him the ball and have him force up a shot. This year they’ll be an actual team. Looking forward to seeing them grow.

(10-18-2018 07:39 PM)joshadam84 Wrote:  I expect Chicago State to be better without Sims Jr. With him in the lineup, it seemed as though they felt they HAD to give him the ball and have him force up a shot. This year they’ll be an actual team. Looking forward to seeing them grow.

It'll be a long rebuild, but I'd be excited for the future with Lance Irvin. If he can't do it, I'm not sure anyone can at this point. He has too many deep local connections.

he's former Vandal too, so definitely rooting for him and Chicago State

(10-19-2018 02:39 PM)SeattleVandals Wrote:  

(10-18-2018 07:39 PM)joshadam84 Wrote:  I expect Chicago State to be better without Sims Jr. With him in the lineup, it seemed as though they felt they HAD to give him the ball and have him force up a shot. This year they’ll be an actual team. Looking forward to seeing them grow.

It'll be a long rebuild, but I'd be excited for the future with Lance Irvin. If he can't do it, I'm not sure anyone can at this point. He has too many deep local connections.

he's former Vandal too, so definitely rooting for him and Chicago State

Big task ahead of him for sure! I’m with you in thinking his deep connections should help out a lot. I’m also real optimistic for the women’s team this year. They have two real good players returning, and they’ll surprises some folks this year.

Hoops HD - Conference Preview: WAC

(10-21-2018 12:59 PM)gleadley Wrote:  Hoops HD - Conference Preview: WAC

This is the worse preview i've seen yet. I'm mainly just talking about the analysis.

(10-21-2018 01:37 PM)Vaqueronation Wrote:  

(10-21-2018 12:59 PM)gleadley Wrote:  Hoops HD - Conference Preview: WAC

This is the worse preview i've seen yet. I'm mainly just talking about the analysis.

I'm not sure about UTRGV guard play or its' overall defense. But, I think Terry Winn is going to have a big year. And, I'm intrigued by 6'10 Ndene Gueye; a JUCO who was in the 2017 Top 100 before originally committing to St Bonaventure. He could turn out to be one of the better big men in the conference. Hill has more in the coffer than this analysis implies.

There are a lot of new faces (under analyzed players) on various teams who could effect the final WAC standings.

(10-21-2018 01:59 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(10-21-2018 01:37 PM)Vaqueronation Wrote:  

(10-21-2018 12:59 PM)gleadley Wrote:  Hoops HD - Conference Preview: WAC

This is the worse preview i've seen yet. I'm mainly just talking about the analysis.

I'm not sure about UTRGV guard play or its' overall defense. But, I think Terry Winn is going to have a big year. And, I'm intrigued by 6'10 Ndene Gueye; a JUCO who was in the 2017 Top 100 before originally committing to St Bonaventure. He could turn out to be one of the better big men in the conference. Hill has more in the coffer than this analysis implies.

There are a lot of new faces (under analyzed players) on various teams who could effect the final WAC standings.

I see why people pick us towards the bottom. Losing the 20 ppg scorer usually isn't good for teams, but we've always had a guy who gets all the points since the ex coach got hired and its never worked out. We have a good opportunity this year to look like a new better team as a whole. As long as the defense is at least average.

UTRGV's main issues is they play AAU basketball defense and the other issue I think that gets them is travel is worse for them than a school like Seattle.

Kenpom.com came out with its initial rankings. The WAC is only listed as the 21st best conference (finished 18th last year).
Here's the rankings for each team:
(1) NMSU - 96
(2) GCU - 155
(3) UVU - 158
(4) CSUB - 202
(5) CBU - 227
(6) SU - 256
(7) UMKC - 262
(8) UTRGV - 319
(9) CSU - 344
I found it very interesting that they ranked Cal Baptist so high and Seattle so low. I've always respected the KenPom.com's analysis but it seems like they are a bit off in their initial predictions.

(10-23-2018 08:58 PM)ProfScott Wrote:  Kenpom.com came out with its initial rankings. The WAC is only listed as the 21st best conference (finished 18th last year).
Here's the rankings for each team:
(1) NMSU - 96
(2) GCU - 155
(3) UVU - 158
(4) CSUB - 202
(5) CBU - 227
(6) SU - 256
(7) UMKC - 262
(8) UTRGV - 319
(9) CSU - 344
I found it very interesting that they ranked Cal Baptist so high and Seattle so low. I've always respected the KenPom.com's analysis but it seems like they are a bit off in their initial predictions.

That's because they think Dollar is still the coach of SU.

Who is Jake from State Farm?

Busting Brackets - WAC Basketball: 2018-19 Preseason Power Rankings

CBB Central - 32x32: 2018-19 WAC Preview

(11-02-2018 11:56 AM)gleadley Wrote:  CBB Central - 32x32: 2018-19 WAC Preview

Overall, not a bad preview. But putting Zamora on the all-WAC 1st team and making him the newcomer of the year is misguided. Last week, Jans blasted a reporter when he compared Zamora to Lofton. Let's just say he did not have a lot of nice things to say about Zamora...