Heff has come out with his predictions for next season. He has IL State in 1st followed by Loyola, SIU and Bradley.
I think Loyola has enough coming back where they will win the league again. ISU red just seems to be in a constant state of upheaval with their roster, so I have no idea how they will fare this season. SIU has the little huckster (enough said). Bradley has signed some quality recruits and could be a sleeper this season. Just my .02
1. Illinois State--or they could finish fourth, depending on whether they can keep their players out of jail
2. SIU--It all depends on what Bol and J. Beane can contribute and playing hard every game
3. Loyola--forward to a bright future or back to 16-17 depends on their recruiting
4. Bradley--just signed a 7-1 shot blocker
(one mistake Todd had in his article was that Custer sat out 2016-17. No he played three times against us scoring 5, 21 and 12 pts and losing all three times (Loyola was 18-14)
5. Valpo--some transfers of note--pretty good floor coach
6. Mo State--still got some players --recruited a three star recruit
7. UNI--Greene is a (supposed four star) good but skinny PG--If coach finishes in top four, he will be doing a great job
8. Ind State--not a great recruiting year
9. Drake they do have one good big man
10. Evans--is still Evansville
Heff has come out with his predictions for next season. He has IL State in 1st followed by Loyola, SIU and Bradley.
That is pretty much how I have them handicapped. Part of me sees the work Wardle is doing and wants to flip SIU to 4th and Bradley to 3rd. We will have to see how their roster shakes out with transfers and recruiting.
If SIU cannot win the league with a roster 3/4 full of seniors, then what the hell's the point?
No matter how flawed the logic, SIU has put all their eggs in this one basket. Anything outside of first would be as much a massive failure as anything else that's happened with this program over the last decade.
--Insert something witty here--
Courtesy: midmajormadness.com
Slightly Less Way-Too-Early Power Rankings
| RANK | TEAM | 17-18 RECORD | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nevada (10) | 29-8 | 250 | |
| 2 | Gonzaga | 32-5 | 239 | |
| 3 | Loyola | 32-6 | 219 | |
| 4 | South Dakota State | 28-7 | 211 | |
| 5 | BYU | 24-11 | 203 | |
| 6 | Buffalo | 27-9 | 194 | |
| 7 | Marshall | 25-11 | 185 | |
| 8 | Davidson | 21-12 | 180 | |
| 9 | Montana | 26-8 | 127 | |
| 10 | UNC Greensboro | 27-8 | 123 | |
| 11 | San Diego State | 22-11 | 119 | |
| 12 | Georgia State | 24-11 | 100 | |
| 13 | Western Kentucky | 27-11 | 88 | |
| 14 | Saint Mary’s | 30-6 | 83 | |
| 15 | New Mexico State | 28-6 | 78 | |
| 16 | Illinois State | 18-15 | 67 | |
| 17 | New Mexico | 19-15 | 59 | |
| 18 | Saint Louis | 17-16 | 57 | |
| 19 | Vermont | 27-8 | 47 | |
| 20 | Old Dominion | 25-7 | 45 | |
| 21 | Harvard | 18-14 | 41 | |
| 21 | Belmont | 24-9 | 41 | |
| 23 | Bradley | 20-13 | 40 | |
| 24 | Louisiana | 27-7 | 38 | |
| 25 | Wofford | 21-13 | 34 |
Great. That means we will play nine games against MId-Major's so-called top 25--- according to what I've heard about the upcoming schedule.
As far as Wardle, I disagree with him being such a great coach, but the 7-1 guy he signed late this Spring will give their defense a boost with rim protection
Northern Iowa has to be a major sleeper team if nobody is giving them love. I'm not giving up on Ben Jacobson.
If SIU cannot win the league with a roster 3/4 full of seniors, then what the hell's the point?
No matter how flawed the logic, SIU has put all their eggs in this one basket. Anything outside of first would be as much a massive failure as anything else that's happened with this program over the last decade.
Correct, but the SIU administration has shown itself to be willing to settle for mediocrity and a culture of booster cronyism. Retaining Hinson short of a huge 2018-19 season would be akin to Evansville letting Simmons waste a few more years after failing to get to the promised land with their senior-heavy group in Balentine’s senior year.
1. Loyola
2 Illinois State
3 . Bradley
4. Valpo
5. UNI
6 SIU
7. Mo St
8 Indiana State
9 Drake
10 Evansville
Sadley that is my early prediction
1. Loyola
2 Illinois State
3 . Bradley
4. Valpo
5. UNI
6 SIU
7. Mo St
8 Indiana State
9 Drake
10 Evansville
Sadley that is my early prediction
This is perfectly plausible (sadly), but I could also see your top six winding up any which way, though I'm pretty sure Loyola will be on top. The rest of those are anyone's guess. One thing I've noticed through Jake's tenure: they have down years, but rarely do they have two in a row.
(Inflammatory political snark)
Yea 3,4,5 and 6 were a toss up to me but I am confident in 1-2
With vet starters back two years in a row, I thought UNI had a down year in 2016-17 too after showing promise in early pre-season by beating Arizona State and Oklahoma in tournaments they went 14-16 for the year---Jake is a good floor coach so hopefully he will bring them out of their funk this year
Muller hires former NBA player and ex-Marshal Assistant Chris Duhon---looks like a great fit with Muller and ISU
https://twitter.com/SIU_Basketball
Second tweet down three pics from today's workout
Cook defending McGill/ Bartley defending Lloyd/and I believe Swedura defending someone I can't identify
Bol is in the background with small bandage on right knee
