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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL
- Northern Iowa
- Loyola Chicago
- Bradley
- Indiana State
- Southern Illinois
- Missouri State
- Drake
- Valparaiso
- Illinois State
- Evansville
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON 1ST TEAM
AJ Green – G – Northern Iowa
Austin Phyfe – F – Northern Iowa
Elijah Childs – F – Bradley
Tyreke Key – G – Indiana State
Cameron Krutwig – C – Loyola Chicago
COMMENTS FROM DAVID
-In the hierarchy of college basketball, this league is probably routinely the top “UTR” Conference, and it probably will be the same story this year
-Northern Iowa appeared to be inside the bubble all season long last year, and just needed to avoid a loss in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament to secure their spot in the NCAAs: they blew it. Whether or not the committee would have taken them anyway is something we will never know. But, they should be very good again this year with three starters back and two of the best players in the conference in AJ Green and Austin Phyfe. It is not a normal season so it is hard to say how things will play out, but if this were a normal year I would say this is a UNI team that could easily land inside the bubble, and perhaps even play their way into the rankings. They have great balance in the backcourt and frontcourt, along with the depth they need to succeed.
-With all five starters back, Loyola Chicago is another team that I think would have a really good chance at finishing inside the bubble if this were a regular year. They have good guard play, good outside shooting (usually), guys that share the ball, depth, and balanced scoring.
-Let’s go right to Evansville. No, I do not think they will finish third, but they did have the most extraordinary season of any team that I could remember. They beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena, who was ranked #1. It was the first time that a UTR team had won on the road against a #1-ranked team since 1992. They followed that up with one of the most disastrous seasons that a team could have, going winless in conference and having their coach fired in the middle of the season for what was rumored to be a spectacular reason! I will not say what it is because I do not know it to be true…but I do encourage you to Google it! Four starters are back and they do have a very good coach in Todd Lickliter (who had great success at Butler and almost no success at Iowa). I do think we will see some improvement out of the Aces this year.
-Indiana State has some big contributors back from a team that won 18 games last year, including Tyreke Key, who is a fantastic all around player. I look for the Trees to be in the top half of the conference.
-Quite a bit of preseason love for Bradley, but with just two starters back from a decent but not great team, I guess I am not as excited about them as most are.
-Drake had a rather blah season last year for most of the year, but they finished with 20 wins overall and knocked off Northern Iowa in the Arch Madness quarterfinals. They did lose one of their best players due to transfer but they do have some pieces back and could finish in the top half.
-Coach Bryan Mullins enters his second year at Southern Illinois. After finishing .500 a year ago. With Marcus Domask returning after a big freshman year and what look to be some good newcomers, the Salukis appear to be heading in the right direction.
-Missouri State is one of those .500-ish teams from a year ago that is looking to be .500-ish again this year.
-It has always seemed to me that as a program Illinois State should be better than what they are. This will likely not be the year that they elevate their program. They, along with Valpo, could be in for a rough year.